Academic and Career Planning, or ACP, is a student-driven, adult-supported process in which students create and cultivate unique and information-based visions for post-secondary success. Students develop these visions from self-exploration, career exploration, and the development of career management and planning skills.
What ACP means for Wrightstown Community School District:
Academic and Career Planning in Wrightstown is centered around students' journey to get to know themselves, explore their possibilities, and plan for their future. The goal is for students to go out into the world with self-awareness, good planning for their future, and the skills to become productive citizens.
Why ACP?
It is good for students! ACP shifts the culture where students and parents make informed choices about education, training, and careers based on interests, abilities, goals, and values. This process requires a great deal of self-awareness, exploration, and planning to help graduates go into their future with the best opportunities to achieve education and career goals while maximizing financial investment. ACP focuses on all post-secondary routes, including military, apprenticeship, certification, technical college, and university.
In addition to benefiting students and their future, the PI26 legislation requires public school districts to provide academic and career planning services to students in grades six through twelve. Academic and career planning requirements connect school districts' education for employment plans and programs to the new academic and career planning needs. All students in grades six through twelve will experience the academic and career planning process throughout their school years at Wrightstown.
Academic and career planning provides a platform for all students to develop an awareness of self relating to their interests, skills, and strengths. This awareness of self sets the foundation for ongoing exploration of in-demand career pathways and relevant educational opportunities. Students develop an academic and career plan that guides their journey through grades 5-12 and beyond through continuing and collaborative conversations with parents, educators, and community members. As each student navigates through this process, they explore different possibilities and the education and skills needed.
Trained district educators support students in all pathways. The ACP process supports our state and district mission of equipping all students with the knowledge, skills, and habits to be college, career, and community ready and inspired to succeed in our diverse world. The term ACP refers to a process that helps students engage in academic and career development activities and a product created and maintained for students' academic, career, and personal achievement.
ACP is a student-driven, ongoing process for students in grades 6th through 12th where students are actively engaged to do the following:
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Understand their interests, strengths, values, and learning styles
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Create a vision for their future
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Develop individual goals
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Prepare a personal plan for achieving their vision and goals
What is ACP? https://youtu.be/tpXQIKzgya0
Services provided to students:
All students in grades 5-12 are part of Academic and Career Planning. The process and services that are provided multiple times throughout 5th - 12th grade are:
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5th-12th Career planning through an online tool called Xello
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Career Conferencing in Grades 8 and 10th
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Personal Reflections, Goal setting
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Career Pathway and Cluster Exploration
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Career Research, Interest, and Reflection
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Career Interest Inventories
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Learning Style Inventories
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Career Fairs
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Ongoing Communication with Families
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Exploration through elective classes, clubs, and activities
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and so much more.
Youth Apprenticeship:
Wrightstown students can participate in Youth Apprenticeship (YA) services through the Department of Workforce Development. Youth Apprenticeship integrates school-based and work-based learning to teach employability and occupational skills defined by Wisconsin industries. Local programs provide training based on statewide youth apprenticeship guidelines endorsed by businesses and industry. Students are matched with skilled worksite mentors and simultaneously enrolled in the following:
- academic classes to meet high school graduation requirements,
- in a youth apprenticeship-related instruction class, and
- employed by a participating employer under the supervision of a skilled mentor.
Parent Engagement:
The Career Exploration Platform used at Wrightstown, called Xello, has a parent portal. Parents can see their child's portfolio, assessment results, saved occupations, resumes, and more. We encourage all parents/guardians to set up their accounts, engage in conversations, and explore alongside their children. As part of the PI-26 legislation that requires Academic and Career Planning to take place in all public schools in Wisconsin, each school district must provide evidence of their implementation of PI-26. Below you will find the Wrightstown Community School District PI-26 evidence of implementation.
Wrightstown ACP Long-Range Plan