PHILADELPHIA – Approximately 1500 students at three high schools in the MaST Community Charter network will pilot new software this week for GradRock®, a college and career readiness platform with essential materials to assist students in preparing for life after graduation.
“MaST Charter Schools focus on innovation through math, science, and technology,” Grant Gellert, MaST I principal, said. “We’re excited to see our students progress toward their career goals using GradRock.”
GradRock is also seeking another cost-free, pilot partnership with a high school in a surrounding Phila. County that would benefit students in densely populated areas who face stiff competition for acceptance at nearby trade schools and universities. Platform co-founder and college admissions consultant, Sandra Thornton has a 100% career success rate helping students get into post-secondary their schools of choice.
“The primary difference between GradRock and other programs is its unique admissions knowledge,” Thornton, of Chester County, PA, explained. “In the case of the Naviance platform, for one, content is built on aggregate data, omitting holistic admissions criteria such as special populations, student character, and other measures weighted equally among some college admissions boards. We address the whole student, providing scenarios for highlighting strengths, and guidance for developing more targeted college lists that result in greater acceptance rates.”
GradRock is ADA-compliant and offers voiceover options and videos to make the self-guided experience more interactive and engaging for high school students. Content includes but is not limited to admission checklists, financial aid calculators, military career information, popular vocational careers, and college bond ratings. The platform provides extensive downloadable resources and links that are useful to parents, too, such as information for navigating Common App. It has been product-tested by school counselors and teachers from the greater Philadelphia area and students from Central PA.
Platform founders are educators and created GradRock as a solution for counselors with growing student ratios, increased responsibilities in the post-pandemic environment, and challenges meeting state requirements.
“With over 25 years’ experience teaching high school students, working side-by-side with school counselors and life skills teachers, it became clear that there were gaps in student preparedness for life after high school,” co-founder, and York County, PA, Career Research & Post Secondary Education Teacher, Lisa Turner, Ed.D., clarified. “We worked to develop a solution for students while allowing counselors to focus their one-on-one time more effectively by building student progress dashboards and accompanying lesson plans.”
“It is a one-stop shop for learning about college and career planning. It offers a lot of the information we [otherwise] try to give our students from handbooks or college websites, but in a way that is more interesting for them,” Katie MacConnell, M.S., Network Counselor for MaST Schools, added.
“We are excited to partner with MaST Community Charter Schools to gather proof of performance data for the platform, which has been in development for seven years,” Thornton said. “The faculty and staff at MaST are out-of-the-box thinkers who have already provided feedback to enhance the platform, including the suggestion to integrate Clever for student logins. To echo school counselor, Dan Buckley’s sentiment: ‘Let’s GradRock and roll!'”
For more information about partnering with GradRock, contact Natalie Pantaleo, Marketing Director at 445-201-1465, natalie@gradrock.org.
MaST Community Charter Schools partner with GradRock College and Career Readiness Platform to pilot the program. Pictured from left to right: Natalie Pantaleo, GradRock Marketing Director, Kelley McNally, MaST I Counselor, Katie MacConnell, Network Counselor for MaST Schools, Dan Buckley, MaST I Counselor, Grant Gellert, MaST I Principal, and David Thornton, Gradrock Content Editor and Marketing Assistant
