College and Career Readiness

Over the last few years, Wabash High School has made it a goal to ensure that all graduating seniors apply to a post-secondary institution.  It is our belief that the more roadblocks we can remove for kids, the smoother the road to college will be.  At the end of College Go Week, 91% of the 134 seniors projected to graduate have applied to at least one post-secondary institution.  I would like to congratulate all of our kids on their decisions to continue their education beyond high school and I would like to applaud our guidance department, administration and teachers for supporting them along the way.

In past years at Wabash City Schools, this would be the end of the College Go story; however, this year, we have refocused our collective efforts K-12 on college and career readiness, redeveloping our corporation mission: Wabash City Schools provides a relevant and rigorous education to ensure each student is college and career-ready for success in a global community.  Wabash City Schools believes in the ideal that through education any door can and will be opened; we believe through the schoolhouse gates we will redefine and thus revitalize the work force of Wabash County and the greater region of Northeast Indiana.  Therefore K-12 we stand united to ensure our kids walk out prepared for post-secondary education.  Currently, every grade level except two have planned or are planning college visits.  On Monday, every 5th grader took a tour of Ball State University.  We believe these visits will transition our kids from an abstract idea of college to a concrete understanding of reality.

Parents, please talk with your children and your child's school about college. It is never too soon to begin planning future career focus and financial planning.  Wabash City Schools is devoted to promoting post-secondary education for all students.

This year Wabash City Schools has adopted the theme of Changing the Trajectory.  The focus of our district is to change the trajectory of all student performance surrounding one of 4 critical times of schooling: early childhood education, 3rd grade reading ability, 8th grade readiness and college and career readiness.  Late this summer, WCS administrators changed our mission statement to be in line with the Lumina Foundation's Big Goal initiative of 60% of our workforce holding either a certification or a degree: Wabash City Schools provides a relevant and rigorous education to ensure each student is college and career-ready for success in a global community.  It is the goal of WCS that all students will leave Wabash High School with both a high school diploma and college credit toward a high level certification or degree.  For some time Wabash High School has offered this opportunity through Ivy Tech Community College,  IPFW and Heartland Career Center.  Additionally, WHS counselors and administrators have ensured that all seniors apply to some type of post-secondary institution and are offered assistance in college applications and filling out financial assistance.  However, WCS recognizes that to ensure that all students reach this college and career readiness benchmark, we must connect all students with college and career ready curriculum and focus.  We must identify students whose trajectory falls short of being college and career ready as early as possible and begin to provide the necessary interventions to change their trajectory.  Through help from the Community Foundation of Wabash County, Wabash City Schools provided early childhood education to pre-kindergarten students who had limited preschool experience prior to kindergarten.  This program, Begindergarten, served 20+ students of Wabash County to better prepare them for entry into kindergarten.  Additionally, Wabash City Schools believes in building community partnerships in creating opportunities for our students.  Over the summer of 2012, WCS partnered with The YMCA of Wabash County to provide summer reading program to strategic readers.  Sixty percent of those students who finished the program demonstrated a 6 month gain in reading.  This partnership is an excellent example how a community partnership can help address focus areas not funded through state dollars.  During the 2011-2012 school year, WCS implemented a 1:1 computing initiative at Wabash Middle School.  This initiative found success due to the faculties' belief that the technology would create opportunities beyond the classroom, provide opportunities to differentiate instruction; level the playing field to information across the socioeconomic and global divide; enhance student engagement; and enhance the teaching of creativity, communication and critical thinking skills.  WMS demonstrated their best results on the ISTEP test during this year; thus, for the 2012-2013 school year, we increased the 1:1 computing project to include grades 4 through 12.  
Through our focus, our innovative spirit and our strong tradition, I believe Wabash City Schools will continue to be a leader in education not only in the Northeast Indiana region but throughout the State of Indiana