So, if you do very well in languages, English, or history, then great! I think you can experiment there. If there are some classes that are a bit more difficult for you, perhaps take them at an honors level or a regular level so you can balance the rigor of the more complicated subjects with those that are more accessible. This year is a big discussion, especially with the exams. Standardized applications are the same for you. For my part, at Emerson, we have them as optional, so if students don't want to submit their standardized tests, it's not a requirement. However, if they don't submit the tests, they have to submit an additional essay, an academic or creative portfolio. That's our process. How is yours, Sol, and how are they doing it at Cal Fenton? Yes, like Emerson Garden, they have optional standardized tests this year, but there's nothing else that has to be submitted.
so you know we only have to mandate for that but next year it would likely go back to 180 days that we'd have to do we have in town before i think we've there was one year we had so many snow days we dropped it from 182 down to 180 so we could finish i think on a thursday or friday prior to the weekend uh we did make that move before but again these things the year has to unfold and life has to happen for us to make those adjustments okay i'm okay approving it i am jim joy mike i'm okay i'm fine with it with me okay all right let me make a motion okay i move to make a motion to approve the 2021-2022 school calendar second okay any further discussion on this okay so all in favor aye okay that's unanimous thank you thank you everybody but you never thought you'd have this approved in in the month of october john and this this might be a record somebody else's i think bethel one time approved two calendar two years in advance on their calendars but it was because because of their construction project they wanted to do something there but we're okay there okay so uh we can move on to the prioritized 21 22 and updated 10-year prioritized capital projects discussion and a possible approval so if we can pull that one up eric that would be helpful and then ken are you walking us through this one yes all right um ken is actually going to share on this one so he should be pulling up for you now so he can walk through it while he uh has control okay can everybody see it yeah okay good yep so first i'll start out with telling you that um dr burl and i meet with uh mr dunn and mrs marion uh every monday and we found out a couple of weeks ago that apparently the capital projects and this has been shared with the finance committee and the um facilities committee uh the capital projects that were approved last year actually still have to go to referendum since they were all going to be bonded they would actually have to go to referendum so it sounds like they will not be holding a separate referendum for the capital projects this year so the facilities committee that's one reason we had to have the special meeting was to move the the projects that were approved in into year one and re-prioritize a few other projects and those projects were the first line in the high school which is plumbing fixtures and equipment so these were all approved by the board last year the third line in the high school which is the additional design funds for the boys locker room renovation and the fifth line on the high school which was the replace exterior doors at the high school as well as the second line in the middle school which has replaced the original electric service so in addition to those projects and the with a little bit little background the facilities committee has been discussing the capital plan since i think either our june or july meeting and every every meeting since then uh so in addition on the high school we've prioritized additional paving as you know uh last year we paved the uh the front driveway and this would continue it into the to the front parking lot around the main entrance area uh the library air conditioning has emerged as a need this year as well as the replacing the roof and rooftop ac unit and that would be over the guidance area at the high school and then in wisconsin we've got replacing the building management system and i've got mr caldwell here too to help give any details on on any of these projects if anybody has questions we have a hundred thousand dollars for paving and concrete and that would be to continue the paving work that was done there a couple summers ago to um finish the the bus driveway across the front of the building that they put when they did the project they had some uh some space left over and they uh they put some process down for us but we need to have it paved and then replacing the uh seminar room seating has emerged as a need also this year and those are the projects that the the committee voted on so if you have any questions about them or how they were prioritized we can answer them for you so so let me just make sure i understand the question the comment about the stuff that wasn't approved it was approved in this year's budget but it never went to referendum so that means we have to reapprove it in next year's budget correct that's what we're told and is it just items that they were going to finance or was it all items it was just items that were going to be financed to buy bonding and they were every item on the capital plan was identified as being either cash or bonding and ours all of ours that were approved were identified as being bonded okay so when we just a thought when we submitted we ought to take the things that are um just a carryover repeat they've already approved them once and we're just resubmitting them and we ought to highlight them somehow right put them in a different color highlight the cell whatever you think is right but since i think it