On October 21, counselors Kimberly Woodworth and Winter Jones are releasing a video during the advisory period to introduce the new college planning site Xello to teachers and students.

“[The] video is going to introduce how to use [Xello], how to login, and what other features you are going to find in the resources,” said Woodworth.

Xello is replacing Naviance, the college planning website that students had originally been using. This replacement was decided after careful research and comparison between the two programs from the counselors, district, and administration.

“Our contract was up with Naviance and we thought Xello would be a better fit for our students,” said Woodworth.

The Xello program aims to help students in middle school and high school to start to plan for their futures after high school. They offer information about college visits and events, as well as in-depth personality tests that help students find what skills and careers might best suit them in adulthood.

“Xello works to create a very personalized experience for each student. Xello offers learning style and personality assessments, which allow each student to reflect on who they are as an individual and decide the best pathway for their future,” said college and career counselor Lara Bays.

Xello offers a more fluid and flexible program than Naviance as well. Instead of basing a student’s profile on the information they filled out in freshman year, Xello offers students an opportunity to grow and change as they realize their strengths and weaknesses, and start to focus on one pathway.

“Unfortunately, Naviance did not allow students to retake assessments. We know that between freshman and senior year, many students undergo a lot of growth or change, and their college and career choices may be more apt to shift. Therefore, we like the flexibility that Xello offers because students may retake an assessment at any time if they change their mind regarding a college and career route,” said Bays. 

All students already have a Xello account and will learn how to log in during Thursday’s advisory. Individuals will need to log in through the Clever portal website.

“When students login they are going to see a welcome page and it is going to have assignments, so if I have assigned anything or their teachers have assigned anything like an assignment through Xello it will be right there on the homescreen, easy to click on,” said Woodworth.

Students do not have to wait until high school to start exploring the page — in fact, counselors advise that students start as early as sixth grade, slowly going through the interface and discovering their interests and passions.

“It is going to be for all grade levels 6-12, so students that are in sixth grade are going to start using Xello, and hopefully by the time they get to 12th grade [they] are going to be really familiar with Xello. Our seniors this year are going to learn Xello as we go,” said Woodworth.

Although this program is not mandatory for individuals, counselors encourage students to check it out and advisory teachers to set aside time for students to explore the interface. They believe this program will be beneficial to teenagers as they prepare for their future, and that carving out time to visit the website each week will benefit them in the long run.

“We hope that this tool will help guide students and ease some of the stress as they work on post high school planning,”  said Bays.