Community Resources

Our Community Family Resources document is intended for the students and families of Lyman Hall High School. This document is a guide for parents and students to begin identifying mental health and substance abuse treatment should they or someone they know need such services. 

For more information regarding insurance and fees as well as any other questions you may have, it is suggested that you contact your insurance provider and/or the therapist or agency directly. Lyman Hall has put this together to assist families in beginning the search for providers in order to support its students in meeting their academic and personal/social needs and goals. Lyman Hall is not directly affiliated with any name or agency listed in this document.

Family Resources Document
Mental Health Provider List for area towns

Quicklinks

• The Coalition for a Better Wallingford
  • www.cbwlfd.org
• Spanish Community of Wallingford - SCOW
  • www.scowinc.org
• Wallingford Youth and Social Services
  • https://www.wallingfordct.gov/government/departments/youth-social-services/

As a graduation requirement, each student must complete 30 hours of voluntary community service in one or more non-profit organizations. These hours may be attained through service to a variety of non-profit groups, community organizations, and/or school activities. To be considered for community service hours, activities must in no way be related to assignments in any credit-bearing courses. For example, students who have to prepare an after-school meal to senior citizens as a classroom assignment would not be able to use those hours for their community service requirement. If students volunteered several hours to serve the meal to senior citizens or clean up the senior center, those hours could be used. Students also will not be able to use volunteer hours which are required by an outside organization. As an example, if a church youth group required each member to volunteer for ten hours as part of a program requirement; this time could not be counted in meeting the LHHS requirement.

The community service form is available in the school counseling office and provided in a link below. Students will be responsible for completing the cover page of the form. The completed form must then be signed by an appropriate official of the sponsoring group or activity, who must in no way be related to the student.

The thirty hours of community service hours may be accrued anytime after graduation from eighth grade. Community service hours must be completed by May 1 of senior year to meet this graduation requirement.

Students transferring to Lyman Hall High School will have the amount of community service hours pro-rated. As an example, a senior transfer student would only have to accrue seven and a half hours of volunteer time, instead of thirty.

Students may be exempted from this requirement for religious or other reasons only at the discretion of the school principal or his/her designee.

Community Service Resources

LHHS Community Service Form

Suggested Resources for Community Service

Please click the following links to our planning guides.

2024-2025 Course Planning Guide PDF and Google Doc
2023-2024 Course Planning Guide
2022-2023 Course Planning Guide

The mission of the Wallingford School Counseling Department is to support academic, personal/social, and career development for all students in collaboration with parents, teachers, support staff, administrators and the community. At Lyman Hall High School, all students can achieve at high levels in a community that acknowledges its diversity and provides challenging programs designed to meet individual needs.

What is Naviance?

Naviance is an electronic portfolio commonly used by middle schools, high schools, and colleges to assist in the college application process. Lyman Hall High School students can use Naviance for various purposes such as:

• Research colleges and universities
• Investigate careers
• Explore personality traits & interests
• Locate scholarships
• Build a resume
• Research college majors
• Request letters of recommendation

Parents and students can easily access Naviance which will allow you to:

• Get involved in the planning and advising process
• Research careers
• Research colleges
• Create plans for the future
• Manage the college application process

How to Login to Naviance

Lyman Hall Naviance Login

• To log-in, click on the link above for Classlink and enter your network username and password. Once logged in, click on the Naviance icon and you are automatically logged in to your Naviance account.

Need Help Using Naviance?

If you need assistance using Naviance, please download the attached user guide. The user guide is designed to help students and parents navigate the welcome page, the colleges tab, careers tab, about me tab, and how to request letters of recommendation.

• Naviance User Guide

The Lyman Hall School Counseling Department has put a video together to assist students with the online course registration process. All students will be registering for their courses using PowerSchool for the upcoming school year. 

8th Grade Course Registration Presentation

Course Selection Presentation for Students in Grades 9, 10, 11

Click here to watch the video!

PowerSchool Online Course Registration Instructions

Post-Secondary Planning

Applying to college can be overwhelming, especially for first-generation college students and their families. To better assist all students, the Lyman Hall School Counseling Department completely redesigned and updated the post-secondary planning booklet, which we distribute and discuss at all individual junior and senior planning meetings. We are hoping that with this booklet, students and families will have a better understanding of how to navigate the college application process, understand the importance of a post-secondary education and much, much more. We have uploaded an electronic copy for your convenience below!

Post-Secondary Planning Booklet

College Admission Reps

Representatives from college admissions offices regularly visit Lyman Hall to meet with interested students. Students receive notice of these visits through mass email blasts generated through our Naviance notification process. We strongly encourage students to meet with these admission reps because the representatives that come to Lyman Hall are most likely the ones reading your application! To view the detailed list of college reps who will be visiting Lyman Hall, please login to your Naviance account and view the list of schools in the Colleges tab.

