IC Imagine Public Charter School

IC Imagine Families, 

Fall semester seems to have come to a much quicker and unexpected end than we would have liked. First, we hope you are all well and safe following the storm. Should your family need support, please don’t hesitate to contact the upper school counselors.  We look forward to starting 2025 strong in January. 

Jason Frank (9th & 10th grade counselor), April Vernau (11th & 12th grade counselor) 

Senior Updates: 

• Nearly 50% of the Class of 2025 has applied to college now and over 130 transcript requests have been processed! 

• Students with application deadlines during our winter break are encouraged to request their transcripts from Mrs. Vernau BEFORE winter break!

• FAFSA is NOW OPEN! If you are planning to attend a 2 or 4 year college, it is recommended that you complete the FAFSA.  Please make sure to take care of this sooner, rather than later. 

  • Students and parents MUST both create a FSA ID. You should create your FSA ID before attempting the FAFSA as it takes a few business days to receive your login information.  

• Helpful FAFSA Resources: 

  • How to know which parent should create the FSA ID/complete the FAFSA? 

  • Schedule FAFSA Help at AB Tech (even if you aren’t planning to attend AB Tech, they will help!) 

  • December 10th - FAFSA Webinar! Click here to register

  • A list of items you need in front of you while completing your FAFSA

• Spring is a good time to start researching other scholarships, too! Here are some helpful places to look for those

  • CFNC’s Scholarship Search

  • Community Foundation of Western NC

  • Ask your place of work or your parents’ place of work if they offer any scholarships! 

  • The annual King Law Scholarship is now open. Click here to apply

Students planning to apply to a 4 year college or university, it’s not TOO late to apply! While many “early” application deadlines have now passed, “regular” and “rolling” application deadlines are still upcoming in January - April. 

• Please take note of the following resources which will continue through January 2025. 

  • Every Tuesday: College Essay Help in Mr. Hanna’s room during lunch. No appointment needed.

  • Every Thursday: College Application Help in Mrs. Vernau’s office during lunch. No appointment needed. 

• Once a student submits their application, they must continue to check their email!! 

  • They will need to submit a transcript request form to me 3-5 days in advance of their college application deadline (This is how I will know to send their official high school transcript and letter(s) of recommendation to the colleges they’ve actually applied to 

  • IF they are submitting ACT/SAT scores, it is the student’s responsibility to send these to each college by logging into their CollegeBoard or ACT account. 

  • IF they have taken AB Tech courses while in high school, it is the student’s responsibility to send a copy of their AB Tech transcript to each college by visiting AB Tech’s website

Students planning to attend a 2 year community college with the goal of transferring to a 4 year college later OR with the goal of learning a skilled trade/certificate for employment, should plan to apply in Spring 2025. In February, we will host AB Technical College on our campus for an application workshop.  Their application is free and requires no essays. We will also have a follow up workshop to assist students in completing the AB Tech Scholarship Application that will be due April 1st. 

All students planning to attend college in the state of North Carolina  (2 or 4 year) should complete the following application

1. NC Residency Determination Service (RDS)

   1. Only have to complete this 1 time 

   2. Can be completed NOW! 

Other Important Websites for college application and planning: 

• To apply to most colleges use The Common Application: https://www.commonapp.org

• SCOIR: www.scoir.com college & career planning website used at IC Imagine (students login using Google/Clever)

• CFNC: https://www.cfnc.org College Foundation of North Carolina - College & scholarship search and helpful info

• Big Future College Search: https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-search

• Community Foundation of Western NC: www.cfwnc.org local scholarship search

• Is your student interested in taking a “gap year”? 

• Archived college admission webinars available at no cost

New & Exciting North Carolina College Updates: 

• On May 23, 2024, the UNC Board of Governors approved Policy 700.1.1 revising the test score requirements for admissions. Effective Fall 2025, students with a weighted GPA between 2.5 and less than 2.8 must submit SAT or ACT scores. Students with a weighted GPA of 2.8 or higher have the option to submit these scores.

• NC College Connect - a simplified college application is launching! Only 5 questions, no essay or letter of recommendation required!) Eligible seniors must have a 2.8 weighted GPA or higher to use this application system and application fees still apply. 

  • Participating public universities: Elizabeth City State, Fayetteville State, UNC Greensboro, UNC Pembroke, UNC Asheville, Winston-Salem State & all 58 2 year/community colleges in NC. 

  • Eligible NC seniors will receive a letter in the mail sometime in October with more information. 

• NC Independent Colleges & Universities (NCICU) is offering a similar simplified college application program, launching now! Minimal questions,no essay or letter of recommendation required. Eligible seniors must have a 2.8 weighted GPA or higher to use this application system and there are NO application fees for these colleges! 

AB Tech Reminders for Juniors & Seniors: 

Our Distance Learning Lab instructors are:

Leah Gillespie (Periods 3-4 & 7-8) leahgillespie@icimagine.org

Amy Surrett (Periods 1-2 & 5-6) amysurrett@icimagine.org

During winter break, students are still responsible for keeping up with their AB Tech courses. The last day of AB Tech’s fall semester is December 18th. During IC Imagine holidays, their point of contact should they need assistance is:

 Vicki Thompson (AB Tech High School Liaison)  vickihthompson@abtech.edu

Spring Semester At a Glance: 

• OneLife by Goodwill Assembly for juniors will take place on January 10th. Students who apply and get accepted will attend a 12 week lunch course on employment soft skills and will then be placed for a paid 100 hour summer internship.  

• Junior Classroom Counseling Lessons will take place on January 16-17th during social studies classes 

• 1:1 Junior Conferences with Mrs. Vernau will begin on January 22nd (Parents are highly encouraged to attend.)

• January 30th - AB Tech application workshop for seniors at 9AM

• 9th - 11th grade registration for 2025-2026 school year will begin in early February 

• Rising 9th grade registration for the 2025-2026 school year will begin late February 

• Mr. Frank will be finishing up his 1:1 freshman conferences in early spring and will transition to sophomore conferences! 

A few weeks ago, we had a chance to take a group of students on a tour of AB Tech’s Woodfin Campus for Emergency Services.  They learned about the Basic Law Enforcement, EMS/Paramedic, and Firefighting programs available to them at AB Tech.