School children in classroom at lesson

The School District of Lee County continues to engage students as early as kindergarten to prepare them for what’s to come once they enter high school and beyond.

Superintendent Dr. Christopher Bernier said the district is one of nine selected by the Carnegie Foundation to participate in what they are referring to as the Learning Leadership Network.

“This is an opportunity for large school districts across the entire country to gather together,” he said, with their first meeting taking place in California. “I think it is important for everyone to know that the Carnegie Foundation reimbursed the district for its costs. This is a no-cost program to us.”

District staff began looking at the portrait of a Lee County graduate. That look will determine what it means to the graduate, the business community, local economy and to their parents.

“We want to find out what our graduates are doing the Monday after graduation. But we also want to know what they are doing a year from graduation. We want to know, and we have great access to, how they are doing in a university system because we have access to that information through the college board and other organizations. We know whether they are still enrolled and whether they are making significant progress towards their own graduation,” Bernier said.

He said one of the advantages of nine large school districts all being in the same room is they will leverage the Carnegie Foundation to help them track graduates who go into the world of work, so they can know if the student went into their chosen career that they were trained for in one of the district’s high schools. In addition, are they utilizing their microcredential or industry certification and are they still successfully employed six months, one to four years down the road.

“We want to make sure we get the student across that particular hurdle, which is high school graduation, but we have a responsibility for determining whether our preparation was not only good for them, our community, our businesses and parents, but also that they are continuing to make progress in their chosen fields,” Bernier said, adding that the work is just getting started.

The presentation then took board members along the education path of how students are guided to graduation from elementary to high school

High School Curriculum and Instruction Director Candace Allevato said the work in the district starts way before a student enters high school.

“The foundation really begins in our elementary buildings,” she said.

The work is also done at the middle school level, as they all have pathways for students to be able to take accelerated math, as well as the high school version of Spanish 1, and building the partnership with Lee Virtual School. There are also AICE Cambridge courses offered in all of the middle schools with Global Perspectives starting in the sixth grade.

Allevato said the class teaches students how to research, inquiry problem solve and critically think.

Chief Academic Officer Dr. Jeff Spiro said when a student progresses from middle to high school there is a summer onboarding focus on building relationships with students. Students have the opportunity to meet key staff, learn about processes and procedures, get their Chromebooks and textbooks, as well as learn about athletic programs and clubs.

“There is a focus on building relationships and students feeling connected to a school before a student begins,” Spiro said.

During the first two weeks of high school, students get an opportunity to learn and practice processes and procedures, as well as review expectations, learn about clubs, activities and how to stay engaged at school.

“We want to make sure students remain engaged,” Spiro said, adding that counselors and specialists go into freshman classes and talk about graduation requirements, how many credits they need and what it means to be a high school student.

That engagement continues, as school counselors and curriculum principals review the credits of each ninth grade student when the first quarter comes to an end. Spiro said if it looks like a student is struggling a student success plan is composed with a parent. The communication is opened and the focus continues on how to support a student.

At the end of the first semester, the focus switches to recovery if there is a credit deficiency and immediately works with parents and their student to help develop a program to retrieve credits. Spiro said the student has live access to a tutor seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Friday, from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Saturday and from 6:30 to 10 p.m. Sunday.

“Students that are in those credit retrieval programs have access to live tutors, Connect with LEE, Back on Track and additional support at the semester,” Spiro said.

When the freshman is preparing to schedule classes for their sophomore year, they meet one-on-one with a school counselor to look at their individual pathway. That one-on-one will also focus on a deeper understanding of graduation, where they currently sit with credits, how many credits they need to graduate on time, all while reengaging with parents through the Naviance tool.

School Counseling and Mental Health Director Lori Brooks said the students’ sophomore year focuses on ongoing monitoring and support with personalized pathways and continued attention with career exploration and identified pathways. Careers of interest begin to drive the advising discussion to continue them for ontime graduation and post secondary education.

The sophomore year also prepares students for the SAT, with the PSAT.

Brooks said continued interventions are had for struggling students to make sure they have the opportunities to continue their ontrack journey, or get back on track if they falter.

The junior year then turns the planning into action, as they need additional attention to graduate.

“We are now asking students and parents to narrow that interest and start to really narrow that point into the funnel of where we are going to be looking heading out of junior year going into senior year,” Brooks said.

High School Development Executive Director Clayton Simmons said near the end of the first semester of the student’s senior year, they double check each student’s schedule to make sure they are headed in the right direction. He said it’s all hands on deck monitoring to make sure the student is progressing during that second semester.

In addition, throughout their senior year, assistance is provided for college applications, scholarships and student loans.

Acceleration Academy was also shared during the board meeting for those who have not graduated on time. Spiro said they have a new partnership working to explore the Acceleration Academy, which is for students who are not going to graduate on time, or are classified at risk. The academy develops a program for students with one course at a time, for up to 12 hours a day including the weekend.

There is wrap around services for both social and emotional support, college, career, or military support.

The Acceleration Academy will come before the board at a Sept. 20 meeting.