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Wichita district reports 100% completion of eighth‑grade five‑year plans using Xello; board hears next steps
Summary
District officials said every current eighth grader completed a high‑school five‑year plan in Xello as part of the Strategic Plan goal; staff outlined strategies to sustain progress, increase parent engagement and move pre‑enrollment collaboration earlier.
Wichita Public Schools officials told the Board of Education April 7 that the district met its interim goal of 100% completion of five‑year plans for current eighth graders using the Xello career‑exploration platform.
Brandon Johnson, executive director of secondary schools, and Tim Hamblin, executive director of college and career readiness, presented the Middle School Progress Monitoring report tied to Strategic Plan Goal 2. The district’s long‑term target is to have 50% of graduates reach five or more postsecondary assets by 2029. For the current year, staff set a milestone that all current eighth graders complete a five‑year plan by May.
Johnson said the five‑year plan asks students to select courses for each of the four high‑school years and to outline a fifth‑year plan for the first year after high school. Staff trained middle‑school teachers and counselors and used Xello as the platform for career exploration, course mapping and tracking. Johnson acknowledged the figure is a moving target: if students enroll after the process, they may not have an immediate plan, and course offering changes at the high‑school level can later leave gaps in plans.
Presenters described strategies to sustain and improve the initiative: move the collaboration and pre‑enrollment timeline earlier into the first semester; use ParentLink to send a monthly prompt to parents to spur conversations about plans; and explore Xello’s capacity to batch elective courses aligned to individual plans so students begin taking appropriate prerequisites as freshmen and sophomores. Staff said Xello remains editable and students may update plans during high‑school advocacy classes; the platform remains accessible after graduation for two years.
Board members asked about parent access and single‑sign‑on solutions. Staff said the district plans to add a parent single‑sign‑on this summer and to include Xello access through that portal when online enrollment opens. The presenters said the work is year‑one of an ongoing alignment effort and emphasized collaboration between middle and high schools, parents, counselors and teachers.
