Well, sadly as the father of a senior, college counseling is getting back into full swing here at Riverstone. This is also true for our juniors, who will spend time this fall with the many college representatives who visit Riverstone.

While our seniors will be working closely with our College Counseling Director to line up test dates, complete essays, finalize application lists, and secure recommendations, our juniors will be getting their first real look at how the college admissions process works.

We require that all of our juniors attend the college information presentations held at Riverstone because we believe - and have years of experience to back it up - that creating the right list of schools to apply to is one of the most important parts to our process. We are fortunate to have a wide network of schools that we have built wonderful relationships with who take the time to meet our students. The admissions counselors from these colleges help students understand the importance of considering location, size, academic focus, student organizations, internships, and many other factors that influence our students' selection process. These meetings are a great advantage for all, as it is just as important to eliminate schools as it is to add them. In the spring, the College Counseling trip allows juniors to test out their theories first hand.

We are very fortunate to have Gretchen Arguedas as our College Counseling Director. She has the perfect skill set for the job: she has extensive knowledge of schools and is a gifted writer and a brilliant editor. She guides our seniors through the revision process so the essays that they ultimately submit maintain their voice. It is paramount that college essays do not sound like a consultant or parent wrote them; those essays are easy to spot for admissions officers.

This past summer, Gretchen was selected to participate in Middlebury College's prestigious Bread Loaf Writers Conference. Co-founded by Robert Frost, the conference has been called by the New Yorker, "the oldest and most prestigious writers' conference in the country." After her summer in Vermont, she is more ready than ever to work with our students!

We love talking about the college process - please knock on her door (or mine) if you have any questions!

Alex A (Gr 4) and her cousin teamed up to place 3rd in their age group in the Kids Adventure Games in Sun Valley this past weekend! The races emphasize teamwork, problem solving, sportsmanship, environmental awareness and fun. Judging by the photos, the course was challenging!

Noah B-F (Gr 12) was featured in a recently-released BeTheParents.org video. BeTheParents is an organization spreading the message to teens and their parents to make it a priority to remain connected. Their mission is to help kids be successful and to avoid many of the pitfalls that teens often find themselves stumbling into unintentionally.