Naviance login site- https://launchpad.classlink.com/wallingford

Financial Aid

Planning for college expenses is an enormous financial undertaking. Although you may not need to be an expert, students and families should research financial aid options in order to have a basic understanding of college costs and financial obligations upon graduation.To learn more about financial aid, please review our post-secondary planning booklet where we dicuss the basics such has FAFSA vs. CSS Profile, the different types of financial aid, Federal vs Private loans, and more.

Here are some additional Financial Aid resources:

• Detailed financial aid information including repayment options for federal loans and loan forgiveness programs
  • https://studentaid.ed.gov
• Consumer Affairs Top 10 Best Rated Student Loans
  • https://www.consumeraffairs.com/finance/student_loans.html
• National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators
  • https://www.nasfaa.org/
• FinAid.org
  • http://www.finaid.org/
• FAFSA
  • https://fafsa.ed.gov/
• College Affordability and Transparency Center
  • http://collegecost.ed.gov/catc/Default.aspx
• Net Price Calculator
  • http://netpricecalculator.collegeboard.org/

Additional Resources

Below is a list of additional college resources that may be helpful during the application process:

• CompareUp to 3 Colleges Side-by-Side
• Colleges Known for Providing Excellent Additional Student Services
• Creating a FAFSA ID
• CT Dollars and Sense
• CSCU Foundation Scholarship Packet 2017
• Naviance and Post-High School Planning Presentation
• SAT/ACT Optional Colleges
• Peterson's College Information Guide
• SAT Registration
• ACT Registration
• SAT - Applying for Test Accommodations for Students with Disabilities
• Colleges that Require an Essay - NEW 2016 SAT
• How to Pay for College Presentation created by Nicole DePaola, the Assistant Director of Financial Aid at Yale University
• College Financial Aid Presentation created by Kelly Jambo, the director of First Year and Transfer Financial Aid Assistance at Sacred Heart University
• Open Education Database Scholarship search

The PSAT is an assessment tool designed to provide students with valuable feedback and resources that assist them in reaching their college and career aspirations. The CollegeBoard has partnered with Khan Academy, a non-profit organization that provides FREE and personalized SAT practice specifically tailored to each individual student's strengths and weaknesses. By creating a Khan Academy account, it links directly with your CollegeBoard account. By doing this, Khan Academy creates a personalized SAT practice test based entirely off your PSAT results in areas that could be strengthened.

After taking the PSAT, your score report will include a detailed breakdown of your performance. It will also include meaningful feedback about which areas can benefit from improvement and/or suggest AP courses you may be prepared for! To learn more about how to interpret your score report, please view CollegeBoard's video about understanding your scores. For understanding how to use your scores to increase college readiness, please download CollegeBoard's presentation.

How to Create a Khan Academy Account

Beginning in 2015-16 school year, the redesigned SAT will replace the SBAC/Smarter Balanced test as a graduation performance task requirement. The state of Connecticut now requires all juniors to take the SAT which will be administered during the school day at Lyman Hall High School. The CollegeBoard has made significant content, format, and scoring changes to the SAT test in 2016. Now, the SAT prioritizes content that reflects what students have learned in the classroom and what they will encounter in college and future work lives. We have put together an important document for students and parents outlining the important changes.

• The New SAT: What you Need to Know

Before the test:

All students have created a Khan Academy account, which creates a personalized SAT practice test based entirely off PSAT results in areas that could be strengthened. This is a tool that all students should be utilizing to prepare for the SAT.

Preparing for the ACT guide

What to Bring on Test Day

On SAT test day, all students should bring the following items with them:

• Admission Ticket - login to your CollegeBoard account & print your admission ticket. You cannot be admitted without it
• Two No. 2 pencils with erasers - mechanical pencils are not allowed
• Calculator - You are allowed to use a calculator during the 55 minute Math section. Check the CollegeBoard website for which calculators are approved
• Drinks & snacks for between breaks!
• Important Note: All electronic devices must be turned off during the test & even during breaks. This includes cellphones, tablets, and MP3 players- no headphones!

SAT/ACT Prep Classes & Tutors

The School Counseling Department is often asked to recommend programs to help prepare students for the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT). Many of our students have had success by participating in a preparatory course, while others have participated and did not experience significant results.

The School Counseling Department has provided information to assist you and your decision. Our experience suggests that the two most significant factors in enrolling in an SAT program are:

• The student’s measured ability in relation to their SAT scores. We have found that students with superior ability and average results in the SAT profit from a preparatory course.
• The student’s willingness to make a significant commitment to the preparatory course. This suggests that the students treat the course as an additional academic class with a daily prescribed routine to improve vocabulary, reading and math skills.