just we need to and somehow footnote it so that they understand this was already approved in this in the current year budget but it has to be reapproved because of the of the referendum that's a good suggestion are they going to get ahead of the referendum stuff for next year excuse me well i mean i don't want to have a repeat of this for next year right and this has been always been a problem right because you have to do capital projects on a different timeline than your budget cycle so so that means they have to they have to notice it very differently than they do uh the referendum they have two weeks to do a referendum they have 45 days to do it on the on the cat on the on capitol projects so and you know what if this covid stuff continues they are not going to be running separate referendums on anything right i mean that's going to nobody will come out to vote um so it's uh unlike years where we do referendum after referendum after referendum i think we're going to see one referendum a year for this stuff so if at all so i just uh i just hope they're scheduling them now we ought to be pushing on that yeah i mean we're just a quick piece of that bob um we know mr dunn you know in our monday meetings has talked about that and he's talked about the schedule and and he's aware of that i i think to your point i think he and perhaps folks on the board of finance are thinking one referendum for the capital and that it might tie that in with the town river in may um i don't know that they'd be doing another one anytime soon so that's that's part of the conundrum here with the executive order from the governor and not having to have an actual referendum in having um our elected officials actually approved the budget last spring that that's because the bond council doesn't accept that they want an actual town referendum the the second question i had is i thought we were putting money in the budget for the locker room um last year and it was a big issue and a big discussion and now it's pushed out to year two 2022-2023 is there a reason we're pushing it downhill downstream like that yes last year the board of finance approved 100 000 for design money additional design money for that project and we got an updated proposal from techdon i think uh joy uh mentioned that in her report that that we approved so we still have money left over from the first design money allocation that was approved a couple of years ago and this is this 35 000 in year one is the additional design money we need for them to complete the design all the way up to being able to actually go out to bid on the product and get a project and get a firmer number for us to put in the following year and when would we take it out to bed do you think i i i would have to find out from tech on how long it will take them to complete the process i don't know the answer to that we probably ought to have a really good view of the timeline on that and ask ourselves should we be going and asking for the capital approval now right without without the you know because you know it's always a year later you know to start building things and that locker room has to have a sense of urgency right maybe we ought to be asking for the capital approval now and then you have three years in which to spend it um it's uh so it's just i'm a little nervous that project keeps getting kicked the can down the street so and uh to me that thing's a travesty i'll get the answer to that question bob yeah i'd rather go in aggressive on that topic and let them go on it again right they've already started gnawing on it and this this strategy would say oh just forget about it for another year we'll talk to you in spring of 2022 right before we even ask you for the capital i i think it we go out of sight out of mind with them and then we'll get a no back at the next board meeting well in so timeline in terms of submission to mr dunn so and this would be kind of for ken and joy just to talk about this if the board's in agreement on what bob is suggesting is that something that we want to move now um and you know amend what has been forwarded here and this is a recommendation from the facility committee and uh so we can approve it tonight so we can move it along i think i know there's emergencies to the timeline in terms of mr dunn's process so either ken or george you have any thoughts on that and i don't i don't want to overstep the facilities committee since then i agree with you i think we you know we do need to have a sense of urgency because like you said it's the project is a travesty i mean it's a priority of ours for sure um i feel like we're in a difficult position given you know our the circumstance of covet and everything like that um i guess we were kind of torn with you know do we go in and ask for the capital like you said um we i guess we're more trying to be mindful of the current situation that we're facing right now perhaps that's a discussion that dr brill and i can have with mr dunn and mrs marion on monday when we meet with them next that sounds like a good idea but i like your idea bob about the timeline yes getting a specific timeline okay if you wanted to go fast and you want to you push the timeline as fast as you can when would you want to have the capital approval and maybe maybe it at a million three it might be a separate capital approval that has to be done right because it's big and they might want to wait until they have it but i wouldn't want to let our calendar year cycle here get in the way of acting fast that's my only worry here right so if you said oh i i haven't finished the design so i need the 35 000 but that that'll get done you know soon enough that i don't want to wait for a whole year before i go to the go forward for capital i'd put it in in the current year as a separate line so you know project and then have