Did you Vivolve?

The long held notion that colleges were primarily ‘good old boy’ networks for grooming young men is decidedly dead. Today, more girls than boys are enrolling and being accepted into colleges across the country according to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times.

Equally outdated is the stereotype of colleges being an unofficial marriage market for young women; today more degrees are conferred on women than men.

The question to ask yourself is this…can you use the new gender rules to your favor when scouting colleges? The answer is ‘Yes’. The LA Times reports that due to the paucity of male applicants, particularly for former women’s colleges such as Vassar or Pomona, admissions requirements are more relaxed as these schools strive for better enrollment balance. So if you are a guy still looking for college, applying to these schools would give you a big boost as these schools seek to swell their populations of male students.

Conversely, for the girls, it is important to understand that today’s demographics work against you in many, but not all cases. With so many other girls enrolling in schools across the country, it becomes more difficult to stand out particularly to those schools that have a strong women’s history. However, a review of your application strategy can serve you well. Instead of the prestigious girls schools, particularly private institutions, consider instead the premier state schools. These strong schools deliberately avoid gender enrollment policies and instead focus on sheer accomplishment and merit. While the total number of applicants may be higher, so are the enrollment capacities. In addition, many applicants to the top state schools don’t pass muster while many of the elite students are fighting for limited space in the prestigious (and expensive) private institutions. These factors combine to free up a generous zone of admissions for many accomplished female applicants.

For further reading of the original article, please click the following link: http://www.educationnews.org/higher_education/34144.html

Open communication is vital in a high school community and high school students need a method of reaching out.  Recent surveys have shown that today, students would much rather text than talk in person, or even on the phone.  If texting is the communication students prefer, why not allow for that?

Enter Principal Michael Bregy from Algonquin, Illinois.  This forward thinking administrator took the unprecedented move of giving out his personal cell phone number to his entire student body (over 2,400 students)! Mr. Bregy is now a ‘hero’ for his very non-traditional decision to open a direct channel for his students.

For the full story click here –> http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=340993

Vivolve would like to give a standing ovation to Principal Bregy!  This type of “outside the box” thinking is exactly what today’s students count on to help them navigate the often rough waters of preparing for ‘real life’.  Clearly Principal Bregy believes in helping teens help themselves……just like Vivolve does!

Hat tip to Edweek.org = http://www.edweek.org/ew/index.html

From the District Dossier

Boston has been known nationally in the 2000’s for an amazing run by their professional sports teams, with 6 championships (Patriots 3, Red Sox 2, Celtics 1) this decade. Now it seems that Boston might become the model for schooling as we near the second decade in the new millenium.

In a move that appears to take politics and rivalries out of education, representatives from the metro area’s entire system from K-12 are formulating a plan– together. The plan is to work as one, to form a better education system in one of our country’s most historic cities. This means those from the public, private, charter and independent schools will put their differences aside and work together. The goal is to take the best practices, regardless where they are being taught, and form a new and improved education base that will benefit the children of the future in Boston.

In the footsteps of Tom Brady, Curt Schilling and Kevin Garnett, if this group successfully pulls this off, they will also become true heroes to the Boston people!