Oakdale Joint Unified Assistant Superintendent, Gillian Wegener, and members of the Oakdale Joint Unified School Board are doing all that they can to ensure Oakdale students are being provided the best opportunities for their future, regardless of what that might be.
At the March school board meeting, Wegener addressed the board with an update on A-G/College Readiness.
A slideshow presentation outlining where the district was, where it is today and plans for the future was reviewed in detail by Wegener, who serves as the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction.
“Remember A-G are the set of classes students need to take in order to get into the California State University or University of California systems,” Wegener reminded the board.
She further shared that through the help of the A-G/School Readiness Task Force, three main goals had been set. Those goals include: raising awareness of A-G requirements among students, staff and families; increase the number of OHS students completing A-G requirements; and increasing the number of OHS students admitted to college, particularly the UC system.
“The more familiar we can make them, the better,” Wegener said of tools being utilized to inform students as early as junior high on the requirements for college acceptance.
Wegener also explained the difference between AP and Honors classes, as well as the transition of some current Accelerated classes at the high school to Honors. In the transition it was noted that some classes were not looked at by university officials at the freshman level.
“They don’t look at freshman grades, but they do look at overall GPA,” Wegener said, stressing the importance of all classes. “So, ninth grade still counts and we want to make sure our students know that. That is an interesting thing that kind of ripples through our students that ninth grade doesn’t matter, they can do whatever. They can’t do whatever.”
According to Wegener counselors meet with each student each year and discuss plans, transcript evaluations and checking if they’re on track with A-G and their goals.
“We were surprised by how many people were not aware. How many freshmen couldn’t tell us anything about what A-G was,” Wegener said in a later interview with The Leader.
“A lot of our students, if they complete A-G they have options,” she continued. “It’s about options. They can go to a four-year college if they want to, but it is perfectly reasonable to go to a community college. That’s a wonderful path as well.”
When speaking to The Leader, Wegener made note of the variation and benefits of AP and Honors classes at the high school level.
“AP classes are one program. They are a more rigorous program that when students past the test at the end of that class they get college credit,” she said, adding they are also weighted which increases the students’ overall GPA (Grade Point Average).
“Honors classes will boost GPA’s which is very nice and schools will look at that overall GPA,” she continued. “The difference is that students do not get college credit for Honors classes.”
Yet with all the college talk and preparing students for the optimum by way of their future, Wegener noted balance of all avenues for students continues to be the focus and key.
“We have a lot of students in Oakdale that go straight to work after high school and that’s a respectable path as well. Completing A-G gives you options, that’s what we want people to understand,” she explained. “We are still doing lots of career focused events for our students. Our counselors have really bulked up their offerings of college and career events over the course of the whole year. We still have the career center at the high school. None of that’s going away. We just want students to realize the array of options that they have. We don’t want anybody to feel that their choice is lesser.”
