WORKSHOP

Career, Life & College: Opening Doors for WHS Graduates

Opening Doors for WHS Graduates… Aspirations and Opportunities

Our Vision as a school district is:

Woodland Public Schools, in partnership with families and the community, will create a PreK-12 system that serves and supports ALL children — and ensures that EACH child has FULL access to, is engaged in, and obtains an excellent education that prepares them for responsible citizenship and a future of adaptability and success in life and their chosen endeavors.

The focus of this work session is on the boldfaced words… “Each child... obtains an excellent education that prepares them for… a future of adaptability and success.”

If we were to ask our 15 or 16-year-old selves about our career aspirations, we would likely find that our adolescent plans were very different from our adult reality.   Historically comprehensive high schools have been very effective at sorting students very early based on their 15 & 16-year-old aspirations for themselves.  Students either self-select, or our systems either force track into a “track” that has the real-world effect of limiting their opportunities to adapt as they move beyond high school.

Driven by our vision, our path as a district is to reframe our work to ensure that we provide Aspirations and Opportunities for ALL Woodland graduates.

We are targeting three specific board outcomes and three specific requests of the school board.

The board will understand:

1. To maximize our effectiveness, we must focus on DEEP work toward ROBUST outcomes in CORE skills and Habits of Mind, CORE subjects, and a FEW areas of specialization.  We cannot be “all things to all people”
2. How Woodland High School is shifting to ensure that we provide aspirations and opportunities for all Woodland Graduates
1. “No one is hurt by an overly strong transcript“
2. Expanding Advanced Placement opportunities
3. Continuing support for broad college in the high school programs
4. Continuing support for “dual credit” opportunities through our CTE programs
3. We are developing key partnerships with the goal of offering support to create aspirations and opportunities for WHS students
1. Lower Columbia College
2. Cascadia Technical Academy
3. College in the HS

Requests of the board:

1. Support for modifications to Procedure 2410P to allow for equalizing the granting of credits for AP course passage and college in the high school credits
2. “Backstop” support for continued equitable funding of college in the high school credits
3. “Backstop” funding for continued equitable funding of Advanced Placement Exams