Fresh Takes on Freshmen On Track

This Friday's conversation was with Galena High School in Galena, Illinois who  has a 95.9% Freshmen on-track rate for a class of 78 Freshmen. Making sure students feel supported is a priority in Galena and they like to bring the small town feel into their building. Galena's system includes five components that has helped them be successful. First, Galena on-boards Freshmen as early as second semester of 8th grade . They host an incoming Freshmen Orientation in December followed by one on one parent meetings with the counseling department in January. Not only do students and parents start thinking about this transition, but 8th grade teachers and counselors begin talking to their 9th grade counterparts in the spring, as well. Teachers at Galena High School have consistent grading practices and retake policies . There is a firm belief that in order for students to be successful, they need to make sure they are completing the work assigned and taking advantage of additional oppor...

This Wednesday's conversation was with Mahomet-Seymour in Mahomet, Illinois who has a 90.2% Freshmen on-track rate for a class of 274 Freshmen. This has been an on-going school improvement goal for them and there are four parts to their system that are pointing them in the direction of success. First, they have a RtI team that meets every two weeks in order to discuss the grades and attendance of all of their Freshmen. They have a solution oriented approach that involves them getting on the same page about student performance and contacting families when needed. Mahomet has a "Homework Hangout" available to all students that need a little extra support and this extra time after school is often utilized for students with missing assignments and/or those that need skill-building support. This coupled with credit recovery for additional skill building and getting students ready to attend classes with their peers   has all Freshmen going on to Sophomore year with the confid...

On Friday, December 9th, I had the opportunity to visit Pontiac District 90 in Pontiac, Illinois to talk to them about their 95.6% Freshmen On Track rate for a class of 187 Students.  Freshmen on Track has been such a priority for Pontiac for the last decade that they have changed the layout of their building to support Freshmen success. That along with three other components have led their school to be one that is high performing on this metric.  The first of those, is the Freshmen Learning Community that is at the heart of Pontiac HS. The FLC is made up of two English teachers, two global studies teachers, two math teachers and two science teachers that work together to provide consistent skill building and supports for all Freshmen. Both English teachers are teaching the same skills and content at the same time, allowing flexibility of student schedules as the year progresses. The same happens in the other three FLC departments.  This consistency in instruction ha...

Here at Oregon High School, we have developed a program called Hawks Take Flight (HTF) which is an intervention program for students that need extra support or have circumstances outside of school that interferes with success freshman year. Freshman team teachers volunteer to mentor 3-4 students and meet with them weekly on an individual basis to discuss grades, teach organizational skills, offer homework help and serve as a strong role model for these freshmen. Furthermore, HTF students are required to attend an after school homework café every Thursday with all of the HTF teachers and they are enrolled in an advisory period during the school day that is facilitated by one of our team members. The vision and goal for HTF is to ensure all HTF students remain on track for on time graduation. Students for this program are identified and on-boarded the summer BEFORE their Freshmen year. We do that by utilizing an  Early Warning System that allows us to examine every 8th grader'...