PRESENTED BY THE MCJH COUNSELORS

M A Y D E

J U N I O R

C R E E K

H I G H

Rising 6th Grade

Parent Night

_{For the 2026-2027 School Year}

Rising 5th to 6th Grade

Course Selection Presentation

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Derick Flowers - A-Dos

La’Quinnesias Dunham - Dua-Lee

Natalie Biddle - Lei-Qui

Leah Parker R-Z

Sandra Millan- Registrar

2026-2027 MCJH Counselors

Administration Team

Amanda Weaver-Principal

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Ariel Ortega - 6th Grade AP

Taylor Kortlever - 7th Grade AP Karen Feldman - 8th Grade AP

Jettie Brookins - Student Support

Junior High World

• All classes meet every day including elective and PE (no more recess)
• NO MORE walking in STRAIGHT LINES
• Many Clubs & Activities
• The opportunity to make a lot of new friends
• Tardies!!: Students need to get to class on time every period
• Expect more homework, responsibilities, privileges, & self management
• Attend tutorials
• Canvas is used in all courses
• Student IDs/lanyards must be worn at all times
• Students MUST wear their KISD Student ID badge

Junior High World

• Backpacks are allowed to be carried to each class.
• Technology allowed during lunch and it is the responsibility of each student. Misuse of technology can lead to technology privileges at school being revoked.
• Students go between classes, to the restroom, lunch, and PE by themselves, not escorted by teachers.
• Student planner/tracker – highly recommend to organize classwork and homework for your 7 classes.

Course Selection Process

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February 2-March 6th: Course selection window for parents and students to select courses in Schoolinks. Complete course selection worksheet and return to elementary school counselor.

• Course Selection Planning sheets must be turned in to your 5^th grade teacher by February 6, 2026.

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February 2-March 6: Elementary counselors meet with 5th graders to review course selections.

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March 2-6: Course verification window for parents to view courses and confirm selections. Last opportunity to request changes for your child's schedule.

Junior High Completion Requirements

• Core Classes every year:
• English
• Math
• Science
• Social Studies
• PE every year
• Fine Arts (one year minimum)
• Electives

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Course Selection Worksheet

Required Courses:

-English and Reading

-Math

-Science

-Social Studies

-PE (physical education)

-Include 4 electives as options for next year. List elections in order from 1st choice to 5th choice.

Select Classes

Opt Out Opportunity

OPT-OUT Requirement

Students who achieve masters level on 4^th grade Reading, Math, or Science STAAR exams will be placed as follows:

Masters on STAAR Placement

STAAR Reading STAAR Reading STAAR Math STAAR Science

6th Grade KAP RLA

6th Grade KAP Social Studies

6th Grade KAP Math

6th Grade KAP Science

Remember to indicate on the course selection worksheet your preferences.

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Core Course Formats

• Academic- on grade level and designed to prepare students for high school and college as well as other postsecondary education more time to review concepts, prepares students for college

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• KAP (Katy Advanced Placement)- prepare students for Advanced Placement (AP) courses (college level instruction) while in high school, More challenging, fast pace

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• KAP/GT (Gifted and Talented)- placement requires the student to have met specific KISD screening criteria and have been accepted into the G/T program.

KAP

Designed to challenge motivated students and prepare them

for success in advanced coursework.

These courses:

1. typically move at a faster pace,
2. are academically challenging,
3. require more independent learning, self-motivation and
4. require more homework than academic courses at times.

Katy ISD has an open enrollment policy for advanced academics. Consider each course separately when deciding to select Academic or KAP.

KAP PROGRAM INFORMATION

• Although we highly encourage students to stay in a KAP class, they may exit a course during the first 6-weeks grading period or at the end of the 1^st semester.
• The student must have teacher, parent, counselor, and admin approval via a KAP Exit form to exit after the 1st sixth weeks.

Choosing Courses

Math for 6^th Graders

6^th, 7^th, and 8^th grade math classes are the foundations for high school math classes and should not be rushed.

• Academic Math – on grade level curriculum
• Students will have math homework weekly to practice the concepts
• Students will learn 6^th grade math skills/concepts only
• There are approximately 64 objectives covered
• KAP Math – accelerated math class covering all of 6^th grade and approximately ½ of 7^th grade math curriculum
• A new concept is learned almost every day
• Students will have math homework every night to practice the concepts
• KAP math focuses on preparing students for High School Algebra I in 8^th grade
• There are approximately over 80 objectives (1/2 of them are 7^th grade)
• Students who earn “Masters” on 4^th grade STAAR are automatically placed in 6^th Math KAP
• 6^th grade KAP Math Students will take the 6^th grade STAAR

Characteristics of a KAP Math Student

Demonstrates reasoning skills pertaining to mathematical concepts in everyday life

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ELA-R, Science, and Social Studies

• The difference in academic and KAP for English Language Arts & Reading (ELA-R), Science, and Social Studies comes in the resources/materials used and performance expectations.
• KAP is built upon the core academic curriculum and is designed to build student capacity to understand more rigorous content.
• KAP is designed to help prepare students for advanced courses in high school.
• ELA-R is blocked meaning it is 2 class periods in a row with the same teacher.

