Summer is a time for many things including looking towards the future. Part of this includes reviewing the plans of our recent graduates now that we’ve had some time to reflect since graduation in early June. Each year our guidance department pulls some interesting statistics together about the plans of our graduating seniors. This year they found that 73% of the Class of 2016 will be pursuing post-secondary education, which includes technical schools, 2-year colleges, and the traditional 4-year college or university. In and of itself that is good but my perception of this increases even more when I consider that 16% of those students report that they will be the first in their family to attend college. In an age when the post-secondary educational experience is becoming more expensive, and in a time of financial difficulty for many families, these facts speak highly of the commitment by Gateway families to continuing the education of their children.
One sees a range of colleges, technical schools and universities that our students are attending, including some prestigious schools such as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Roger Williams University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and our own University of Massachusetts (both Boston and Amherst campuses). We also know from prior graduates that our students feel prepared for post-secondary education and do well in both their undergraduate work and as they progress into graduate programs in such diverse fields as the social sciences, the so-called hard sciences, mathematics, medicine, and law.
As a reflection of the times, we also have nearly a fifth of this year’s graduates moving immediately into the work forces with an additional 12% entering the military (both full time and reserve/guard). We have also caught up with the times as we see two of our graduates electing to complete a ‘gap’ year before moving on with their plans.
In all cases, I believe the success of our students and their future plans reflects well on the district (both the schools and our towns/families). The fact that we continue to have programs that do a good job of preparing students for the future, despite the difficult financial times, speaks well of our communities. The positive comments that the school district has gotten in surveys of graduates and community members, and the support expressed by participants in the Gateway 2025 process, has shown us that there are many who feel that Gateway is an essential component of our towns and necessary for the success of our children.
As part of ongoing efforts to improve the district for our students, we will continue the Gateway 2025 process this coming year. We are also contracting with the Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools to review the district in terms of efficiency and sustainability. I hope that many of our constituents will involve themselves in these processes where possible so that we can continue to represent everyone as we move forward with planning for Gateway’s future. This year’s outstanding and overwhelming support for the school budget during town meetings was certainly appreciated and spoke volumes about the increasing understanding of the difficulties the schools face and the support from our communities to help us resolve these issues in a positive manner. I look forward to continuing to build upon this support for the benefit of our students.
