By: The Strategy & Institional Advancement team
March 17, 2022
Inwood Academy strives to open as many doors as possible for students during and after their time in our school, setting holistic goals for student success that far exceed the norms in our community. In order to realize these goals, we need to begin orienting our students to their many options as young as possible.
College & Career Success Program Expansion
We have already begun expanding our College & Career Success (CCS) Program, which has provided extensive support for students in high school and college since 2014, to serve all students grades 5-12 as well as our growing number of alumni.
Inwood Academy’s CCS Program provides wraparound support for students and alumni throughout their education, equipping them to navigate and overcome the barriers they face on the way to higher education and graduation (we are talking real-life internships, college decisions, scholarships, and job opportunities).
For the 2022-2023 school year, the CCS team will serve grades 6 through 12. The team will include:
Director of College and Career Success
(2) CCS College & Career Counselor (Grades 11 and 12)
(2) CCS School Counselors (9th/11th & 10th/12th)
College and Career Success Teacher (Grades 11 and 12)
Transition and Workplace Development Coordinator (Grades 5-12)
Alumni Manager
Alumni Internship Program
In order to support the growth we are pursuing, we have increased our staff and introduced a new Alumni Internship Program to our CCS Department this year. In addition to providing alumni interns with valuable professional experience and monetary income, employing our alumni has been vital in helping us present post-secondary opportunities to students in a way that is relevant, needed, and enjoyed. The impact our alumni interns have already had on our youngest students as they look towards their future excites us deeply, and we hope you will consider giving (hyperlink to donate) to support the salary and professional development of more alumni interns.
Alumni Week
Despite omicron-related setbacks, we were able to host another successful Alumni Week and extend the programming to our Middle School students for the first time. Alumni Week(s) took place between Tuesday, January 18th (High School) to Friday, January 31st (Middle School).
The focus of this year’s initiative was building knowledge and excitement around the career exploration process to help students identify college and career plans that align with their interests. As active community members, our staff play pivotal roles in creating this kind of culture around post-secondary exploration. Staff members proudly rep’ed their Alma Maters and led insightful conversations based on their own journeys. You can watch some of our amazing staff and alumni stories by clicking here.
Other Highlights from this Quarter
The CCS team has secured places for a total of eight 9th grade students in the SEO Scholars program. SEO Scholars is a free competitive, eight-year, academic/college access program that supports and mentors students throughout their high school and post-secondary education. For the first time this year, we are partnering with Kaplan to bring SAT preparation to our CCS classroom. We cannot wait to see our Trailblazers excel during SAT exams on March 23rd!
