Roundtable: Preparing Students for Life After High School

Educators not only focus on helping students succeed during their high school years. They also prepare them for the transition to life after high school. To learn how school leaders support students—including those who would be the first in their families to attend college—and how their own educational journeys inform their work, Principal Leadership contacted Yetunde Reeves, EdD, the principal of Dunbar High School in Baltimore, MD, and the 2024 Maryland Principal of the Year; and Erika Tejeda, EdD, the principal of Liberty High School in Winchester, CA, and the 2024 California Principal of the Year.

Principal Leadership: How does your school support students who would be the first in their families to attend college?

Tejeda: I had the privilege of opening a brand-new high school in 2021. We opened with ninth and tenth graders only. Our school is very diverse in the sense that we have farmland, and we also have multigenerational dwellings, and we have $700,000 homes. All of these students feed into my school. I’m a first-generation Chicana college student, the daughter of immigrants. In planning the curriculum for this school, we developed pathways so that every student beginning freshman year is in a pathway and they’re earning college credit. Whether you’re a first-generation student, if you’re an English language learner, if you’re in special education, if you’re a newcomer, all students have an opportunity to earn college credit without taking an AP course or a college-level course and this begins their freshman year. Equity and access were crucial when opening this school and so was working with neighboring community colleges for direct articulation.

Reeves: Our school has a rich legacy as one of the main schools for African Americans before integration and shortly thereafter. We have alumni who are judges, congressmen, doctors, and a lot of notables including athletes. When I became principal six years ago there was an opportunity to strengthen the college-going culture so that everybody grades nine through 12 would be supported toward college. We do have CTE pathways, but the goal of the school is that everyone will graduate with at least one acceptance to a two- or four-year college. What the work has really been over the last five years is helping to orient the staff mindset around college for all and then building out robust systems to support students. That includes our advisory period and shifting our counseling model to include postsecondary advisers, which is aligned to the district’s priority of working with students on college and career planning as early as ninth grade.

We also have a grade-level academy model where every grade level has an administrator or lead that’s supporting families and students through high school success, college readiness, and family engagement. One big shift under my leadership is making sure students understand their GPAs, are in a competitive academic situation, and changing the culture around achievement. We have dual enrollment, we’ve grown AP from three to 10 courses, and we’ve focused on helping families understand the options so that when students are in the 12th grade, they can make their own decisions.

Principal Leadership: Have your own educational journeys shaped your work with students when it comes to college and career?

Reeves: My parents are the first in their families to hold doctoral degrees, which are from Stanford University. In my household, college was the norm. My brother is a medical doctor, and I have a doctorate in education. For the families I serve, my experiences and college exposure at an early age isn’t every family’s educational experience. I have tried throughout my principalship to kind of recreate what middle-class, upper-class families automatically have and maybe even take for granted. For example, students are going to take the SAT, they’re going on college visits, they’re going to understand their financial aid package. There’s just that social capital that sometimes not all families have access to. For me, I was able to travel internationally as a student growing up. I was exposed to clubs and opportunities and so in my leadership I strive to create a school experience where those opportunities aren’t reserved for a few but for every student. We’re not just thinking about high school graduation as the goal but you’re going to go to college, you’re going to get a degree. And if that’s not your path then what might you do not just to earn a livable wage but to finance the life that you want to live?

Tejeda: I am the baby of five, and I have four older brothers. My mother was a farm worker who picked oranges and grapes. My father was formally educated in Mexico City. There were student riots in 1968 and he came to this country as a janitor. For my family, there were seven of us in a two-bedroom apartment and I started working at the age of 15 so I could help contribute to the family. I bought my own clothes. My parents put us all through Catholic school, kindergarten through eighth grade. They felt the best they could do was give us a strong foundation. For my parents, getting a high school diploma was satisfactory. They just wanted their kids to have a good job, and my brothers are very successful. But for me, culturally it was difficult because in the Latino culture, as the only girl I am supposed to take care of my family.

We do ensure that college and career counselors ask questions like how are you going to get home from college during breaks? What is your plan? What is your support system like? —Erika Tejeda

When I told my mom I wanted to go to college, she said, “I don’t know how to get you there, but I can help you any way I can.” There wasn’t any help from the high school. There was somebody in the neighborhood who had attended college, who helped me apply. I had a teacher tell me that people like me belonged at home having babies and receiving government assistance because that was what my people did. The same teacher told my brother that he would end up in jail. Despite the disparaging remarks, I went to junior college and finished in 18 months, working three jobs during this time. I was then able to transfer to a university. I figured it out on my own. I’m the first one in my family to go to college. Like Yetunde, I have a doctorate. I’m a single mom as well. I do everything for my children not to be a statistic. My daughter graduated with her bachelor’s degree in three years. My son just finished his freshman year of college. I went back to teach at the school I graduated from because I wanted to be a role model for kids who looked like me and who lived in the same neighborhood
as me.

Principal Leadership: At your school, what are the biggest barriers that first-generation college students face in applying to and enrolling in college?

