Counselors recommend switching career‑readiness platforms: SmartFutures for middle schools, School Links for high school
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Summary
Following a March–May pilot, counselors recommended replacing Naviance with SmartFutures for middle schools (continuity with elementary use and K–8 data) and School Links for the high school; the recommendation was unanimous among participating counselors and pilot students and will proceed through the consent process.
Counselors told the board they reviewed three career‑readiness platforms between March 3 and May 16 and piloted the finalists with student groups at each building.
"The middle school has decided that they would like to pursue Smart Futures," counselor Rebecca Dreisbach said, noting the platform aligns with the elementary rollout and provides K–8 continuity and developmentally appropriate lessons.
For the high school, counselors recommended "School Links" as the preferred platform because of its college‑ and career‑research tools, portability of student accounts after graduation and post‑secondary tracking capabilities. Dreisbach said the pilot involved about a dozen students in each building and that counselors used an evaluation rubric to reach their recommendation.
"It is very user friendly...and the students receive their account for life," Dreisbach said. "It was a unanimous preference from the school counselors and students alike."
The change was presented as a recommendation from the Education Committee of the Whole and will move through the district—s approval process; administrators said the new platforms will better support career guidance, state reporting and counselor workflows.