New Xello tool streamlines college-and-career planning and empowers students
In her first year at Littleton High school, Ashtyn Chadburn took a skills assessment through Xello, the online learning platform her school had just adopted. The assessment matched her with careers she might enjoy and excel at. “Looking at some of them, I was like, ‘wow, I’d never thought of that,’” she said.
Since then, the platform has brought the future into sharper focus for Ashtyn, now a junior planning to pursue an arts and architecture major. “It really helped me narrow down what I’m interested in,” she said.
Littleton, like many schools around the state, is now fully embracing the tool to power future planning. Offering a library of career profiles, pre-built lessons, interactive assessments, a portfolio building tool, and a new work-based learning network, Xello broadens students’ worlds, connecting them to pathways, workforce opportunities, colleges, and more. It also opens up access for more students, including those who might not have the tools or support to navigate the process on their own.
While expanding students’ options, Xello also simplifies the future-planning process for students and those supporting them on their journeys — pulling everything into one place, bringing parents and other partners to the table, and presenting it all in an accessible way.
Seeing the value of such a tool, Granite Edvance is helping to make Xello available to all NH public schools, through a partnership with the Xello company and the New Hampshire Department of Education.
“We reach as many students as we can with our direct support, which includes in-school presentations, one-on-one appointments, webinars, and live events,” said Granite Edvance President and CEO Christiana Thornton. “By offering robust virtual support to students at all NH schools, Xello complements our work and opens doors to even more students.”
Xello is particularly valuable in areas like the North Country, where students can sometimes feel disconnected from opportunities, said Littleton High School Principal Alan Smith. Last year, he hired long-time teacher and counselor Mary Coleman to incorporate Xello into a future planning program that includes hands-on projects, dedicated time, and meaningful outcomes, including a senior year digital portfolio. Though it hasn’t happened overnight, Coleman said she’s starting to get buy-in from students and staff.
“Once they actually start using it, they’re engaged,” she said. “We’re creating a culture.”
Molly Donahue, a senior who plans to study art history and anthropology, is one student who embraced the platform this year, sometimes putting in time outside of school to search for scholarships or take virtual college tours. “It’s a very useful tool,” she said.
On the other side of the state, Jillian Corey, Director of College and Career Pathways for the Manchester School District, has witnessed a similar appetite for Xello. “A not uncommon instance is that we’ll set up the first lesson for a student, and by the end of the week, they’ve plowed through all of their lessons,” she said.
Like Coleman, Corey is in a new role created specifically to help students plan more deliberately for their futures – whether that includes college, career training, or immediate job placement.
She loves how accessible Xello is for students, families, and the teachers and counselors who work with them. “It’s really user friendly for all the stakeholders who are in the process,” she said.
She’s equally enthusiastic about the way it empowers students. “The platform speaks to student intelligence and student drive and student sensibility,” she said. “We’re giving them choices, but they’re tailored to the student.”
Educators interested bringing Xello to their schools can view upcoming trainings here.