It is not just the start of another school year for 9th grade students at Kennedale High School. It is the beginning year of their four year plan, the first of its kind.
Under House Bill 5, the Class of 2018, this year?s freshmen, will be the first to graduate with one or more endorsements in a personalized graduation plan. The new Foundation High School Program offers 9th grade students a choice of endorsements in business/industry, public service, arts/humanities, multidisciplinary studies and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). {{more}}The purpose of House Bill 5 is to better prepare high school graduates for college, technical school or the general workforce.
The endorsements are similar to major areas of study in college. Students earn them by selecting electives and coursework under one of five areas. Each incoming freshman must select an endorsement and counselors are required to review graduation plans beginning in the 8th grade year with the students and their parents/guardians. Before the end of freshman year, students and their parents/guardians must confirm the plan in writing. HB 5 also lets students switch their endorsements at any time.
In Kennedale, counselors met with the 8th graders as a group last year to explain the graduation plan. ?This year every single 9th grader and their parent will be met with throughout this school year to solidify their personal graduation plans,? said Kennedale High School Counselor Kelley Holik.
?Another change that will help 8th graders to be better prepared will be in a new course at Kennedale Junior High that will be a career investigation class. In that class it will include a program called ?Career Cruising? where they can go through and explore the different pathways that we at the high school offer,? Holik said. She added, ?We are working together [with the other campuses]. I even talked with our elementary counselors about it at the counselor summer camp so that when they are planning their career days, we will be talking about it using the same language such as ?career pathways.?
Unlike the bigger districts, Kennedale is handling the increase demand in-house without creating new positions. Part of that comes with the change in duty assignments of Brandi Thompson, Assistant Principal who will provide initial support, according to Dr. Stephanie Delvin, interventionist specialist.
Parents need to stay informed and engaged. Parents and students need to start thinking in middle school about careers and whether college is in the plan. For example, there is some room for students to change their minds about their endorsement, but too much switching around could result in a student falling short of required credits.
The KHS Counseling Department did prepare a video presentation last year to make parents aware of the changes. The following is the video narrated by Rita Pintavalle, District Secondary Principal.
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