Zooming in on Targeted Transition Supports

As a network, we invest in key moments of transition that have a significant impact on students’ long-term outcomes.

RISE partner schools pursue evidence-based strategies to promote strong middle-to-high-school and postsecondary transitions. The On-Track Coach role and application campaigns offer two examples of how we invest in critical transitions during students’ freshman and senior years.

On-Track Coaches to Support Freshman Success

Jamie Meurer joined the RISE team five years ago as one of the first On-Track Coaches (OTC) at Hartford Public High School (HPHS). In taking on the OTC role after previously supporting youth on probation, Ms. Meurer reflected, “I really wanted to get into a position where I could move more toward prevention instead of intervention. There are so many missed opportunities and prevention is worth so much. I really wanted to get into a school and get ahead of the issues I had been seeing.”

RISE high schools created the OTC role in response to student needs and research showing that far too many students experience challenges when they make the transition to high school. As Ms. Meurer’s OTC colleague at HPHS, Daemond Benjamin, describes, “I work with ninth graders because we know the transition from eighth grade to ninth grade is a hard transition.”

Despite the importance of freshman year, high schools across the country are generally not staffed to support the unique needs of freshmen. In Connecticut, the average studentto-counselor ratio is 349:1, and these large caseloads too often limit counseling support for freshmen. 6 As youth development professionals, OTCs serve as champions and advocates for a targeted group of 60 Grade 9 students. This focused approach allows OTCs to provide deep and sustained support for students who may need additional guidance.

As full-time members of the high school staff, OTCs play an integral role supporting students who have had attendance, academic, social, and/or behavioral difficulties in middle school.

Mr. Benjamin describes how, “Every day is different.” Ms. Meurer explains, “I feel like some days I’m a cheerleader, some days I feel like I’m a resource guide or a mentor. Each relationship with each of the kids on our caseload is very different; each of our kids needs something different from us.”

Lavender, a student at HPHS, reflects on the important role her OTC played, particularly during the pandemic. “It was a big help,” Lavender said. “Because if I couldn’t contact my teachers, I could contact Ms. Jamie or my counselor. So it was a really big help for me.”

Through it all, Mr. Benjamin summarizes the commitment and determination of OTCs across the network: “I’m going to take the kids to the moon if I can.”