Reeves: Our school has entrance criteria, so students are a little bit above average in terms of their academic skill levels, and parent engagement is a little bit higher. But I still encounter students who have a difficult time getting financial aid documentation from their parents. FAFSA is sometimes seen as “telling the government your business.” We have students who might have been claimed by someone who doesn’t have legal guardianship of them and so that means they don’t get aid. I have students who have deceased parents and so they can’t get the information to complete applications. What I’ve learned though is the more support the school offers, the more families can navigate those processes and feel comfortable with the next step in their educational journey. Within my budget, I’ve been able to hire a part-time “college coach” who’s well-versed in financial aid and “all things college.” He’s been instrumental in helping navigate some of these situations that my families face and the school isn’t always equipped to support resolution.

I’ve also noticed that after COVID, students want to work, and more students are employed. They might say, “I’m ok with my part-time job” and they no longer want to pursue college. Then, the discussion is, “Do you want to make $18 an hour for the rest of your life? Is this going to support a family?” We’re now challenged with needing to convince students to pursue higher education and explaining why a college degree matters and this can increase their earning potential. Social media and some of the allure of being an adult makes students want to rush out into the world. And some of my students are adults now in terms of responsibilities. They’re not thinking about college to delay adulthood. They see it as “just more school.” They want to get out in the world and be more independent. It’s different with every class and every student. But I still think the more school is presented as an option, the more students are like, “Ok. I trust you. Let me give this some consideration.” The other barrier is making sure that the adults in the building have established relationships with parents. You can’t call a parent in the 12th grade for their social security number to complete FAFSA. If they don’t know you and trust you, they’re not going to really buy into those school supports.

Tejeda: Because we’re a college and career campus we have FAFSA nights. We have counselors that come in on Saturdays to work with students and families. They stay after school. It’s the culture. Not everybody is going to college. My goal has been to highlight college or career, and we start the college and career conversation freshman year. With the CTE pathways, senior year our kids are doing internships and they’re leaving with a certificate. We have four pathways: health sciences and medical technology; business and entrepreneurship; public service and leadership; and engineering, innovation, and design. We have an administrator per pathway as well as counselors per pathway who work with students. The expectation is that they meet with their students and discuss not just grades but next steps. We have a college kick-off day and we’re an AVID school as well. We wear college shirts and encourage teachers to talk about their college experiences. All of this is to say, it’s so important that we start to talk about college and career freshman year because like Yetunde said, I have students who would rather get a job or they’re already working. They’re working construction or they’re mowing lawns with their parents during the summer. It’s that instant money, that instant gratification, the hustle. For us, it’s re-educating our students to look beyond now and the
easy money.

Principal Leadership: Where do a lot of your students enroll in college or what career-training program do they go into?

Reeves: Our school is known for its health career pathway. We have a thriving EMT program. We’re also excited we have some of the first students to pass the certifications to go right into the fire academy this year. Most of our students stay local. Students do get more financial aid to stay in-state. Our students attend Morgan State University, Coppin State University, Bowie State University, and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, which is becoming a more popular school choice. Then, for students who want to go onto community college, we do have dual enrollment available and there’s a scholarship with the Mayor’s Office with Baltimore City Community College and so college is very affordable. I’m super excited that we have our first Ivy League student at Harvard doing amazingly well. We also have students who graduate with football scholarships. We had close to 10 students with Division I scholarships in the Class of 2023. Our graduates who are in college are doing well, thriving, and telling us that they felt prepared.

I have tried throughout my principalship to kind of recreate what middle-class, upper-class families automatically have and maybe even take for granted. —Yetunde Reeves

Tejeda: We have a community college that’s less than 10 miles from our school. It’s Mt. San Jacinto College, and we offer dual enrollment courses. I got my associate degree from there. I’m literally a product of my community. With our first graduating class, we had students get accepted to Berkeley and San Diego State University, among other schools. A lot of our students stay local. We do ensure that college and career counselors ask questions like how are you going to get home from college during breaks? What is your plan? What is your support system like?

Principal Leadership: What advice do you have for school leaders looking to support more students pursuing college and career?

Reeves: It starts with the vision. We need to make sure the vision is inclusive of all students. Sometimes we say it, but that’s not really what we mean. I would say “all has to mean all.” If you’re preparing everybody regardless of whether they’re first-generation or second-generation, then you’ll include everyone in that work.

Tejeda: As a new leader, you need to understand your school community, and you need to do your homework. It’s knowing who your students are, their demographics, where they’re coming from, and then knowing that you don’t need to come in and change everything. You need to be able to listen and understand what the needs are. When you have expectations, know that your expectations may be very high and your students—it’s not that they don’t understand, it’s that they don’t know how to get there. Having the right people in the right places is very important. That’s your administrative team, counseling team, a caring staff, and holding school assemblies to ensure early exposure to college and career so you can start taking away the fear of the unknown. Knowing the people you’re serving is critical because we’re servant leaders.