the discussion with done that says it you might not want to give the final approval until the design's done but it's still in the year so um i just we have get in a habit of doing gear blocks right i i need to i need to find money now and a year from now i'll go off to the capitol at the the actual project money i'm sorry i just i'm pushing you i'm pushing it because i think we need urgency here that's all yeah the the only difficulty with moving the i think if i hear you right you're suggesting moving the million three into year one and is that accurate yes okay the only issue with that is the intention of continuing the design work was to be able to get a real actual hard number to put in the plan so it may not end up being that number and i don't know i don't know with the process if that's something that we can just put the placeholder of the million three and and amend it if we can get the design work and the bid done quickly okay let's do this if we approve it i think i would suggest we approve it and authorize the superintendent to move it into the current year after his discussion with mr dunn right if if that's what between the first selectmen and the superintendent they agree so we can make it an approval with a contingency right to move that forward if the our two leaders would agree that's the right way to play it because you know dunn needs to do something with the board of finance right and get them focused on how much capital they got coming into the next year and so that's why he's doing it now is to get ahead of the game and so i think he might want it in the current year and then i would suggest can you put some contingency on it right and leave yourself some maneuvering i think that's a good i think that's a good idea i'd like to support that it's pretty precise one three two two eight two four for something we don't have the final scoping on we had a number bob but if i recall the board of finance thought that it was too high they wanted someone else to take another look at it okay um [Music] and so is that what this design work is or is there a another piece of work going on to decide decide if it's why or right the design work is to protect on to continue and bring it up to where we can go out to bid for the project and get hard numbers how are we answering the board of finances question well by submitting the suppo the proposal of the exact break they wanted to see the breakdown of you know cost of everything for the project well it's a budgeting question more to me it's more this is more about budgeting and what year yeah i i think in the end we don't want them to approve a project until we have the final estimate you know based on a real healthy design right we want them to approve the project based on that but then the question is what year do you put the budget in right and because we'd love to go fast if we can get them to approve that and we'd love to get take it out to bid go get all that done and so i think you almost have to split your head into approving the project versus approving you know putting a budget you know placeholder in and uh so that's that would be a discussion with mr dunn about how it's the best way to play it and it ought to be rooted in what should your timeline be right you know how many games how late in the game can we change our estimate if we need to yeah and talk about that and that's a healthy discussion because in the end you know on a million three deal a project it's big enough it's probably one of the bigger projects the town's embarked on right all things considered right a short of our big school project and a a police station renovation and a and a library it's one of the biggest projects the town is going to take on and so and i can see it through all of our stuff there's there's not very few things that are that big so um so i think it may deserve a separate approval eventually anyhow but it doesn't say don't budget it right budget something so we can act when we need to right and that would be how i i'd look the board of finance in the eye and say okay don't slow things down because you just chose not to budget something so and they'll remind us oh we you told us to budget 600k and that's what we budgeted and it didn't turn out to be there and uh oh we're probably a lot of a heat on the discussion but i think this is a budgeting structure discussion more than it is an approval project discussion right okay so do we want to go ahead and make that contingent motion if there's any other questions before we go make motions so i i'm sorry i kind of dominated with my questions there but it's uh thank you for that what's everybody else's comfortability questions comments and not just on the boy's locker room but really anything on the capitol plan none i'm good i'm just trying to think back um i'm thinking about the board of finance and that 1.3 million um wasn't also part of the issue with putting it in year two just the timing that's been lost at this point like if we if we don't get approval on you know if we don't arrive at an estimate that works for them and can't start the design process um soon then we and we have to do the construction over a summer we would have to wait till the summer of or 2022. you're saying you had to wait anyway so i think wasn't that the other part of the reason why it got pushed into year two yes that didn't come out of the board of finance that came from our well no i mean just because we've been delayed at this point right but i think bob's point is important that you know this is really like a budget structure which i didn't really look at it that way um let's try to budget it so we can act on it even though we ideally can't get to it anytime so well let's let's use that as a real example so if you put it in the 2022-2023 budget you will get approval on that in may of 2022.
