Spotsylvania County Public Schools switched to Xello to support their K–12 college and career readiness vision
One of their initiatives, college and career readiness (CCR), is a cornerstone of the district’s culture.
The challenge
Based in Virginia and with over 24,000 students across 29 schools, Spotsylvania offers many special programs—from JROTC to Work-Based Learning (WBL) to International Baccalaureate Courses—to encourage and promote different learning experiences.
Spotsylvania CPS’s focus on CCR is embodied by the 4E Education framework, which stands for Enrolled, Employed, Enlisted, Engaged. This framework ensures that every student can identify their post-secondary plan and have the necessary skills to be successful in the community.
The 3E Readiness Framework is part of Virginia’s efforts to improve schools. It focuses on the first three paths: going to college, getting a job, and joining the military. The goal is to make sure students take the right classes and gain real-world experience to be ready for these next steps.
While being engaged isn’t officially part of the 3E Readiness Framework, it’s still very important. Being engaged means students are actively involved in school, participate in activities, and take charge of their own learning.
The challenge, however, was that Spotsylvania CPS was using Naviance, a secondary school-only CCR program that didn’t support elementary and middle school students’ needs, nor the district’s robust WBL program.
Sue Venable-Shelton, Supervisor of Career & Technical Education, explains: “Naviance is a static platform that wasn’t flexible and didn’t change to comply with Virginia’s expectations and our own emphasis on the 4Es. I knew I needed a program to engage all K-12 students and ensure that the curriculum grew with them.”
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Location
Problem
Solution
The solution
Spotsylvania CPS decided to shift gears and seek out a different CCR platform to meet their growing needs, including:
- A full K-12 curriculum
- Accessibility for all students to support 4E initiatives
- WBL components
- In-depth training and resources for all educators
They put together a focus group of 30 people – including district leaders from Central Office, teachers, and students – to vet different CCR software vendors. Xello was shortlisted with two other vendors in the first round of review.
One key step in this process was giving students hands-on time in each platform’s sandbox environment to gather feedback on the UI, engagement, and overall lessons.
Xello emerged as the clear choice and was unanimously approved by the school board in January 2024.
Next came launching Xello, and Spotsylvania CPS knew it needed to be intentional in preparation for the 2024-2025 school year. Venable-Shelton is proud of their thoughtful implementation calendar, which contained three major steps:
Giving counselors immediate access to the platform to ensure all student information, especially that of graduating seniors, transitioned from Naviance to Xello. Venable-Shelton explains that the process needed to be seamless, and Xello’s implementation specialists and success managers helped make that happen.
Forming a leadership team that completed virtual training with Xello’s team. It was critical that teachers were able to use and play on the platform before teaching it in their own classrooms.
Hosting in-house Xello training for all educators. “We didn’t want CCR to just fall on the shoulders of counselors,” Venable-Shelton says. “CCR should be a cultural change. All educators – from district leaders to paraprofessionals – should be aligned and equipped to support it.”
The results
After rolling out Xello using the above methods, Spotsylvania saw immediate teacher and student engagement: all 29 schools fully utilizing Xello within three months of launch and 50k total student logins so far in the 24/25 school year.
But the success of implementing Xello didn’t stop there.
Students of all ages were engaging with Xello, with almost 10,000 students from Grades 3-12 saving at least one career as they built out their student profile. Spotsylvania’s full K-12 vision for CCR was coming to fruition, and it was one that supported the 4Es.
Of the first 556 students self-reporting future pathway aspirations, the breakdown across the 4Es was as follows:
- College: 74.7%
- Military: 6.1%
- Straight to work: 5.4%
- Tech or vocational training: 4.5%
- Apprenticeship: 3.1%
- Entrepreneurship: 2.9%
- Gap year: 3.4%
Work-based learning (WBL) program builds engagement
Additionally, Spotsylvania now utilizes WBL within the Xello platform. With this feature, students can search and look at community business partners that are tied to their interests and overall goals.
“The ability to connect with local partners is a huge win for both the students and the businesses,” says Venable-Shelton.
Spotsylvania County Public Schools is successfully creating a culture where all students from kindergarten to 12th grade are preparing for their future. They did this by carefully choosing the right tools, investing in teacher training, and always putting students first.
This approach makes sure that every student, regardless of their grade, background, or future goals, has the skills, experiences, and confidence to take control of their future. With help from Xello and a strong focus on Virginia’s 3E Readiness Framework, Spotsylvania has developed a model for college and career readiness that other school districts can look to for inspiration.
About the educator