Possible Required Courses

Electives

• 6^th grade is allowed to choose 2 electives for the year.
• Please be aware that some electives require after school commitments.
• Electives have assignments & receive numeric grades.
• 6^th grade electives:
• Art, Band, Choir, Orchestra, Theatre, and Leadworthy Intermediate
• Due to the high demand of certain electives, placement in elective courses will be limited based on availability and is not guaranteed.

Choosing an Elective Class

Physical Education

• P.E. is a graded class that meets daily.
• You must dress out.
• You will be assigned a locker and a combination lock.

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• Pre-Athletics is a class that can be taken in the place of (PE) which is designed to prepare 6th grade students for the Athletics Program in the 7th grade. Students choosing to participate in Pre-Athletics should will do daily workouts during the class period that are more physical and mentally demanding

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• Students will focus on athletic conditioning, strength, and agility. Pre-Athletics will also focus on sports in-season at the time; ex: Volleyball, Basketball, Track, Tennis, and Soccer. Students will learn skills, drills, and rules for those sports as well.

Electives

Band- Woodwind, Brass, Percussion- Band directors will meet with the student to determine the best instrument. Plan to practice 30 min. a day outside of the regular classroom. Must rent or buy an instrument. There will be two or three concerts per year.

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Orchestra- Stringed instruments, violin, cello, viola and bass. Plan to practice 30 min. per day outside of the regular classroom. Must rent or buy an instrument. There will be two or three concerts per year.

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Choir- Singing, music reading, and concerts. There will be three or four performances per year.

Electives

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Art- painting, drawing, mixing colors to create contrast, drawing from imagination, art vocabulary and art history, ceramics

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Theater- introduction and development of expression, acting skills, and theater production

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Leadworthy Intermediate- focuses on how to become a leader amongst your peers.

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Completing the elective portion of the course selection planning sheet

★ Number your electives in order of preference

★ Return course selection worksheet to your counselor by February 6th, 2026

Course Selection

• The district uses a college and career platform called SchooLinks. Students will use SchooLinks for the course selection process. Your child can access SchooLinks through MyKaty Cloud.
• Elementary counselors will meet with each student to help with the course selection process.

Digital Only Process🡪Parent Steps

• Login to SchooLinks
• Navigate to your student’s Personalized Plan
• Contact your student’s counselor with any questions
• APPROVE your students course plan in their personalized junior high completion plan

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 Parent Log-In

Step by Step Guide

Step 1:

• Enter www.katyisd.org into your browser (Google Chrome works best)
• Click the MyKaty Icon on the banner

Step 2:

• Login using your HAC parent login information. 
• If you need assistance with your HAC login information visit the Family Technology Resources & Support Webpage

First Last name

FL

Step 3:

• Complete multi-Factor Authentication if you have set this up already.  If not, you will set up MFA for your parent account with a picture or a passcode.

Step 3:

• In MyKaty Cloud locate the SchooLinks tile.
• If you do not see it, type the word SchooLinks in the search box.
• Click the SchooLinks tile.
• You’ll be automatically logged in—no password needed!

• Congratulations—you’re logged in!
• You should now see your Guardian Dashboard, you can start exploring. Let’s go!

Verification Process

Directions for Parents: View and Approve your Student’s Course Plan in SchooLinks

*The ONLY way parents are able to view and approve a course plan with their signature is through SchooLinks.

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TO DO:

• Login and approve the Personalized Plan - read important acknowledgements, and verify your student’s planned courses

*If you do not have access to approve it is because your student has not yet submitted their personalized plan.

There are two ways to access Schoolinks:

1. Available Anytime: Go to www.katyisd.org & log into MyKaty Cloud

OR

2. After a student has submitted and counselor has approved the Personalized Plan in SchooLinks: Find “Action Needed” email sent from SchooLinks in your inbox.

Option 1: Go to www.katyisd.org & log into MyKaty Cloud

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• Login using your HAC parent login information. 
• If you need assistance with your HAC login information visit the Family Technology Resources & Support Webpage

• Complete Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) if you have set this up already.  If not, you will set up MFA for your parent account with a picture or a passcode.

• In MyKaty Cloud locate the SchooLinks tile.
• If you do not see it, type the word SchooLinks in the search box.
• Click the SchooLinks tile.
• You’ll be automatically logged in—no password needed!

• Congratulations—you’re logged in!
• You should now see your Guardian Dashboard, you can start exploring. Let’s go!

A personalized plan must be submitted by a student in order for a parent to view it in SchooLinks.

If your student has not submitted their personalized plan click here for directions.

You will see your student(s) approval requests listed under the To-dos on your guardian dashboard. Click to view.

A personalized plan must be submitted by a student in order for a parent to view it in SchooLinks.

If you do not see “Approve your student’s Personalized Plan” in your Guardian To-Do list, you can find it by clicking on your student’s name, opening the casefile section menu, and locating Personalized Plans under the planning section.

If your student has not submitted their personalized plan click here for directions.

Student Name

Student Name

Option 2: Find “Action Needed” email sent from SchooLinks in your inbox.

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Access SchooLinks through the unique link contained in the reminder email that is sent to your email address. This email will be sent after your student's counselor approves their plan.

The link takes you directly to your student’s plan in SchooLinks.

Your Student’s

03/17/26

After clicking on “Review Plan” you will see your student’s plan status. A personalized plan must be submitted by a student in order for a parent to view it in SchooLinks.

Above, you can see the Student submitted, Counselor approved, and the plan is waiting for Guardian approval.

If your student has not submitted their personalized plan click here for directions.

03/17/26

The Personalized Plan contains different elements for a guardian to review based on the grade level of the student. Guardians have view only access in SchooLinks.

Click “view course plan” to generate a PDF and see your student’s 3 year plan including courses for next school year.

A 5th grader’s Personalized JH Completion plan has the AP/KAP course commitment, the KAP Opt Out (SB 2124) acknowledgement, and the 3 year course plan.

Its okay if a student has not set all of their goals – this can be done anytime in SchooLinks by the student.

A 6th or 7th grader’s plan has the AP/KAP course commitment, current goals and 3 year course plan.

Click “view course plan” to generate a PDF and see your student’s 3 year plan including courses for next school year.

Goals are generated when a student explores or reassess their current interests by taking the “Would You Rather” and “Find Your Path” assessments in SchooLinks. Individual goals help ensure their plan is connected to their own ideas for the future and help students stay on track.

An 8th, 9th, 10th, or 11th grader’s plan has the AP/KAP course commitment, a Virtual Course Transportation Acknowledgement, additional information to review about other elements in the plan including Performance Acknowledgements, College, Career, and Military Readiness, and Endorsements.

Some flexible scheduling options allow students to take courses virtually and have late arrival or early release. Note: These options require students to provide their own transportation.

*Click on the links in step 3 to help understand the next two steps of the plan.

For an 8th, 9th, 10th, or 11th grader, the plan has a section where Performance Acknowledgements they are planning to earn may be selected. This is information to educate students on how the courses they are planning for could help them achieve outstanding performance. Choices made here by the student stay here and are not recorded anywhere else. Performance acknowledgements earned are tracked in the school district’s student information system and on the transcript.

It is okay if a student selected none or did not answer

For an 8th, 9th, 10th, or 11th grader, the plan has a section where College, Career and Military Readiness (CCMR) Indicators they are planning to earn may be selected. This is information to educate students on how the courses they are planning for could help them earn CCMR. Choices made here by the student stay here and are not recorded anywhere else. CCMR indicators for students are tracked in the school district’s student information system and listed on the transcript.

It is okay if a student did not answer

Its okay if a student has not set all of their goals – this can be done anytime in SchooLinks by the student.

Click “view course plan” to generate a PDF and see your student’s 4 year plan including courses for next school year.

Goals are generated when a student explores or reassess their current interests by taking the “Would You Rather” and “Find Your Path” assessments in SchooLinks. Individual goals help ensure their plan is connected to their own ideas for the future and help students stay on track.

Finalize your approval by adding your First and Last Name and click “Approve”

*The ONLY way parents/guardians are able to view and approve a course plan with their signature is through SchooLinks.

Thank you for supporting your student in their course planning journey!

Call to action – next steps

• Talk to your student about their 3-year course plan in
• Ensure your student submit their Course Plan, Personalized Plan, and Course Selection Sheet by 2/6/2026
• Approve your students Personalized Junior High Completion Plan by 3/6/2026

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REMEMBER!

• Course selection sheets are due to your 5^th grade counselor by February 6, 2026.
• Keep your course selection planning sheet neat and clean. Take good care of it!
• Choose your courses wisely – think carefully about your choices.
• Talk to your teachers about KAP placement.
• Choose an elective that is most interesting to YOU.
• List 3 alternate electives.
• Return the course planning sheet on time!
• Any changes to course selections are made during the course verification window in March.

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