They're just optional right now, and maybe in the future, but I don't know yet. So, whether you can submit the tests or not doesn't really matter to us. And that's also something very important: this year, when you start looking at universities, ask the representatives if they're necessary or not because that's going to be a big change when it comes to starting to plan. What's important in that college search is that there are many universities and colleges, as we call them, in the US to apply to. Yes, for example, if you want to stay in Massachusetts, there are many options. If you want to go to Minnesota, there are also many options. You can hitch a ride with her or anywhere else in the country where she is, but start looking for a smaller institution, something in between, rather than a gigantic one. So it's good to start seeing what opportunities are available, how far from home you want to go, and all these things that are very important when you're looking for an academic program.
if you had if you're thinking i have to go out to bid ahead of that and i need the budgetary uh approvals in order to go do the bidding that you have to back up from that date and say i've got approval from the board of finance and the town for a million dollar thing before i'm going out to bed that's a 22 that's in the budget year of 2021-22 that's not in the if you waited all the way till the summer of june may of 2022 you're going to be building in 2023 i mean you're you're gonna lose all year then that's what i'm worried about um i'm thinking they're gonna have to approve it in the upcoming uh in this calendar year in order to be able to get us to 2022 that's my word and it's a timeline it's almost remember we in the school that you want to build it here then you go out to bid here and then therefore you need the budget approval by here and here's when you have to have the design done there's a whole timeline we have to be able to show that to people that says here's where you need the budgetary approval yay or nay at a referendum and and because of that you better put parking in your budget in 2021-22 that's that's what i'm thinking and that's why the timeline is important because i think you need the approval before you can go out to bids there's a timeline to that all right am i confusing well let's let dr brill and i have that conversation with mr dunn and mrs marion and see how we can make it work yeah and quite frankly i think we should see what that timeline looks like you know it does like we did with the school that says we want this period to go start the building what are the steps that have to get us there tecton's really good at laying that stuff out yeah um so i think that would help a lot okay yeah techdown's been great they're very responsive and oh do you want me to make the emotion rosa yeah yeah i think i have it in my mind uh i would uh move that the uh um at the board approve the 10-year capital improvement plan as recommended by the facilities committee for delivery to the uh for the town for their purposes and authorize the superintendent to work with the first selectmen to advance forward the one point three two two eight uh way 24 that's in year two of the plane into year one if it's agreed with the first selectmen and the superintendent that that is warranted second okay amy any further discussion on that i just want to be clear that if it is not agreeable and it's not the way mr dunn wants to go then and we're approving it as is gotcha i want to make sure we're all clear on that thank you yeah okay so all in favor aye okay that's unanimous thank you okay uh on to old business and uh we just have the we did the um tecton presentation early so we just have an update on the new school project um not too much of an update here the project was recently approved by the zoning commission so the only pressing issue right now is the question of the candid lake road water line um in the actual design of the new school itself tecton had priced out both the water line as well as on-site wells for water but they prefer the water line it's more permanent in nature and this is this is what's preferred by tecton if we if the project were to switch to wells instead of a water line the design team would have to go back and redesign some things and that's likely going to add cost to the project the at the mbc meeting the general um feeling was that wells will likely end up costing more for lesser quality product um but right now the board of finance is the entity that's deliberating the financial impact of both of those options and a public hearing for that will begin on wednesday the 28th at 7 pm so that's the current status of the new school rosa what's happening with the wetlands issue since the last meeting when when would we see some revised plans that deal with with those concerns um i don't actually know i don't know if i know that um maloney mcbroom had talked at previous meetings about having some uh rough ideas for where wetlands would go not on-site but off-site um so i assume that they're gonna go back to to those plans i don't know when those will be released yeah i don't know that they'll be released you know formally uh i'm sure they'll be reviewed at one of