Career & College Readiness

Preparing students for success in school and beyond

Each student is on their own journey. Our job at Spring Lake Park Schools is to help students discover and prepare for their unique life, education and career path – from early childhood to high school.

When students leave the walls of Spring Lake Park Schools, we want them to have mastery over essential skills required for life, education and career success; exposure to college-level rigor; and, a sense of career paths that may bring them joy and success. Above all, each student should know themselves as a learner and know how they can unlock their learning for life.

Gaining career and college ready skills

From day one, we’re getting to know your student as a learner. Each student has a personalized learner profile with information about how they learn that helps teachers design personalized learning experiences tailored to them. Short and long-term personal learner maps guide a student’s learning choices over time – toward their emerging career, college and life goals.

As they learn, we purposefully integrate rigorous academic content with experiences to intentionally cultivate the skills and mindsets essential for students to succeed. Together, mastery over content, skills and mindsets will support students in becoming lifelong, powerful and joyful learners and contributors to a complex and rapidly changing world.

Skills and Mindsets

Career and Life Competencies

Self-direction
Collaboration
Digital Literacy
Civic and Cultural Awareness
Communication
Critical Thinking
Creativity and Innovation

Rigorous Content

Academic Competencies

Language Arts
Social Studies
Science
Math
Arts
Physical Education and Health
Electives

Exploring careers

Early in a child’s experience at Spring Lake Park Schools, we’re making connections between learning and life. When kids ask why they are learning something, we want them to be able to provide a real-life answer.

As they grow, students learn about how their specific strengths and interests might translate to real-world application within specific career paths. Beginning in middle school, there are opportunities for students to more explicitly explore career paths as they satisfy learning outcomes.

At Spring Lake Park High School, career exploration becomes more concrete and immediate. Career and College Pathways are sets of courses students can take within specific industry and career sectors. Each Pathway represents a predicted need for future jobs. There are three Pathways:

Business and Entrepreneurship
Technology, Engineering and Design
Health and Human services

Courses provide real-world experience as students develop skills within a field and opportunities to explore different career options. Students can explore courses within each pathway or choose to take all the courses in a single pathway as they look for their right-fit career. Many courses offer college credits.

Learn more about Career and College Pathways at Spring Lake Park High School.

Earning college credit

Increasingly, any path beyond high school requires some exposure to college-level rigor. Our goal is for each graduate to have an opportunity to earn 12 college credits by the end of the 12th grade – without leaving their Spring Lake Park High School experience. There are many routes to achieving 12 by 12.

Research shows that completion of one semester of college-level work results in higher success at the post-secondary level, regardless of what path you take. College-level rigor is preparation for 2-year, 4-year and technical training and jobs. It also makes financial sense. Earning college credits now saves money in the future.

Spring Lake Park High School offers more than 50 courses that have opportunities for college-level credit. That number is growing each year.

Learn more about the many paths ways to earning college credit at the high school.

Read how our students are being set up for success for life after high school

RSS Feeds

DECA students smiling on stage at the district 6 DECA competition

DECA: A Season of Learning, Giving and Success

It has been an exciting and action-packed couple of weeks for Spring Lake Park High School students who are involved a variety of activities through DECA. The co-curricular activity prepares students for careers in business and leadership through competitive events, workshops, community service, fundraisers and more.

Students in the Foundations of Business course touring the Twins baseball stadium

Business class builds skills, interest, mentor connection

When students send their first professional email to a mentor - someone working in a real, local business - they don’t know what to expect in return. When they get insights on marketing, education, product development, trends, advertising and more, the world of business is opened.

Engineering Custom Bathroom Passes

At Spring Lake Park High School, students in the Introduction to Engineering course are putting their creativity and technical skills to the test. In a recent challenge, students designed and 3D-printed custom bathroom passes for teachers in the building.

Students presenting during Shark Tank competition

Students Bring Big Ideas to Life in ‘Shark Tank’ Style Competition

Spring Lake Park High School students in the year-long Marketing and Entrepreneurship class recently stepped into the spotlight to pitch their creative business ideas in the annual “Shark Tank”-style competition. After months of hard work, 12 student groups showcased their product or service ideas to local judges.