River City High School in West Sacramento has built a comprehensive academic and life-planning framework that aligns what happens in the classroom with long-term success.
Through implementation of Career Choices and Changes and My10yearPlan.com®, students graduate with structured 10-year education and career plans that connect academic choices to future outcomes. River City High School’s model has earned recognition from Academic Innovations and, more importantly, has contributed to strong student outcomes, including graduation rates and assessment results that exceed state averages.
At River City High School, planning is not theoretical; it’s foundational.
All freshmen take Building Foundations, a course that guides students through the creation of a personalized 10-Year Plan. Each student also creates a 4-year academic roadmap aligned to graduation requirements and self-articulated long-term goals. These plans remain active—revisited and revised as students grow—ensuring that academic progress is consistently connected to purpose.
This intentional structure reinforces academic rigor, personal responsibility, and a future-focused mindset.
River City’s academic outcomes reflect a culture where achievement is tied to ownership.
Innovative approaches to long-term planning have supported results that exceed state averages and standards in both test scores and graduation rate. Students are not simply earning credits—they are understanding how those credits shape their futures.
Students’ plans—both their 4-year academic plans and 10-Year Plans—serve as accountability tools. When a course is failed, a student’s 4-year plan is updated with the course being visibly marked and rescheduled. Students must evaluate how that change affects graduation timelines, post-secondary eligibility, and career aspirations.
This reflection transforms setbacks into structured learning opportunities.
The impact extends beyond the academic plan. Students also return to concepts learned in their Building Foundations course: revisiting in-depth career interest surveys, reassessing evolving goals, and making informed adjustments. This ongoing planning process reduces disengagement and fosters clarity—especially during critical decision-making years.
River City’s sustained success reflects a system where academic performance, reflection, and future planning are fully integrated.
At River City High School, the use of Career Choices and Changes and My10yearPlan.com® serves as a structured Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) framework with a strong emphasis on equity, accountability, and correcting insensitive or harmful behaviors through guided reflection.
When students engage in insensitive, exclusionary, or disruptive behavior, the response extends beyond discipline. The experience each student has had in a Building Foundations class provides a structured mechanism for reflection.
Because students have clearly defined 10-year goals and documented personal values within their plans, educators can guide conversations that connect behavior to future aspirations. Students are prompted to reflect:
This alignment between behavior and long-term goals reframes accountability. Rather than focusing solely on punishment, students examine how insensitive actions impact trust, collaboration, and future workplace readiness. The planning document becomes a mirror.
It requires students to reconcile their actions with their ambitions.
The curriculum’s structured exploration of values, career pathways, and identity fosters inclusive thinking. Students engage in discussions about diverse professions, backgrounds, and experiences—broadening awareness and challenging stereotypes.
By embedding these conversations into required coursework, River City ensures equitable exposure for all students. No student is excluded from future planning due to background, prior performance, or limited access to guidance.
When behavioral issues arise, particularly those rooted in bias or insensitivity, the Career Choices and Changes curriculum supports restorative dialogue:
The prompts and surveys at the heart of Career Choices and Changes and My10yearPlan.com® became a surprising ally in shifting the school’s response from punitive to restorative and in reminding students of their long-term goals amid short-term conflict.
The SEL integration reinforces that academic success and character development are inseparable.
Because the 10-Year Plan is continuously updated, behavioral growth becomes measurable. Students can demonstrate change through improved engagement, revised goals, and documented reflection. This process cultivates:
River City’s model shows that when life planning, academic rigor, and SEL are fully aligned, schools can correct behavior through clarity and reflection, empowering students not just to graduate, but to mature into accountable, inclusive, and future-ready adults.