The Path to Higher Ed: Improve Your College Readiness Program, Expand College Access and Send more of Your Students to College

In this episode, Dr. Todd Cutler discusses the level of commitment that his staff has toward students in the Winters Joint Unified School District. As a superintendent, Dr. Cutler is focused on leveraging his community’s commitment to its students to executing a vision of career readiness that empowers students to thrive after graduation. With a focus on career exploration through exposure and experience, WJUSD understands the necessity of student self-discovery.

In this episode, Dr. Dan Stepenosky, Superintendent of Las Virgenes USD, talks to us about how his district is constantly iterating its educational models to meet the evolving needs of students. More specifically, Dr. Stepenosky details how Las Virgenes USD has changed its graduation requirements to increase the rigorous preparation needed to ensure college readiness. Dr. Stepenosky’s perspective is very appreciated since he is concerned with the outcomes of all students in California, not just those within his own school district. Beyond just college readiness, he has also concentrated a lot of his efforts toward ensuring the social and emotional well-being of his students.

In this episode, we talk to Dr. Philip Hickman, Superintendent at Columbus City Schools in Mississippi. Dr. Hickman talks about how he was able to strategically and intentionally leverage data to provide transformative interventions for at-risk students. By communicating our mutually shared belief that no student should be forgotten about, he is able to connect to the heart-driven mission behind choosing to work in education: all students deserve the opportunity to pursue lives that are meaningful to them.

In this episode, we talk to Jo Thoburn, President and CEO of the Fairfax Christian School. This episode revolves around her strategies for building a school culture where college readiness is engrained as an expectation in every student’s mind. With thoughtfulness and a perspective informed from exposure in both the for-profit and nonprofit worlds, Jo recognizes that “right fit” often means different things to different students.

In this episode, we talk to Scott Reisinger, Head of School of the Trevor Day School in New York, NY. By stressing the importance of inquiry-based learning, students at Trevor Day are placed at the center of student empowerment and agency in the education process. With a keen eye on the college and career trajectories of his students, Scott discusses the consequences of teaching students as if they are all “linear learners.” Instead, he takes the backwards design approach by first engaging students in a gradual K-12 self-discovery process.

In this episode, we speak with Melinda Bihn, Head of School at French American International School and International High School. As Melinda explains, a bilingual education uniquely prepares students to take on the world by building cross-cultural cognition. This conversation explores how cross-cultural cognition positions her students to become more critical, globally-minded thinkers through their interactions with other cultures. As a result, Melinda considers her students to be “little anthropologists” as they become deeply comfortable with adapting to many different cultural contexts.

In this episode, we talk to Eric Rauschkolb, Principal of Niwot High School outside of Boulder, Colorado. Eric’s work at Niwot led to him recently being named the 2017 Colorado Secondary School Principal of the Year by the Colorado Association of School Executives. Although around 90% of Niwot graduates pursue a postsecondary education, Eric expresses concern that students in general do not always know themselves well enough at a young age to determine right fit colleges and careers. This is an important observation that drives Eric to meet students where they are at so that they are the determiners of their life trajectories.

In this episode, Nicholas Kim, Executive Director of Summit Public Schools. As part of working within sociodemographically diverse communities, Nick recognizes that family engagement is critical toward getting his students to college. In order to further the impact within Summit, a growth mindset is critical toward setting students up to be prepared for rigorous college-level work. The mentorship program within Summit’s college readiness program provides students with advocate mentors who support students to find educational paths and careers that are aligned with what students are individually passionate about.

In this episode, Gabriella Rowe, Head of School at The Village School in Houston, Texas. With an eye toward getting her students to take ownership over their college readiness process, Gabriella recognizes the importance of a student’s self-discovery process. Listen in as she discusses the critical distinction between choosing linear career pathways versus right fit careers.

In this episode, we speak with Kathie Brown, Principal of Holy Family Catholic High School in Victoria, Minnesota. Holy Family Catholic strives to support students by helping them figure out what their long-term goals are. An example of this the school’s Leadership Institute that exists to provide students with resources they need to engage in self-discovery, as well as the moral dimensions of servant leadership.

In this episode, we speak with Luthern Williams, Head of School at New Roads School. Luthern talks about some important considerations to keep in mind when trying to remain student-centered. By emphasizing the importance of self-reflection, New Roads encourages its students to have a sense of wonder and the freedom to make choices in their education. By beginning this journey of giving its students passion projects starting in Kindergarten, New Roads is positioning its students from a very early age to learn over time how to use their voices for good.

In this episode, Matt Glendinning, Head of School of Moses Brown School, discusses how his school is investing in its students’ futures through both STEM and liberal arts education. At Moses Brown, college readiness starts with family engagement in the 9th grade. Beyond college readiness, Matt also discusses the technology forward mindset of the school.

In this episode, Terrence Davis, the Superintendent for the Beaumont Unified School District speaks with love as he describes the Beaumont community. His genuine bond with the Beaumont community stems from the community’s investment in the district’s students. He discusses the necessity of providing students with earlier exposure to college readiness. He also emphasizes the critical importance of constantly innovating within education by constantly iterating. With an eye toward the future of education, Terrence truly gets it.

In this episode, we speak with Dave Worland, Principal at Cathedral High School in Indianapolis. As the leader of a Holy Cross school, Dave encourages his students to figure out their passions before sending them to college. Cathedral High cares about all of its students as demonstrated by offering different college readiness tracks that are aligned to individual student needs. On the data front, Dave is working to determine the the success factors that lead to graduating from college.

In this episode, we’re speaking with Kyle Graham, Assistant Head of School for Enrollment Management and Student Outcomes at the Poly Prep Country Day School. His work  focuses on targeting the 9th to 12th grade population as they prepare for college. He also has an extensive background in higher education, and is deeply committed to developing college readiness mindsets and plans for his high school students. The focus of our conversation with Kyle revolves around asymmetrical information problems, family engagement and building trust with students.