COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

P.O. BOX 2120

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23218-2120

SUPTS. MEMO NO. 218

October 28, 2005

INFORMATIONAL

TO:	Division Superintendents
FROM:	Jo Lynne DeMary Superintendent of Public Instruction
SUBJECT:	SAT/PSAT/NMSQT Assistance to Students

On behalf of the College Board, the Department of Education is pleased to announce assistance to students who have been affected or displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The College Board has announced that it will provide free testing to college-bound students from the affected areas. High school seniors who live in the flood zones or have been displaced will be able to take the SAT Reasoning Test and the SAT Subject Tests free of charge during the November and December administrations. In addition, all eleventh-grade students from affected areas, who could not take the PSAT during the October administration, must write to National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) as soon as possible to be considered for other options. Additional information about the National Merit Scholarship Corporation may be found on the Web site at www.nationalmerit.org. Letters from students or school officials must be postmarked on or before March 1, 2006, for requests to be considered.

The College Board is also making accommodations in all of its major programs to assist students, counselors, teachers, and administrators in middle and high schools, as well as the colleges and universities, in the affected states. Updates are being posted regularly on www.collegeboard.com.

If you have questions, please contact Dr. Willie Stroble (Willie.Stroble@doe.virginia.gov), school counseling specialist, Office of Middle and High School Instruction, at (804) 789-9377.

JLD/WLS/yba