As of this year, Blue Valley has started using Naviance to help students transition into life after high school. According to its website, Naviance is “a college and career readiness platform that helps connect academic achievement to post-secondary goals.”

Counselors are requiring all seniors to sign up so they will find their ideal college and possible career path, along with request transcripts.

BV counselor Anne Dummitt said the counselors introduced the program to seniors through the English Language Arts classes.

“We went into all English classes and showed [the seniors] the website,” she said. “We mainly focused on the scholarship programs, sending in applications and teacher recommendations.”

Naviance helps students set personal goals, learn about their own skills or interests, search colleges and explore career options.

Students are then able to design their own pathways toward the future.

Dummitt said the site is very helpful and offers applications for students.

“The coolest thing the site offers is the College Super Match,” she said. “It gives you a feel about each college. You put in your information and criteria, and it then lists what’s important to you.”

From strengthening students engagement in class to improving college readiness, Naviance reaches out to students and schools by offering resources to help them both.

“Another cool feature is the scattergrams,” she said. “It shows you past graduates from Blue Valley and their ACT scores and GPA. It shows you what criteria you should aim for.”

Senior Rusha Bajpai said she has used Naviance many times to help with college applications.

“I am applying for a bunch of competitive schools, so I need as much help as I can get,” she said.

Bajpai said the site is extremely helpful when it comes to applying for scholarships.

“The schools I am looking at are not cheap,” she said. “But with academic scholarships, I have a wider list of schools I can look into.”