• Are you meeting your graduation requirements? How can you be certain? What other options do you have?
• What is the FCAT? Do you need special help in passing this important requirement?
• Are you interested in going to college? If so, what steps are you doing to get accepted? How about scholarships and financial aid options?
• What are the SAT and ACT? How necessary are they for acceptance into a university of your choice?

The programs offered by the Juvenile Transition Center, Inc. might help you answer the abovementioned questions and others you may still have.

The following list is a past & upcoming activities and JTC programs. These programs are meant to achieve your goals; whether they be better grades for now, preparing for college, practicing for the SAT or ACT, getting essential work skills, or serving your community.

• The 9th Annual Book Bag Give-away
• Carolyn Sims Family Day Picnic
• E.S.T.E.E.M.-ongoing
• Community T.I.E.S.-(Past program August 2007)
• Annual Education Fair - November 2009
• Holiday Card Creation & Gift Bag Give-away - December 2009
• End of the Year Christmas Party - December 2009
• PERFECT (Practical Eating, Regular Fitness Elicits Confident Teenagers)
• SAT or ACT preparatory class -ongoing

Are you interested in College? If so, what is your plan for getting accepted?
If you are interested in pursuing a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited University, then the Juvenile Transition Center, Inc. can help you navigate through what has proven to be a very sophisticated process.

What are my Graduation Requirements?
In order to graduate, students must also earn the correct number of credits generated by satisfying required core and elective courses, maintain a passing grade point average, and pass the Reading and Mathematics Sunshine State Standards portion of the Grade 10 FCAT. Students meeting these requirements, but do not pass the grade 10 FCAT, will receive a Certificate of Completion, which is not equivalent to a standard high school diploma.

What is the SAT, ACT and FCAT?

The SAT is used by United States Colleges and Universities to help determine admissions, grants and scholarships. The test is 3 hours and 45 minutes long consisting of Critical Reading, Mathematics and Writing. Each individual section is scored on a scale ranging from 200-800 and collectively the maximum total SAT score is 2400.

The Writing section includes an essay, which is scored by two readers who assign a score ranging from 1-6. If their scores differ by two or more points, then a third person will be assigned to read and grade the essay. The essay score constitutes 30 percent of the overall Writing score.

The ACT is also used by U.S. Colleges and Universities to determine admissions, grants and scholarships. This test has become a popular alternative to the aforementioned SAT. The ACT is approximately 3 hours long and consists of four sections: English, Math, Reading and Science Reasoning. Each section is scored on a scale ranging from 1-36, and the composite score of 1-36 is the average of these four scores.

The ACT includes an optional 30 minute essay. Although the grading criteria are different from the SAT, both are scored utilizing the same scale.

The FCAT is measures student achievements of the benchmarks contained in the Florida’s State Sunshine Standards, which were developed with the goal of providing all students with an education based on high expectations. The FCAT consists of two types of tests: Norm-Referenced in reading and mathematics, which compare the achievements of Florida Student with that of their peers nationwide; and Criterion-Referenced in reading, mathematics, science and writing, which measure student progress towards meeting the Sunshine State Standards benchmarks.

Passing scores for FCAT SSS Reading is 1926 (scale score of 300) or above.

Passing scores for FCAT SSS Mathematics is 1889 (scale score of 300) or above.

Florida law has specified that no student can receive a standard high school diploma from a public school unless the student has met all academic requirements.

Did you know students have graduation options?
Students can retake the FCAT as many times as they want, until they pass it, and can enroll in school for a 13th year of public education granted they have demonstrated the additional instruction is warranted to successfully pass the FCAT. Students can take the FCAT up to six (6) times prior to graduation.

Other options for seniors may include receiving a score comparable to the FCAT passing score on the SAT or ACT (See chart below). Per Florida Statute 1008.22 (9), a student shall be required to take the Grade 10 FCAT a total of three times without earning a passing score in order to use scores from ACT or SAT.
Concordant Scores
ESTEEM Program
The single most influential factor that will dictate where you go to college is your academic record. The ESTEEM Tutoring Program is designed to ensure that there are no flaws on this crucial component of your admissions profile.

Our instructors are not only experts at test preparation, but they are also gifted and highly trained academic tutors in their areas of specialization. Each student will have their strengths and weaknesses assessed. After which, a strategic plan based on the individuals students academic ability will be created. Because we serve middle and high school students their courses will differ in scope and emphasis. Therefore, the tutoring sessions will be tailored to the text materials of the individual student.

We know that students learn more effectively in small, interactive groups, so our teacher student ratio is restricted to 1:15. The JTC is committed to personalized attention because it generates favorable results.

Students in the program take practice ACT tests, do their homework, get help from instructors and from each other.