The Porterville Unified School District Pathways program will host an experiential site visit this Friday (Dec. 4) from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. School and district representatives from as far as San Bernardino and Salinas will be in attendance to study the PUSD program.
The main goals of the day will be to help attendees with the understanding of the various features of a mature Linked Learning pathway and how it fits as a whole to provide a coherent four-year program of study for students.
“Our goal on Friday is to share our work in implementing a district-wide system of Linked Learning pathways and how to utilize this approach to produce an effective educational system for all our students,” PUSD Director of Student Pathways Cindy Brown said. "Linked Learning has touched the lives of so many students, here in Porterville, preparing them to be college and career ready upon graduation. Having other educators from across the state visit us to learn how to replicate this work is not only an honor, but most importantly, we believe together with districts across the state of California that we will make an incredible impact on the lives of many more students' future success."
The Pathways program will share a focused presentation, along with a district and community leader panel before the attendees will be sent to two separate PUSD sites: Porterville High School and Harmony Magnet Academy.
Student-led tours at Porterville High will include interaction with the Academy of Finance, Academy of Health Sciences and Alternative Energy Resource Occupations while tours at Harmony will interact with the Academy of Engineering, Academy of Performing Arts and Emerging Agricultural Technology.
From 2009 to 2014, Porterville Unified School District received a total of $3 million in grants from the James Irvine Foundation. The grant funding, awarded to only nine districts in California, was given to PUSD to develop a district-wide system of college prep/career-themed pathways. Since that time, PUSD has expanded its pathway options to now offer 10 “Open Choice” career-themed pathways for high school students. Utilizing the Linked Learning approach, the PUSD Pathways program continues to work with a statewide coalition dedicated to preparing students for success in both college and career.
The Porterville Unified School District serves over 14,000 students in a district that covers nearly 3,000 square miles. For more information about the Porterville Unified School District, go to the District’s website at www.portervilleschools.org.
PUSD can be found on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/PortervilleUnified) and on Twitter @PortervilleUSD.