Welcome to Our Freshmen Exploratory Program
Our Exploratory Program is an exciting opportunity for your teen to immerse themselves in a different vocational program every other week from late August to early December. Each week-long shop exploration is an immersive experience that provides them with a general understanding of the curriculum, workload, and future career opportunities within that vocational program.
Your teen will learn to research career pathways concerning future earning potential, working conditions, and industry trends. Exploring their interests and aptitudes, students learn how those factors will impact future job satisfaction. Our School Counselors and Career Enrichment teachers present a variety of factors for students to consider when making their final decision about what career program they want to choose for the duration of their high school career.
Students and their parents/guardians are encouraged to enter the Freshmen Exploratory Program with open minds and a willingness to challenge any assumptions they might have regarding our vocational-technical offerings. Often, during the exploratory process, many students fall in love with a shop that was not among their initial top-three choices, which means our exploratory process is working!
Our Career Enrichment classes assist our freshmen and their families to view our school counselors, teachers, and vocational instructors as partners and resources in developing a career plan that reflects the student's vision of their future career. Throughout the exploratory experience, instructors evaluate each student based upon a rubric/scoring guide utilized by all vocational areas. In this process, students learn to assess their exploratory scores from the previous shop week.
As the seven exploratory cycles conclude, you will help your teen complete an online Decide Survey, ranking their top seven shops. Final placement is determined by student request and performance in accordance with our state-approved admissions policy.
Annually, there are a handful of students who do not receive their first, second, or third choice of career program. Those students receive support to identify a shop they would be happy in until an opening occurs in their desired career pathway. In the spring, all freshmen complete an online survey about their current shop placement. We work with those students who indicate they desire a shop change. These changes will take place over the summer once attrition and retention have been determined and as space is available.