La Crosse High Schools Will Offer College Preparedness Class This Fall

Students in La Crosse’s high schools can now enroll in a class that aims to help them better prepare for college.

About 120 freshmen and sophomores at La Crosse’s two public high schools can now apply to participate in an international program called Advancement Via Individual Determination. It’s already used in Madison, Green Bay and suburban Milwaukee school districts.

Students in the elective class will meet daily with teachers and tutors, with the end goal of being better prepared for college.

Central High School principal Jeff Fleig said the students will be taught how to think differently about all subjects, from math to English.

“What students have to do is they have to become real versed in thinking about their own thinking — metacognition,” said Fleig. “That’s the highest level of inquiry and reflection you can get from a learning standpoint. That’s where the growth really happens.”

Fleig said AVID is geared towards a group of students who can often be forgotten about — those who fall in the middle. Fleig said low-income students, students of color, and future first-generation college students often fall into that category.

“I want them to make the decision of what their next step is. I don’t want us making it for them. I want to give them the skills and make sure they have skills and access to high-level, rigorous courses so they can be ready for two- or four-year college or whatever they want to do,” said Fleig.

Over the next few years, AVID will be funded by $230,000 in grants from the La Crosse Public Education Foundation, Bremer Bank, and the La Crosse Community Foundation.