the the the meetings that uh techdown has with nbc um but we do have the november 17th design development uh design approval meeting which is a joint meeting uh that we'll have between board and ed and nbc so we'll certainly know at that point um i imagine they would have the exact spots drawn up and they could show us exactly that um that's what i know at this point i would gotta be asking that they get that on that agenda and not just let it skate by i mean that's that we have this contingent approval i'd love to have it so we can say okay here's how we are clearing that contingency and i think as a board we should be insisting on that definitely noted i will contact tact on right now while we're finishing the meeting so does anybody have any other questions on the new school project if not we can move on to three main points oh wait a second rosa we did have one thing on the new school project uh it's it's a newest newly established committee uh that uh mike and debbie mike is chairing that has to do with the new school mike is gonna give a little update yeah definitely sure so a new school committee uh so far we have our members i have made a nice little list here and i can't find it and the committees can consist of uh pto president jennifer peralta mercado uh pto president brenda i think her i think that you pronounced that coupler there you go uh eve uh who was a board of a member uh two civilians um eve former board of ed member colette strom former board of ed member uh mary rose diamond who is a center school as well we all know mary rose and melissa we all know melissa debbie myself uh two teacher representatives katie zazza and kimberly uh roccola rachel dracula there you go rachella and so far uh i'm aiming to get a meeting going uh a couple weeks because it seems like teacher apparent to your conferences uh the election day is kind of is is a big thing that's uh kind of coming up the work so hopefully get a couple meetings before um before thanksgiving and then first meeting back from thanksgiving we'll have hopefully we'll have a couple names for you and mike this is not history this is for the naming committee correct yes yes can you can you talk about some of the conversations you and deb have had and to talk about including students and so forth and that that i know you guys are talking yeah well i mean that's pretty much it we want to include the students yeah uh really want to discuss that with the principals and the teachers and uh yeah just make them really the guy in the conversation yeah i don't know what we're going to get into actual presentations from kids or do by teachers uh and i don't know if we're gonna have a presentation at a meeting it seems like that's gonna be hard to do but if we can you know we're gonna do that we'll try and pull that off around thanksgiving or before thanksgiving rather uh yeah i don't know that's that's about it we're kind of we're still in the baby stages okay a lot a lot of times uh students have been involved in um like sort of um not a naming contest but they picked names sort of that are their favorites so that would be interesting information to get from the kids yeah i think i'd like to have them start making the list rather than have like us get together and come up with three names or five names and have them pick i think i'd rather have them maybe uh you know guided by teachers uh give them some examples but then you know move from there yeah you'll get some really interesting names yeah make sure you give them some guidelines the the committee is is aware of the policy so it has to be a geographic location or geographic significance close to the school um so at least we have that there uh i did get an interesting question about naming things around the school um such as like the butterfly sanctuary or uh certain i know foyers or aspects of the school i was like that's let's let's name the school first and then we'll get there right that that was kind of an interesting thing i don't i don't if you want to keep the community around for naming stuff like that uh but i think we can leave that probably up to the for later future principal principles that was just an interesting comment i had from somebody yeah i thought you're in it i just wanted to share our board policy just talks about building naming to be friends so i think it right so only be outside the remit of the lord to tell you the truth uh the last line of the policy does dictate parts of the building to uh board of ed discretion actually okay oh cool um i just wanted to share another interesting little tidbit um katie zezza who's a center school teacher who'll be serving on the committee uh wrote back to mike when he asked her to to be part of the process and she said that she's very proud to be a representative on the committee because she attended center and huckleberry as a child when she grew up here in brookfield and she feels that it's such an honor that she'll be teaching in the new school that she helped to name so i thought that was a really nice little anecdote that's great absolutely that's good joy is a dream teacher she's just all right good stuff anything else on new school okay so now we are on to three main points okay i was