District staff and board members discussed career pathways, a School Links pilot and Academies of Anchorage (AOA) programming at the Communications Committee meeting May 29.

Sean Prince, senior director of teaching and learning, and AOA staff described multiple pilots: a college‑and‑career exploration personal finance class offered during an ASDSA event, an eighth‑grade School Links pilot at King Tech enrichment, and second‑semester pilots at Eagle River High School. Prince said the AOA externships and a natural‑resource exploration trip to the North Slope are being prepared, and he reported that 27 businesses had expressed interest in the district’s career expo, set for Sept. 26 at the Ninth Center.

Board members and staff raised long‑standing barriers to full‑time King Tech enrollment, including scheduling conflicts with home high‑school course requests and transportation. One board member described how high‑school scheduling commonly uses AM/PM splits—students attend King Tech in a morning or afternoon block—and said aligning bell schedules, buses and course requests is a recurring challenge to increasing enrollment.

The committee also spent significant time on School Links, a student planning platform. District staff said School Links will be introduced as a freshman course in the 2025–26 school year to cover career exploration, college planning, course planning and a digital portfolio; scholarship finder, application organizer, event tracker and messaging features are planned for juniors and seniors as those ninth graders advance. Staff said parent and guardian accounts will sync with student accounts and that counselors will be trained in a counselor‑focused pilot next week.

Counseling and instructional staff told the committee School Links can centralize college and career information — including Common App integration and score tracking for PSAT/SAT — and help students and families plan four‑year course pathways. A counselor noted that School Links can pull in college application and scholarship processes and help reduce two of the district’s recurring communication problems: limited early exposure to pathways for middle‑school students and inconsistent counselor messaging about eligibility for King Tech.

Committee members suggested earlier exposure to career pathway programming in middle school—two‑week intensives or career fairs—and discussed partnerships with Junior Achievement and other community organizations to expand outreach. Staff said they will continue to coordinate scheduling, counselor engagement and marketing to increase student takeup of King Tech and AOA opportunities.