Raising the Bar, Extending the Bridge: Creating Pathways to Excellence at Mount Horeb High SchoolBy Cody Lundquist, Principal, Mount Horeb High School At Mount Horeb High School, we firmly believe every student can rise to meet challenging work, regardless of their background. But we recognize that "challenging" looks different for each student who walks through our doors. Our students arrive with diverse experiences and varying support systems. That's why we've committed to building bridges—with families, community leaders, and local businesses—to ensure all students can access the opportunities they deserve. We've torn down limiting pathways, prioritized high-quality instruction for everyone, and created meaningful post-secondary connections. These connections provide students with mentorship and real-world experience while showcasing the incredible work happening within our school walls. This approach requires time, patience, and honest conversations, but it's essential to our mission of helping every student reach their full potential. Extending the Bridge: Connecting Beyond Our Classroom Walls "Extending the Bridge" means creating meaningful connections in two key areas: post-secondary opportunities and family engagement. We've developed strong partnerships with local businesses, community organizations, and institutions that provide our students with transformative experiences—Youth Apprenticeships, internships, mock interviews, and skill-building workshops. These experiences don't just broaden horizons; they equip students with practical skills and professional networks essential for life after high school. Just as importantly, we've focused on building bridges into our students' homes. We know true student success depends on strong school-family partnerships. We've moved beyond traditional parent-teacher conferences to data-driven, collaborative meetings where we analyze progress and set goals together. Our fall drop-in night has been reimagined as a more engaging and informative event. We consistently seek feedback from families and students, giving them meaningful ways to shape our improvement journey. By fostering these relationships, we ensure our students receive consistent support both at school and at home. Raising the Bar: Excellence for Every Student "Raising the Bar" means ensuring every student accesses high-quality instruction, appropriate support, and an environment that promotes deep understanding. We've dismantled rigid tracking systems that limited potential and now provide all students access to rigorous core instruction. Our approach centers on "high expectations with high supports." We've transformed our Special Education model from a pull-out system to an inclusive, co-teaching approach. Special education teachers are now embedded into a content area and work alongside general education teachers in their subject areas, providing specialized instruction within the regular classroom. We know our Special Education teachers can bring tools to not only support students who have IEPs with strong SDI, but these resources and tools can help all students. This ensures all students receive the support they need while holding everyone to clear and high standards. Working collaboratively with our staff, we redesigned our bell schedule to prioritize student needs and instructional effectiveness. While maintaining our 8-period structure to encourage course exploration, we shifted to a drop schedule that increased continuous instructional time. This change allows teachers to explore content more deeply, address student questions thoroughly, and implement more effective teaching practices. Our next step involves implementing Evidence-Based Grading—continuing our commitment to focusing on learning rather than compliance. This shift will help students better understand their progress and take ownership of their academic growth. Leveraging Strengths: Building on What We Do Well Rather than focusing on the weak, we've strategically built upon our existing strengths. Mount Horeb has always had a strong community-focused culture. We've leveraged the deep relationships our teachers and staff have cultivated to enhance communication, maintain high expectations, and create alternative pathways to graduation. We've shifted our scheduling mindset to prioritize student needs. Our daily Flex Time allows students to access teachers for extra support or enrichment. For teachers, we've prioritized co-planning time, facilitated the development of common assessments, and implemented a school-wide focus on John Hattie's Teacher Clarity—which has been the cornerstone of our instructional growth for the past three years. Our next step is connecting Teacher Clarity directly to students’ sense of belonging. When students understand exactly what they’re learning, why it matters, and how they’ll know they’ve succeeded, they feel their teachers are providing everything needed for success, regardless of outside challenges. We believe clarity isn’t just a Tier 1 academic strategy—it’s deeply connected to student mental health. This foundation will support our upcoming implementation of Evidence-Based Grading, continuing our commitment to focusing on learning rather than compliance and helping students take ownership of their academic growth. Creating Pathways to Excellence: Our Student-Centered Journey "Creating Pathways to Excellence" represents the culmination of our efforts. By raising the bar, extending the bridge, and leveraging our strengths, we've created an environment where every student can thrive. We're proud of our progress—moving from the 41st percentile in growth to the 92nd percentile in just three years, while becoming one of Wisconsin's best high schools for serving economically disadvantaged students. Yet we remain committed to continuous improvement, adapting to meet the evolving needs of our students and community. I look forward to sharing our full story and insights at the June presentation, demonstrating how a shift in mindset and strategic support systems can lead to remarkable student success. Our journey proves that when we believe in our students and provide the right supports, they will rise to meet—and exceed—our highest expectations.
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