Northbrook High School’s mission is to give each student the opportunity, experience, and confidence to become college ready. However, they needed additional capacity to provide high quality postsecondary support to their 2,500 students. Through partnership with OneGoal, Nothbrook achieved improvements in GPA, FAFSA completion rates, graduation rates, and overall postsecondary enrollment.

Each counselor at Northbrook High School serves an entire grade level of over 500+ students. This limits the ability to provide responsive advising. Less than half of students were enrolling in a postsecondary pathway.

Northbrook discovered OneGoal, a credit-bearing class that fits within the school day during junior and senior year and continues remotely the first year of postsecondary. School leaders adopted the program to serve over 100 students to address the need for increased advising. OneGoal empowered students to discover new paths with confidence.

“OneGoal is one of the ways that we’re knocking down that barrier. It gives us another opportunity…that’s going to help them be successful long term.”

HP Hyder

OneGoal prioritized students in the academic middle, many of whom are first generation and people of color, who are often overlooked by other interventions. OneGoal partnered with school leaders to identify those Northbrook students with a 2.0-3.0 GPA who would benefit most from the program. In class, OneGoal students explored their aspirations and discovered the college or career path that was right for them.

“I just think it’s life changing… giving kids opportunities to experience things that they wouldn’t necessarily be able to experience or have conversations with individuals who they would not have necessarily had the opportunity.”

HP Hyder

At Northbrook, OneGoal trained teachers to become Program Directors (PDs), postsecondary experts. They formed deep connections with and became advocates for their students as they prepared for their futures. OneGoal staff and community members engaged to expose students to potential career pathways. Students also formed strong bonds and leaned on each other for support. Altogether, OneGoal created a network of champions.

OneGoal combined big-picture exploration and skill building with a focus on critical pieces like GPA growth, test preparation, and personal statements. At Northbrook, students engaged in college visits, career workshops, and postsecondary application drives while building an understanding of the impact of academics on their plans after high school.

“By the end of senior year… now we’re looking at an award letter and we’re trying to choose which college we’re gonna go to… just the amount of growth that can happen in this program is astounding.”

Kelly Kretschmar

Due to these impactful outcomes, Northbrook High School will add two more OneGoal classes in the 2024-2025 school year. They anticipate additional expansion as more students join the Northbrook community due to upcoming district consolidation. In partnership with OneGoal, Northbrook continues to deliver on their mission to support students’ college and career readiness.

College and Career Readiness, Enrollment + Persistence, Progressive Pathways, Equity

Get more information about what OneGoal could mean for your community: