 | Welcome Back, Seniors!
8/27/2010
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| About College Counseling at CA The CA
College Counseling program provides close individual guidance and
extensive resources to assist our students as they explore options to
continue their educational and personal growth beyond their high school
years. In keeping with our school’s mission, we challenge students to
approach the wide range of possibilities available to them with an open
mind, and to apply the tools of inquiry they’ve mastered to this
exploration. At the same time, we ask them to look to the
self-knowledge they’ve gained from a CA education to seek a set of
potential choices that represent a meaningful bridge from their present
state of development and interests to their future goals and
aspirations. We accompany the students through this process, from
initial self-assessment, to creating and researching college lists, to
the final decision of where they will spend their next four years.
Students can only find real success if they are empowered and allowed
to take the lead, while parents, teachers and counselors partner to
support, advise, and follow the students' responsible and active
leadership of the college process.
Our counseling program first
engages students in earnest with the January Junior College Night, and
individual meetings begin immediately after, extending through the end
of senior year. We believe that the middle of the junior year is the
best time to begin serious occupation with the college search process;
at that point, students have the perspective to reflect meaningfully on
themselves and on the college landscape, and can begin to make choices
and distinctions that will shape their application list-- always with
an eye to an honest self-assessment and thoughtful, research-based,
understanding of potential college “matches.” Our students report a
high rate of satisfaction with the process and with their college
decisions, and our school culture celebrates each of those individual
choices for the personal decision and meaningful step into the future
that it represents.
The college counselors meet with ninth and
tenth grade students during the year to advise them on their choices in
their curriculum and activities, and we offer initial standardized
testing opportunities in the tenth grade to familiarize students with
that process. CA believes strongly that those initial high school
years are to be spent in discovery and cultivation of interests and
community relationships, and that allowing students to focus on their
school experiences in those years, without explicit preoccupation with
the college process, will ultimately lead to the greatest success and
most productive engagement with the process in the junior and senior
years. With a wide range of programming offered throughout the year
for students and parents, our office is a complete “one-stop shop” for
preparing for and applying to colleges, and everything we do is
informed by the CA mission and based in a close knowledge of the CA
curriculum and community.
CA and its programs are well-known in
college admissions offices nationally, and our students are recognized
as valuable contributors to classrooms and communities, well equipped
to hit the ground running and make a difference in the colleges they
attend. Our office annually hosts over 120 college admission
representatives who visit in the fall to meet with our 11th and 12th
grade students. We are proud of the diversity of our students'
choices, and excited by their adventurous spirit. CA alumni currently
attend 120 institutions of higher education in 40 states, DC, Canada,
and the UK.
We look forward to joining you as you seek the next destination on the journey you’ve begun at Colorado Academy! |
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CA College Office Mission Statement | CA College Office Mission Statement The Colorado Academy College Office and students work together in an
active partnership to maximize student success and to discover
accessible options for life beyond CA that best align with each
student’s personality, goals, aspirations, and learning style, and
which bridge meaningfully from their high school
experiences. This partnership requires that students:
- engage in self-reflection
- maintain realistic expectations and consider options with an open mind
- cultivate productive relationships throughout the CA community
- build an academic record which represents their best effort in an appropriate curriculum
- conduct
sound research
- listen to and act upon guidance and suggestions from their counselor, and
- keep
track of deadlines and submit paperwork on time
while the College Office:
- provides guidance, support, counseling and reminders
- advises students on constructing a balanced college list
- directs students to sources for research and helps them decipher data
- gives extensive feedback and guidance in writing strong applications and essays, and
- provides colleges with required support forms in a timely manner, representing accurately students’ CA records.
The goal of this partnership is not only a satisfactory, appropriate
option for a student’s continued education after graduation from CA,
but also an empowering growth experience through which students
practice application of the lessons of a CA education as they learn
independence and begin the transition into their adult lives. While
choosing a college is certainly one of the more important decisions
students will make during high school, it does not determine success
and happiness in life. Therefore, we caution students not to be
intimidated or overwhelmed by the process. With the right combination
of introspection, self-discipline and good humor, the college search
should be a rewarding experience. |
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| | "The great irony of the college process was that amongst the angst and frustration of applying to college, Mark and Cathy's offices were perhaps the least stressful places on campus. With their perpetual optimism, they made the intimidating college process seem very doable." |
 Cathy NabbefeldCo-Dir. of College Counseling (303) 914-2504
Cathy Nabbefeld is starting her sixteenth year at CA. For twelve years she was the director of college counseling and is now one of two co-directors. Cathy is a native of Boston and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1990. Following college, she worked as the Associate Director of Admissions and Director of Financial Aid at the Putney School in Vermont. She spent her last two years at Putney as the Director of Admissions. After leaving Putney, she completed her master’s degree in education at Harvard University while interning in the dean of students’ office at the Buckingham Browne & Nichols School in Cambridge. In her spare time, Cathy serves on the Colorado Council for High School and College Relations and as president of the Rocky Mountain Association for College Admission Counseling. She is also an avid ultimate Frisbee player and coached CA's ultimate frisbee team for many years. |
 Mark MoodyCo-Director of College Counseling (303) 914-2582 A native South Texan,
Mark did graduate work in Latin
American literature before returning to his alma mater, Trinity
University, to begin a
college admission career in 1998. At Trinity, he traveled the world while developing an
international recruitment program, and worked closely with Southern California independent schools. In 2003, a passion for working with
students led him to explore independent school college counseling and
teaching at The John Cooper School near Houston. A year later he
became Director of College Counseling at The Bush School, an
experiential K-12 school in Seattle, and four years later journeyed to
CA. Mark enjoys advising and advocating for students, and being a part
of the life and activities of the Upper School. He's the advisor to a cohort from the class of 2012. Outside of CA, he's been actively involved with the Association for College Counselors in Independent Schools, and his hobbies include
skiing, motorcycles, and cowboy boots. |
 Sally HigginsAdmin. Asst. - College Office (303) 914-2502 Originally from Westfield, NJ, Sally graduated from Ohio University with a BS in journalism. She first put her degree to use as an advertising copywriter and, later, as a legislative correspondent on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. When not fulfilling her duties in the college office, Sally enjoys hiking, gardening, reading and traveling, as well as spending time with her husband, Jim, and their three grown children and son-in-law.
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Quick Reference for Applications Colorado Academy
3800 S Pierce Street
Denver, CO 80235
CEEB/ ACT Code: 060-393
Counselor’s Phone: 303-914-2502
Counselor’s Fax: 303-914-2544
See counselor titles and emails above
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