ATTENDANCE IS IMPORTANT!

Face 2 Face Students

PARENTS:
Please call the NWC office when your student will miss school. Parents are asked to contact NWC @ 517-817-4754. Absences are excused only when there is a Dr. note, court notice provided or a funeral for immediate family members. If your student attends the Jackson Area Career Center, you must also contact them concerning the absence of your student. 517-768-5100 Attendance has an impact on the overall score and the ability to earn credits. Attendance is 10% of the term grade. Students are encouraged to email their teacher when they miss school to check on assignments and keep on pace. When students must leave school during the day, we ask that they use the student phone in the office area for this purpose. They will ask their teacher for a phone pass. Students are also encouraged to contact their Face2Face teachers concerning any work they might miss!

Virtual Students
For our NW Connect Virtual students, progress is the key! Make sure to set aside 3 - 5 hours daily for your school work. Virtual students are expected to progress 8.5% each week in each class in order to earn their trimester credits. Weekly contacts will be made by your focus group mentor. Be sure to check your Edgenuity email as well as your mischools email for your weekly

The story of the name change started six years ago.  We were at graduation and feeling good about graduating 25 or 30 students.  As we watched the students walk across the stage it felt very uncomfortable.  Only ONE student had a make-shift plan for gainful employment and that was to just work more hours at a fast food restaurant.  It became a bittersweet graduation that started the program changes that led us to change our name to NW Connect.

The first change was to use what we already had in place, by increasing our student enrollment at the Career Center.  Next, we looked for partners that focus on career development and exploration.  Michigan Works! was a natural fit and  became our first partner.  Michigan Works! provided career readiness activities along with job shadowing opportunities and externships. We also focused on sending students to Jackson College, either for dual enrollment or for the 13th Early College Program.  This year we graduated our first Early College student and had five students dual enrolled with Jackson College.  Our third partner was Youth Build.  Youth Build provides pre-apprenticeship certifications in Skilled Trades along with OSHA 10, First Aid, and CPR.  Youth Build is a hands-on program that has dynamic mentors and totally captivates participants.   Our third partner to date is Junior Achievement focusing on financial literacy and employability skills.  Junior Achievement volunteers that have real careers take time out of their day to come and teach these skills from an employer's perspective.  

In 2020-21 NWAHS graduated 53 students, 91% of our students graduated with a solid plan for their future employment.  Each student had already begun the employment process or had next steps planned within the next few months.  This demonstrates the importance of connecting students with meaningful opportunities.  

This is why we chose Northwest Connect for our new name, truly representing what this program does.  Connecting students with opportunities for their future!