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Webinar 7:
Successful Transitions to High School: Promoting High School Success and Facilitating College Readiness


The U.S. Department of Education and its partners United Way Worldwide, National PTA, SEDL, and Harvard Family Research Project

invite you to participate in the seventh installment of this webinar series:

Successful Transitions to High School:
Promoting High School Success and Facilitating College Readiness


June 23, 2011, 2:00–3:30 p.m. (EDT)

Successful Transitions to High School will highlight ways to support students and families during the transition from middle to high school—a critical time for setting the course to graduate from high school on time and ready for college. Presenters will focus on the knowledge needed to ensure a smooth entry into ninth grade, such as coursework sequencing and graduation requirements, and will also explore how schools and community organizations can partner with families to provide services such as tutoring, mentoring, and afterschool programming.

This webinar will highlight innovative practices that facilitate the transition to high school, information about how schools can help families stay engaged in their children’s education during the high school years, and services that offer essential information and assistance for students and their families throughout the college application process.

Samantha Wigand, from United Way Worldwide, will discuss the importance of active family engagement during students’ transition into high school. Joanna Hornig Fox, from the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University, will discuss how to support high school completion and college readiness and will highlight the role of families, communities, and school staff in helping students transition into ninth grade. Beth Porter, from Breakthrough Collaborative, will discuss an intensive transition program for middle school students that involves a set of ongoing, comprehensive supports to help students succeed in college preparatory high school programs. And Carol Myers, from the Indiana State Parental Information and Resource Center (PIRC), will discuss the PIRC’s work in building school capacity to engage families and students to promote college and career readiness.

Featured speakers include:

  • Moderator: Samantha Wigand, Education Consultant, United Way Worldwide
  • Joanna Hornig Fox, Deputy Director, Everyone Graduates Center, Johns Hopkins University
  • Ben Martinez, National Program Director, Breakthrough Collaborative
  • Carol Myers, Consultant, Indiana State PIRC, Indiana Partnerships Center


This webinar series is funded in part by the U.S. Department of Education's Parental Information and Resource Center program. The content of this webinar series does not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Education.