Academic and Career Planning Opportunities
Welcome to Academic & Career Planning (ACP) at MHASD. It is an exciting time as students discover the many educational and extra-curricular opportunities available to them.
To assist students as they develop their individualized plans, staff will engage students in academic and career development activities that align with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction's Academic and Career Planning (ACP) components.
Each year the Mount Horeb Area School District Board of Education will approve an Education for Employment Plan. This long-range plan includes a holistic view of the development and implementation of the required ACP components for grades 6-12.
Middle and high school students will:
- Start thinking about future career possibilities.
- Explore different occupations that match their interests.
- Start exploring high school classes that match their desired career
- Explore post-secondary options to obtain their goals.
- Learn more about themselves through interest inventories on Xello
- Communicate with parents about future career goals.
To assist students on the ACP journey students and staff are utilizing Xello. Xello is an engaging online program that helps students build the skills, knowledge, and plans to be future-ready. The program uses an investigative, discovery-based learning process. Students better understand themselves, their future career options, and the 21st-century skills they’ll need to succeed.
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Students at the Mount Horeb Area School District Middle School use Xello to learn more about themselves and to develop their Academic and Career Plan (ACP). Xello offers various interest inventories and assessments, information on careers and education programs, and employment trends and data.
Each student has a personal Xello account with an e-portfolio. The e-portfolio holds assessment results, student selected information on post-secondary schools and careers, and the student's academic and career plan.
For login information, please contact your child's school counselor. Once login information is received, visit the MHASD Xello page to log in.
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To best understand how students will engage in academic and career planning at each high school grade level at Mount Horeb Area School District, please expand the following headlines.
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During ninth grade, students will get to know their interests, skills, and strengths. Students will continue to use Xello to explore and research different post-secondary options. Students are encouraged to enroll in a variety of classes to help them explore their interests. Some of the ACP activities they will be exposed to will include co-curricular activities, career research projects, scheduling Expo, continued Xello assessments, and reassessments.
10th-grade students will begin to have the opportunity to take more classes in their own areas of interest. Our more advanced related pathway-focused and academic classes are available as well as those classes they may have missed Freshman year.
Sophomores will revisit assessments completed on Xello, and participate in assessments to determine academic abilities and to reassess their career pathway.
Junior year is when students can really begin to realize the possibilities. Students will then start exploring possibilities through job shadows, career research, college visits, and trade externships. They will set goals, choose courses, join activities, fill out applications, and write resumes.
Senior year is the time for students to solidify their plans. Through rigorous academic and related career cluster classes, students will discover more about themselves. Students are all in different spots on their career pathways, and senior year is when they can go back and re-experience different opportunities and maybe even pursue new ones.
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Visualizing and Preparing Your Academic and Career Plan
To support students in their Academic and Career planning, we have created ACP Blueprints to serve as guides to aid students in their course selection based on their career pathway(s) and post-secondary educational pathways. Please expand the following headlines to learn more.
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A career cluster is a group of jobs and industries that share similar skills or products. Career clusters can help students explore potential careers and find ones that match their interests and goals. Check out our career cluster blueprints to learn more about the following career clusters:
- Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources
- Architecture & Construction
- Arts, A/V Technology & Communication
- Business Management & Administration
- Education & Training
- Finance
- Government & Public Administration
- Health Science
- Hospitality & Tourism
- Human Services
- Information Technology (IT)
- Law, Public Safety, Corrections & Security
- Manufacturing
- Marketing
- Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM)
- Transportation, Distribution & Logistics
Post-Secondary Education Pathways Recommendations serve as an opportunity for students to match their career interests with recommended post-high school education pathways, including:
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Direct to Job Market or Apprenticeship programs
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2-year Technical or Junior College
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4-year college or university
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Selective* 4-year college or university
*The term "selective" is used to describe college and universities that have a low acceptance rate based on number of applicants
Students can change Blueprints or Pathways at ANYTIME, based on their changing career and academic interests. Both Blueprints and Pathways serve as guiding information to help students, caregivers, and faculty best prepare students for courses in and life after high school.
Wisconsin’s Early College Credit Program or Madison College Start College Now; courses that provide Transcripted Credit/Advanced Standing, and Advanced Placement coursework, as well as Career Experience and Service Learning credit, to begin some of their post-secondary education while still in high school.
Wisconsin Youth Apprenticeship is a unique opportunity for juniors and seniors to start preparing for a career while still in high school. This program provides the opportunity for work-based learning, occupational instruction, and academic education. As a youth apprentice, students will earn an hourly wage while learning from skilled professionals. Upon successful completion of the program, students will be awarded a Certificate of Occupational Proficiency from the Department of Workforce Development. Students are required to provide their own transportation to class and the worksite during the day/evening.
The International Baccalaureate Career-Related Program was specifically designed for students who wish to engage in career-related learning, paired with 2 or more college preparatory classes.
The IB Career-related Program provides students with both an academic and practical foundation to support post-secondary education and specialized career training. Students choose a career program of study in one of the Mount Horeb High School Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways, and a minimum of 2 IB courses. The IBCP features rigorous academics, applied knowledge, critical thinking, communication, and cross-cultural engagement. Additionally, IBCP students complete the IBCP Core, which consists of the Personal and Professional Skills (PPS) course; a Reflective Project, service learning requirements, and a language development portfolio.
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