thinking um covid update would be number one uh the tecton well presentation yeah i think that's a good idea and then for the third thing i thought maybe the review of the budget priorities did we have the well presentation last for the last meeting as one of the three members oh yeah we did absolutely yeah yeah yeah do we want to have that again or i don't know probably not but maybe since we have the calendar yeah maybe it doesn't need to be three main points but maybe we can um the new school project um facebook page and uh website can be sort of updated with some information on that so maybe you know the community can go there and maybe they can you know write an email if you know they think it's a great idea or they think it's a you know it's a little bit too much um maybe getting some of that feedback from the community would be helpful so we don't have to do it in three main points we can just sort of update the pages with that i think that's a good idea do you want to then do the new the uh school year calendar approval sending it out regardless but i mean it doesn't hurt to get it out there as part of the three points i would say that or the capital improving the capital plan and our discussion about the locker room and stuff maybe if we wanted to put that in that might be important i think the locker room has to be i think the locker room has to be on there yeah i think that's important for the ten year capital plan and there was some depth to the discussion and questions too which were good was good and traffic and track you know traffic on that topic okay um john when i'm talking about the the review of the budget priorities i was wondering i meant to ask you this before um i think we have don't we have a budget round table in november uh november 4th right before our board meeting yeah okay so should maybe i should put that in there too yeah i think so yeah and what we'll do is we can we can link the budget assumptions and priorities as a link so it doesn't have to be you know attached you know all of them click right to it okay you keep the you know your narrative can be brief it doesn't have to be like yep that's right debbie thank you okay all right so you're good with those debbie yep all right uh we do not have oh upcoming events sorry go ahead amy oh yeah okay all schools will be closed on tuesday november 3rd at center this friday october 23rd is a virtual spirit day and there's a virtual community meeting at 2 15.
And lastly, I think it's very important during your junior year, in your third year, to look for scholarships and opportunities. We can't deny that the cost of universities keeps increasing every year, and each year, well, honestly, it's a little harder to pay for them. So the sooner you can start looking for scholarships, the better. There are scholarships for everyone; there are scholarships for athletes, for poetry, for writing, for getting involved in student organizations, for your grades, if you have a special talent, if you're a musician, or any of these things. There are scholarships to look for, so our recommendation would be to start looking for these scholarships and see what's available. Many universities also offer programs to visit or flying programs to learn a little more about their institution and what they have to offer you as a student once you're part of their university.
monday october 26 tuesday the 27th and wednesday the 28th are fall conferences that'll be early release wednesday october 28th is where your costume for virtual learning if you choose and decorate your center school pumpkin that the children all receive this week and more information to come from that for mrs diamond and classroom teachers at huckleberry we also have conferences the 26th through the 28th next monday through wednesday with an early release and they're also celebrating halloween virtually by wearing your costume if you choose and the readathon fundraiser is beginning monday october 26th and running through sunday november 8th and for whiskaner and the high school i just have parent-teacher conferences which are upcoming in both schools for november 11th and november 12th that's it okay thank you all right we do not have an executive session tonight so unless there's anything else without objection the meeting is adjourned good night everyone good night
So we also recommend looking at all these resources to learn a little more. Something else I might have forgotten, I don't think everything, maybe a little more about scholarships because there are also some universities and colleges that have need-based funding, so it's a little different, yes, because, for example, they only have need-based funding, that's why we do n't offer scholarships beyond that. So you always have to ask the university directly, and that's very, very important to know because depending on your income and the opportunities you have, that can also change how you do your search. But we'll talk about that a little later, but it's good to start looking at this right now. We've reached the last year, and I think that for parents, students are somewhat anxious and excited to know what's going to happen in this last year and at this university. They're going to finish.
