PRINGFIELD — Springfield Public Schools is making incremental progress and surpassing its goals in the realm of career and college readiness. That was the report from Chief of Student Services Dr. Yolanda Johnson and her team at the Jan. 29 School Committee meeting.
“We’re really looking at it from a holistic perspective,” Johnson said of readiness for what lies beyond graduation. According to the information she presented, readiness includes the mastery of cognitive skills and academic content, building traits such as perseverance and self-discipline, and an understanding of how to navigate and succeed in the workplace or an institution of higher education.
One way for students to get a head start on college is by enrolling in Advanced Placement classes. Advanced Placement is a program in which high school students complete college-level coursework. A comprehensive test is administered at the end of the course, and students are ranked against all other students in that course nationally. Many colleges and universities will grant college course credit to students who achieve a score of three or above, with five being the highest score possible. The portion of Springfield students in the eleventh and twelfth grades who have completed at least one Advanced Placement course has been trending upward in recent years, from 37% in 2022, to 46% in 2025.
Springfield students are slightly outpacing the state average in terms of the number of students who have submitted a Free Application for Federal Student Aid. FAFSA is an essential tool in obtaining grants and loans for college and, as such, a good metric to judge how many students are pursuing a post-secondary education. The School Committee gave a round of applause when they learned that 40.35% of students across the state have submitted their FAFSA, while 40.45% of Springfield students have done so.
Springfield Public Schools offers three tracks in its Innovation Career Pathways program, which partners with area colleges and employers to offer training and education in high-demand fields. Eighteen students are enrolled in an information and information technology program; 45 students are in an environmental science track and 49 are participating in advanced manufacturing courses. Future courses are planned in clean energy, health care and trade career awareness.
More than 500 students participated in student internships in the 2024-25 school year, far surpassing the School Department’s goal of 425. While only halfway through the academic year, internship placements are again on track to outpace expectations. Last year, a total of 528 people attended the Career Fair at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, far more than the School Department’s goal of 475. The 2026 Career Fair will take place on March 30.
School Committee members Barbara Gresham and Rosa Valentin both praised the work done by the Post-Secondary Success team. Valentin, who recently retired as an educator in Springfield, said she knows how hard the team has worked on college and career readiness programs. “My heart is full of joy,” she said before giving the team a thumbs up.
