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Secondary School Advising

The role of the Secondary School Advising is to support families as they research, visit, apply to, and choose a high school for their child. Our goal is to provide families with the information they need to navigate the process and make the most informed decision about their child’s next educational environment.

Important Documents

Click the document links below to open, view, download, and print.

Advising Guide (read first)

Carroll School Secondary School Advising Guide

Checklist by School Type

First page of the PDF file: SSA_School-Checklist

Parent To-Do List: March-August

First page of the PDF file: SSAChecklists_March-August

Parent Questionnaires

Monthly To-Do Lists

SSAT Help Guides

Additional Resources

Events (Hosted by Carroll's Secondary School Advising Team)

Open House Events & Dates (Hosted Externally)

Helpful Websites

Association of Boarding Schools (TABS) - Common App is located on this site
Association of Independent Schools in New England
Directory of Catholic Schools in Greater Boston
Directory of Special Education Schools (MAAPS)
Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education - Search for schools and school types
National Association of Independent Schools - Directory of schools, admissions and financial aid facts
Massachusetts Technical & Agricultural High Schools
Questions to Ask When Visiting a School

Applying to Schools

All schools, with the exception of public schools, require that families complete an application. Technical and Agricultural schools are considered public, but do require an application. Some schools use a paper application, while others have their own online applications and others use a common application.

When you are researching and visiting schools, please make a point to learn each school’s application requirements and due dates.

Transcripts & Recommendations
Using the Standard Application Online (SAO)

Transcripts & Recommendations

Regardless of what school your child applies to, the Secondary School Advising Team is responsible for submitting the following documents to schools:

Two years of student grade reports including pull-downs (NOTE: If the student did not attend Carroll for the previous two years, the parent is responsible for requesting that grades be sent from a previous school for the last two years.)
Student Transcript
Character Recommendation
English Recommendation
Math Recommendation
Tutor Recommendation (if applicable)

All other required documentation, including IEPs or neuropsychological evaluations must be submitted by parents.

Notes about Recommendations:

Secondary School Advising coordinates the writing and submission of letters of recommendation. In order to ensure that this process is efficient for teachers and families, Carroll School uses its own recommendation forms. This allows us to start the recommendation writing process early and eliminates the need for teachers to complete more than one form.
Important: If you use a common application such as the Standard Application Online (SAO) or Ravenna, please do not list recommendation writers when prompted. If you list recommendation writers, the common application will send an email requesting a recommendation. This is not necessary (and confusing) as the recommendations are managed by Secondary School Advising.

Using the Standard Application Online (SAO)

The Standard Application Online (SAO) allows families to complete just one online application that can be submitted to any number of schools that accept it. For more information on the SAO, please click on the links below:

Important: When using the SAO, you MUST list Carroll School as an “Advisor” so that Placement can upload the required documents.

Resources for Parents

Info & Resources Important Dates & Events SSAT Test After Carroll Placements