Introduction
The School District of West Salem offers a comprehensive and detailed individual Academic and Career Plan for every student in support of Redefining Ready!* Starting in sixth grade and culminating at the end of their senior year, students will have an opportunity to participate in a wide variety of activities to develop the knowledge, skills and habits required for post secondary success.
*Redefining Ready! is a national initiative launched by the AASA (The School Superintendents Association) to introduce new research-based metrics to more appropriately assess that students are college ready, career ready and life ready.
Requirements
Chapter PI-26 is legislation in the State of Wisconsin which requires every school district to provide academic and career planning services to pupils enrolled in grades 6 to 12 in the school district beginning in the 2017−18 school year.
Career Exploration and Planning Opportunities
- Portfolio Creation in Career Cruising
- Individual Student and Parent Conferencing
- College Visits
- Career Fair
- College and Military Representative Visits
- Course Registration Meetings
- Self Awareness, Academic Preparation, Exploration, Career Planning, and Management Activities
- Forward, Aspire, ACT, WorkKeys, and Compass Testing
Labor Market Impact on Student Preparation
- The area's top 3 employment industries are Trade, Transportation, & Utilities; Education & Health Services; and Manufacturing sectors
- The largest proportional gain in jobs is projected in Healthcare Practitioners as well as Construction and Extraction.
- There is much discussion of the "skills gap"--the inability of employers to find and keep skilled workers.
Parent Engagement Opportunities
- Open House and orientation events
- District website and social media
- District and building newsletters
- Parent-Teacher Conferences
- Conferencing with counselor, parent & student
- ACP parent communications
Additional Career Ready Opportunities
- Youth Options
- Online courses
- Transcripted courses through Western Technical College
- Dual credit courses through UW-LaCrosse
- Advanced Placement courses
- Academies: Automotive, Diesel, Health Science, Independent Learning
- Youth Apprenticeship
- Industry or Technical Certifications
- A wide variety of extra/co-curricular activities