Professional SAT prep courses make many claims concerning their ability to raise scores. There are many differences in cost, length of courses, and backgrounds of the instructors. Be careful and thorough. We suggest speaking with another student who has taken the prep course.

In the table below are names, addresses, phone numbers, contacts, and costs (when available and subject to change.) The data simply represents organizations which have forwarded to us their information.

Please be aware that in order to meet the needs of all our students, all requests for transcripts and letters of recommendation must be submitted to the School Counseling office at least 10 business days prior to the scholarship deadline. To request a copy of your transcript, please submit a transcript request form to the School Counseling office.

All available scholarships are now located in Naviance where students can review scholarship criteria and deadlines. Please follow the link below to sign into Naviance where you enter your network username and password. 

Once logged into Naviance click on:

• Colleges tab
• Scholarships and Money
• Scholarship List
• Local & Regional Scholarships

https://launchpad.classlink.com/wallingford

School Profile 2023-2024

From the CT State Department of Education Public Act No. 11-135, Section 2(j)

"For the school year commencing July 1, 2012, and each school year thereafter, each local and regional board of education shall create a student success plan for each student enrolled in a public school, beginning in grade six. Such student success plan shall include a student’s career and academic choices in grades six to twelve, inclusive."

In Wallingford, The Student Success Plan (SSP) is a comprehensive, individualized student-centered plan that addresses each student’s personal needs and interests supported by school counselors, teachers, staff, parents, administration and the community. The documents below define what SSP components students will be working on at Lyman Hall High School. Students will also be documenting their progress on their SSP through Naviance in the 'tasks assigned to me' feature.

Grade 9 SSP

Grade 10 SSP

Grade 11 SSP

Grade 12 SSP

Seniors Only

In order to meet the needs of all our students, please give the School Counseling Office 10 days to process your transcript requests. Seniors who need transcripts for college must request their transcripts in Naviance. Please see the How-To Guide on Requesting Transcripts for information on electronically requesting your transcripts in Naviance. If you need a transcript for a scholarship or something not listed in Naviance, please use the white transcript request form.

Underclassmen & Former Students

Freshmen, sophomores, juniors and former Lyman Hall students who need a copy of their transcript, please complete the white transcript request form provided.

If you are under the age of 18 years old, a parent signature is required. Please fax the completed white form to (203) 294-5335 or mail at attention to the School Counseling Office at 70 Pond Hill Road Wallingford, CT 06492.

Students Looking to Transfer

If you are a student who is transferring from Lyman Hall High School to another school, you do not need to complete any transcript request forms. Students looking to transfer must complete withdrawal paperwork prior to their last day, which can be found in the School Counseling Office. If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Hoag at (203) 294-5320 or ahoag@wallingfordschools.org.

Support Services

Lyman Hall School Counselors provide a wide range of support services for ALL students which include:

• Academic advising and support in planning a 4-year program
• Personal, social, and emotional development
• College and career exploration and planning
• Help navigate the college search and application process
• School crisis intervention
• Consultation with parents, teachers, support staff, and administrators
• Collaboration and coordination of resources within the Wallingford community
• Planning, implementing and evaluating a comprehensive school counseling program

Contacting Your School Counselor

Students should contact their School Counselor if they have concerns with:

• Academic performance
• Personal, social, emotional concerns
• Interpersonal conflicts
• Post-secondary planning
• Career exploration
• Class scheduling

Parents should contact their child's School Counselor if they have concerns with their child's:

• Academic performance
• Personal, social, emotional problems
• Information regarding special needs or family situations
• Post-secondary and career planning

Working papers are issued in the School Counseling office. Employers require working papers for students under the age of 18. Please bring to the office your Promise to Employ letter (also proof of birth if you do not attend Lyman Hall High School). 

Working Papers-Information for Parents/Guardians

Every year, the School Counseling Department presents to the 8th graders at Dag Hammarskjold about transitioning to high school. Because we provide the students with so much information, we decided to load the presentation here for you!

8th Grade Course Selection Presentation

How to Register for Courses using PowerSchool

Step-by-Step Video: How to Register for Courses in PowerSchool

Course Level Placement

Appropriate placement in courses is one factor that contributes to academic success. Course level recommendations are based on a variety of criteria: ability, previous academic performance, social and emotional development, etc. Although not foolproof, teacher recommendations have proven to be the most accurate predictor of student success. Placement in certain courses from 8th to 9th grade is determined by strict criteria. 

In the event you do not agree with your child’s course level recommendation, we encourage you to communicate directly with the current teacher to address concerns and/or questions. After speaking with the teacher, you may then request a conference with the appropriate department chairperson/liaison, instructional leader or administrator if you continue to disagree with the recommendation. If you would still like to pursue a course level change, please complete the Course Level Override Form and return it to your school's counseling office."