I think it's very important for parents to be there as a guide and as emotional support, and also to give them direction to see what will be best for the student. And I think something I've seen a lot in recent years is that maybe it's the place they want to continue to, and it's... You're dying to go to this place, but is it really the best financial distraction for your future? Maybe not because you don't want to end up with a lot of student loans or debt when you graduate. If you know that's going to be complicated, look for other avenues and solutions to make the best decision. I think that with the help of your parents and everyone—your student advisor, too—and us, Holly and I, are always more than available to talk about all these things. Finally, we have to finish the year too.
Just because it's the last year doesn't mean we're not going to do well academically, so we have to stay strong in our classes, continue on the path we've been on academically. If we've been doing very well, then finish that way. If we've had some dips, try to recover this last year, and if we're doing well, maintain that level. It's also good that, again, since it's the last year, we're not going to lower the difficulty of our classes. We already have advanced classes, and if you're taking classes, continue those classes. And personally, as I said before, take the classes you think you'll do well in so that you have the challenge to know that... You'll also be able to answer all the questions about financial aid for universities, and here I think the FAFSA and the Science Profile come in, which are financial forms that you have to complete when applying to universities.
So it's very important that if we have any students who are TPS or undocumented, we also offer help for those students. So don't think that because you do n't have these documents you can't attend a university. It's possible, and there are many universities that are very flexible and willing to help.
So if you have any questions, that's what we're here for, so you can ask and look for those resources to apply for those things. Or do you also need the Science Profile, please? And FAFSA, or just one of the two? If it's all for students who are not US citizens, for example, if you are a citizen of England or something, you also have to submit a financial stratification certificate, I think. And it's something a little different. But for students who have TACO or Standard Comment or TPS, if that's the Profile and FAFSA, they can also be submitted, perfect. So these are things to keep in mind, really researching first all the possibilities and resources for To be able to apply and have a good financial package, and finally, the admissions process itself, let me talk a little bit about the process. You can see the application dates.
We have the first one on November 1st, another on December 1st, and then January 15th. That's when you can apply to the university. After that, you'll have a decision, and hopefully, you'll be accepted and can celebrate. From there, the whole process begins, including financial aid. You have the opportunity to visit the institution, see what you think, if it has all the amenities and opportunities you're looking for, and finally, decide which option to choose. So, those are the options. How is the process with you? More or less, when do the last airlines stop accepting applications? For us, it's November 15th and also January 15th. So there are only two dates to remember, but the application process is almost the same. And on the first day in May, you have to decide. So, as you can see, it's a process that takes about 68 days to a year if you start early, in September or August, until the following September when you start your new university.
So, it's important to maintain this parameter and this vision to go through the process and know that you have the help and all the necessary requirements to apply for some other type of program for children. Today I want to say a little about how you can visit our campuses. It's not because right now everything has to be done virtually. So, you have to watch many videos and many recordings of our conversations. And I understand that talking to a computer isn't always difficult; it's good, even fun, but it's easy, right? So, please come to our conversations and our virtual opportunities to learn more about our universities. I don't know what Rafael Emerson is doing in this unparalleled virtual world. We are here today presenting online. We wouldn't like more than to be with you in person right now, but this is what we have to do.
This is what the situation dictates at this moment. So, we also have many webinars and many videos online on our YouTube channel and on this website. So, the good thing about all this is that you can do it at your convenience. That could be on a Tuesday at 11 p.m. or on a Saturday at 10 a.m. I think that's the positive thing about all this, that you can take it little by little and at your own pace. The information is there; Google is a very good friend. You ask it, and it answers.
