Dear Huntley 158 Secondary (6-12) Parents and Families,
In Huntley 158, we believe one of the most important elements of our district’s mission is to support our students and graduates for their next steps in life and learning. We aim to foster lifelong, self-directed learners who are ready to contribute to our ever-changing society. In order to achieve this, we are committed to offering our students the support and resources to explore college and career opportunities while in Huntley 158 through personalized coursework, hands-on experiences, internship opportunities and a network of support at school and at home.
As part of Huntley 158’s Strategic Plan, our focus at the secondary level is rooted in college and career readiness opportunities for our students. Over the past several years, we have worked to establish a wide range of instructional, experiential and career-related opportunities for our students, including the personalized pathways of learning, a strong partnership and learning opportunities at McHenry County College, Huntley High School’s new Dual Degree program, internship opportunities and a robust course catalog. As we work to prepare well-rounded students and citizens, Huntley 158 recognizes the need to continuously improve these opportunities to prepare students for post-secondary learning, employment, internships and more.
With this in mind, we are very excited to introduce the district’s new college and career readiness platform, SchooLinks for all secondary (6-12) families. SchooLinks’ innovative program serves up an engaging user experience that’s familiar and makes choosing a path after high school accessible and fun. All of the SchooLinks features are designed with students in mind to help them become career, college, and life ready. The program allows students to learn more about their interests, research careers, navigate the college and career planning process, explore college profiles and learn about financial literacy and how decisions you make can financially impact you after you graduate. The platform is multifaceted, but provides valuable information and insight for our families in the following areas:
- College Selection and Application Process
- Career/Internship Opportunities and Connections with Employers
- Course Planning
At Huntley High School, all students in grades 9-12 will be introduced to the SchooLinks platform and get logged on as part of our upcoming schoolwide Raider Way lesson on Tuesday, November 1. In our middle schools, students will be getting connected as part of their advisories on November 7 at Heineman Middle School and November 14 at Marlowe Middle School. Ongoing college and career readiness skills and exploration will be provided at both the high school and middle schools through focused efforts as part of their curriculum. As parents, we want to get you connected with the SchooLinks platform alongside your students.
How can SchooLinks impact my students’ college and career planning?
SchooLinks’ interface mimics the user experience of the apps and technology you use every day and offers more than 80 experiences for students, such as career interest inventory assessments, college and career searches, scholarship matching, college application tracking, and more. As parents, you will have access to engage with these resources and online networks while viewing assessment results and goals for your individual student.
How can I get logged on to SchooLinks?
Parents can log on to see their students profile and progress towards their postsecondary goals via a unique access code for each student. This process will be similar to our transition to Schoology, which you may remember as Huntley 158’s new learning management system for this school year. Parents will receive access codes and login instructions for EACH student the week of Monday, November 14.
To learn more about what SchooLinks can offer our students, we invite you to watch this video or explore their website here. Parents will receive more details about how to log on and opportunities to learn more alongside district staff and administrators as we work together to prioritize college and career readiness for all students. We look forward to empowering and enabling each student to #FindYourDestination158!
Thank you,
Curriculum, Learning and Innovation Department
Huntley Community School District 158
