Dear Parents of 10^th Graders,

All of us want the best possible future for our kids.  For many students, that will include having the skills necessary to succeed in college or a post-high school technical training program.

One of the indicators of college readiness is the score a student earns on the ACT, which can range from 1 to 36.  Typically, a minimum score of 18 or higher is necessary for entrance to an in-state college.  At the University of Kentucky, 50% of the incoming freshmen have an ACT score between 23 and 28.   While these entrance tests can be taken more than one time, that process can become expensive.  Currently the State tests all Juniors as part of the state accountability.

To help your son or daughter make the best possible score on the ACT, we are implementing a test preparation program from Triumph College Admissions and want to make you aware of what has and will be going on in terms of ACT preparation for your son or daughter and how he or she can make full use of the program. 

Using your son or daughter’s eight digit Infinite Campus number as both the user name and password, your student can view his or her scores on this test and explore the software, tutorials and quizzes that are available for your child to use. We will be making this program available to all our students. Seniors, Juniors and Sophomores will be able to better their ACT score for college scholarships and Freshman will use it to prepare for the PLAN.

As a parent, you may already know that several companies offer ACT and SAT prep at a cost of several hundred dollars per child.  Fayette County Public Schools has purchased this for our high school students to use at no additional cost to your family.   The process for improving your son or daughter’s score is as follows:

• Students take the diagnostic test or use scores from a previously taken actual ACT test to determine their level in each assessed content area: English, reading, math, and science.
• Students then know what their content weaknesses are and can use the online lessons and quizzes to improve their score. 
• Both teachers and parents can track the time the student is spending and the rate of improvement through reports that can be generated.
• Generally speaking, if a student will spend ten hours focusing on their weakest

skills, they will raise their test score.

Our teachers are also using ACT preparation materials as they teach in their classrooms but it will take additional work on the student’s part to raise their scores significantly.  The

Lafayette teachers will also be supporting the students’ efforts by providing the following activities outside of the regular school day:

• On four Saturday mornings (Jan. 30, Feb. 20, March 13th, and March 20th) from 9:00 to 12:00 our teachers will lead sessions in our computer labs and provide individual help.

So that we can anticipate how many students will be present, please contact Sherri McPherson at sherri.mcpherson@fayette.kyschools.us or call 381-3474 to register your student for these sessions.  Due to limited number of computers, please e-mail or call Mrs. McPherson if you child is unable to attend his/her registered session.

We hope that your student will take advantage of these opportunities.  Their future could be much brighter if they do.