So, any questions you have, just go to Google and ask. Usually, the answer isn't perfect, but that's what we're here for. Any questions, any doubts, or any interest in our institutions—that's what we're here for. We'll also leave you the information, along with our information, the information on the courts, and anything else you need. You can write to us; it can be in English, Spanish, or even Spanglish. We'll really answer you, and we can continue the communication. We can make video calls, phone calls, and anything else we can do to help you. We'd be very happy to. Thank you very much. Rafael said, " For me, I'm going to see tangible actions, to discover why it happens if my grades weren't good in the first year. During our process, we review everything holistically. This means that we're going to see everyone's grades from the first year, but also what activities they've done throughout the four years, also the grades from San Juan, also from Yunier, and what they're doing during their last year, which..." Believe in yourself during your career in Aix, wow, so let's see everything.
There's no data, there's a lot of grain, there's no data we can say. No, it's not possible right now to submit our applications to our universities, but it's the heuristic way at Corten. But I can't speak for any other university, Rafael, which means very, very similar. I think they are a very complete process where we review all parts of your application, from essays to letters of recommendation, like grades, and if you send us standardized tests, they will also be taken into account. If not, there's no problem, but it's normal. That's why I think I started this presentation with having good grades. It's difficult to make that transition sometimes, going from less to more. It's a little complicated. As I was saying, friendships, the environment, everything changes a bit, so sometimes it's complicated. This is the new process, so that's the great thing about it being four years.
So if you do n't do very well in the first year, you have the second, third, and fourth to recover, and it's a lesson that can be applied to everything else. If you don't do very well one day, well, tomorrow will be a new one. So I think that's the best way to see it: with positivity and hard work. Everything is possible. And I also want to say something else: there's an additional information section. No further information for us. When we read and processed the applications, Rafael and I are going to read your applications. That's why we're here right now. Because I'm going to read every application from every student in the entire state of Massachusetts for court. So please send me an email and describe me in this additional information section in your application. If you don't tell me anything, I can't read your mind.
I'm not a mind reader. So if you don't tell me anything, I can't read your mind. The more information you give, the better it is for me during this process. If it's the same as Sol, and no, we don't do magic, sadly, we wish we could, but these sections are very important. They're usually like nothing, and I think this year is more important than our previous years because of everything that's happened. We can't deny the effects of the pandemic, and it's affected us all in different ways. So, if you haven't been able to be involved in student organizations, or you've had to work to help your family, or you're collaborating in the community with senior citizens, with Mario's and Lost, with the markets they need, these are things you can tell us about, and that helps us have a better context for what's been happening this year and during your time in Jalisco.
Thank you very much. Another question: what's the most important thing you should know about the freckles? Sting, the language of things. If I can, but at the same time, as I said before, of course, just use this needs-based funding process. So I can't say much more about Texas than that, but in the garden, we offer the number of scholarships a family needs. This type of funding indicates that You don't have to apply for scholarships anymore, and we're going to give each family what they need to pay for each year. So, if you have to apply four times, with an emphasis on science, you'll be tested each year. But for us, and to express the needs, these aren't scholarships for athletes or artists, or to harmonize within Rafael for you. It says if you're in the Mar Sanchez program, or a little different. They're more based on academic performance, so once you apply, you'll be considered for all the scholarships we have.
We also have an honors program that requires an additional essay, but if you're accepted into the honors program, it comes with a scholarship of approximately $26,000. So, there are several opportunities to talk about scholarships, but for me, regardless of what each point says, it's great because it fits the needs of families, but sadly, it's not really in all institutions. So, I think it's also important to look for scholarships outside of what universities already provide because one way or another, you're going to need some help, and I think there are very few students who have these full scholarships that cover all their needs. So, if you They can look for scholarships during their sophomore, junior, and senior years to help with those college expenses. I think it's the best way to help you and your family and not have to pay so much for college. There's a question from the journal: what happens if my parents don't have US citizenship?