Monroe High School is one of only 100 high schools across Michigan selected by the Michigan College Access Network (MCAN) to receive a $5,000 grant to boost efforts to help students to pursue education beyond high school. 

     “This grant assists us in focusing on the college portion of post-secondary planning,” said Mrs. Sandra Kreps, principal, Monroe High School. 

     “The biggest benefit in receiving the grant is that it helps us to be more strategic and intentional about how and where we can improve the career- and college-ready initiatives and culture at Monroe High School,” said Monroe High School Post-Secondary Planner Savannah Garcia, who had submitted the application for the grant. “We are seeing it work already because just recently we used a portion of the money to offset the cost of sending 50 students to visit Central Michigan University.

     “Without this grant, we would not be able to offer as many college visits to our students.  We also look forward to having the grant renewed next year if we meet all of the terms this school year,” Ms. Garcia said.  “All of our efforts that support our career and college-ready culture help make Monroe High School the place where your child succeeds.”

     Called the Reach Higher grant, it is a first-year program of MCAN, the network which last school year provided a grant allowing MHS to hire a college advisor who now is on staff, although the grants are not related.   MHS now has a college advisor and two post-secondary planners to help students.

     The Reach Higher Grant addresses four elements of a high school strategy.  They are:

--Establish a post-secondary advisory council to lead the college access strategy.

--Conduct a self-assessment to measure the effectiveness of career and college readiness counseling, support and programming.

--Participate in three college-access events by planning and involving seniors in college access events such as College Application Week, College Cash Campaign and College Decision Day on May 2.

--Evaluate the school’s college-going culture using success access mapping tools.

Monroe High School already was participating in several of the activities.  In fact, recently it was the first county school to have a Career and College Readiness Day as part of College Application Week. 

Mrs. Kreps praised the work of the post-secondary planners and the response from the students.

     “Just last week, with assistance from our planners, Ms. Garcia and Manuel Hoskins, and college planner, Jaclyn Sawasky, we had 54 Monroe High School students apply to the University of Toledo,” said Mrs. Kreps.

     MCAN’s goal is to improve the number of Michigan residents who have earned post-secondary degrees or certificates to 60 percent.  The state’s rate now is 38.4 percent, a modest gain from a year earlier.  The national average is 40 percent.  Last school year, 88 percent of Monroe High School’s grads had a post-secondary plan, many of which involved college, employment, the trades or the military.