College and career guidance is one of most important services that Capistrano Unified provides to students at its six comprehensive high schools. Each high school is staffed with six academic advisors, an academic intervention counselor, a social/emotional counselor, a registrar, a career center technician, and a psychologist. Additionally, schools are staffed with an AAA/GATE coordinator, an ELD advisor, Special Education case carriers, and, in five of six cases, a flourishing AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) Program and coordinator. These individuals and programs work collaboratively to develop individualized four-year plans and prescriptions to ensure that our students are prepared for success in the post-secondary world, be it work or further education.

A district-wide 6-12 Guidance Plan is structured to meet the needs of all students and direct them in course selection and career/college planning. In 9th grade all students are required to take a College and Career Planning course which assists them in mapping out a four year plan based on their interests and personal goals. Components of this course include academic and technical skills, personal assessment, and high school/college/career planning.

Each comprehensive high school has a Career Center, furnished and staffed by the Capistrano/Laguna Regional Occupation Program (ROP). Each Career Center has a huge array of software materials and hardbound books available for student research on colleges and careers. College representatives routinely visit the Career Centers. Students are invited to attend these presentations to assist them in determining which schools best meet their future goals. Each comprehensive high school guidance office provides a series of parent education evenings to ensure that parents are well informed regarding high school graduation, high stakes testing, college admissions, financial aid, and career opportunities. Additionally, high school PTAs invite various speakers, including District officials, to speak on the aforementioned issues.

A wide variety of academic and career technical education programs at each comprehensive high school ensures that all students have an array of opportunities available to select paths that support their individual goals for the future. Further, students have unique opportunities to extend their learning beyond the confines of their campus at the ROP or via the Concurrent College Studies Program agreement with Saddleback College. Students may take one of their classes through either of these programs and, as seniors, they can petition to take at least two classes from either program while taking three classes at their home campus.

In summary, the high school guidance curriculum is focused on a “results-based” model. As stated in the California Department of Education’s “Results-Based School Counseling and Student Support Guidelines,” (2007) Capistrano Unified believes that “The mission of school counseling and student support programs is to ensure a safe and supportive environment in which all students acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed for academic, career, and personal/social development to become lifelong learners, creative thinkers, and responsible individuals.”