High School & Beyond Plan

The High School and Beyond Plan (HSBP) is a Washington State graduation requirement. Beginning in middle school, students create and update their HSBP on Xello, a district-provided online program. Through Xello and the HSBP process, students explore their interests, learn about career possibilities and educational pathways, and create a plan through high school to prepare them for their post high school goals. In cooperation with family and school staff, students update their plan each year to reflect changing interests, abilities and goals. Students complete the last step of their High School and Beyond Plan with a resume and exit interview in their senior year.

The bottom line:

A High School and Beyond Plan is required to graduate and receive a diploma.
Your High School and Beyond Plan includes Xello lessons and a Senior Exit Interview.
You have Xello lessons to complete each year of high school, not just senior year.
Xello is an online learning system – login thru ClassLink and launch Xello from there.
Seniors are only allowed to sit for their Exit Interviews if their Xello lessons are complete.
Seniors should have their Xello lessons done by January 31.
Juniors, Sophomores and Freshmen should finish their lessons by the end of each school year.

Xello Lessons

What is Xello?

Throughout high school, students should be investing time in exploring their plans for life after high school. Ideally, students should be at the center of their planning experience, building self-knowledge, exploring post-secondary options, creating plans, and continually reassessing as they take in new knowledge, skills, and experiences.

The Issaquah School District uses Xello, an online system, to administer your High School & Beyond Plan lessons. While Xello is full of helpful college and career exploration, you are only required to finish a few core lessons each year. Lessons are straight-forward and will take 1-2 hours per year.

What lessons do I have to do? When are they due?

Students are responsible for completing their Xello grade-level classes. For example, Seniors need to complete the 12th-grade lessons, Juniors need to complete the 11th-grade lessons, and so on. Completion of prior years' classes is no longer required.

HSBP lessons are delivered during Homeroom/Flex Time during the school day. Running Start students, or those who miss an HSBP lesson due to an absence, can access the HSBP lesson PowerPoints, which include the instructions needed to complete each year's Xello activity.

2025 Seniors should have their 12th grade lessons done by January 31st, 2025. Juniors, Sophomores and Freshmen should complete their lessons by the end of the school year.

Don't know what lessons you've finished? Use this step-by-step guide to learn how to look up your lesson status in Xello.

How do I sign in to Xello?

Access is easy, just sign in to ClassLink and launch Xello from there: https://launchpad.classlink.com/issaquah

Username: ISD computer username: LastFir25 (First 4 last name, first 3 first name, grade year, e.g. Jill Jones JoneJil25).
Password: Your network password (same as the one you use for your school computer and Office 365).

Tip: Try to sign in while at school, connected to the school network. After this initial setup, you’ll be able to sign in anywhere.

Tip: Try your Student ID# if your current network password doesn’t work. ClassLink passwords reset to Student ID# each year at the start of the year, so it may still be set to your Student ID#.

Still can’t sign in? You’ll need to get your network password reset by one of our tech specialists. You can contact one of our LHS tech specialists directly or work with one of your College & Career Specialists for help.

Besides Xello, how can I continue to explore my interests?

CollegeBoard's Big Future site: Career Search, Career Quiz, Career Directory, Career Clusters, College majors, and Career Paths for Popular Majors
16personalities: Only 10 minutes to get a “freakishly accurate” description of who you are and why you do things the way you do. Take the time to understand what type of person you are and explore the report sections dedicated to career paths and workplace habits for your personality type.
Work Values Matcher: By careeronestop, a quick card sort exercise where you rank statements to define top values. Work values are our beliefs about what’s most important in our work.
Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH): provides information on what workers do; the work environment; education, training, and other qualifications; pay; the job outlook; information on state and area data; similar occupations; and sources of additional information. Covers more than 300 occupational profiles, accounting for 4 out of every 5 jobs in the economy

Senior Exit Interview

What is a Senior Exit Interview?

During a Senior Exit Interview, students sit one-on-one with an interviewer for 10-15 minutes. Your interviewer will look at your resume, possibly talk with you about it, and then ask you four questions from a predefined list of Senior Exit Interview Questions.

Seniors are required to complete an Exit Interview prior to graduation. The purpose is to provide students with interview experience and to gain feedback on student preparedness for our district's goals. These interviews cap the high school experience and ask students to articulate their future career plans.

When is the interview?

Senior Exit Interviews are held on the 3rd Wednesday in March each year, in the Liberty Library. Interview times will be assigned in 15-minute intervals from 8-10 a.m. (last name A-L) and 3-5 p.m. (last name M-Z). Specific interview times will be advertised closer to the date.

Seniors who finish their Xello lessons before January 31 will have the opportunity to sign up for an early Senior Exit Interview.

Early Interviews will be held on Wednesday mornings starting in January. These interview spots will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis and are advertised during the first semester of the school year.

How should I prepare?

Step 1

Complete the required Xello lessons; If your Xello lessons are incomplete, you will not be able to sit for your interview.

Step 2

Bring a printed copy of your resumé to the interview and read/follow these Senior Exit Interview Expectations.

Step 3

Prepare for your Senior Exit Interview Questions; You'll be asked to answer the first question and select one question to answer from the other three question categories.

I am a community member, can I volunteer to help?

The College & Career Center will be seeking people to help with our LHS Senior Exit Interviews which occur on the 3rd Wednesday in March. We rely upon community volunteers to help interview our Seniors and make this high school capstone experience a success. It’s a wonderful opportunity to interact in a positive way with our students.

Sign ups are advertised each February. If you’re over 21, comfortable conducting short interviews, and can donate 2 hours of your time, please sign up to help!

Resume

Student Resumes

A resumé is a short, one-page document that summarizes and highlights your background, qualifications, and skills. It should include work experience, volunteering, academic achievements, relevant skills, extra-curricular activities and hobbies. It is a way to introduce yourself, and create a positive, professional impression on paper.

Why do I need a resume?

A resumé is helpful in applying for jobs, interviews, internships, colleges, scholarships, or volunteer opportunities, or when seeking a letter of recommendation or a reference for an application. A resumé is also a requirement of the High School and Beyond Plan. Students will create or update their resumés during both the 10th and 12th grade core Xello lessons.

Recommended Resources

Senior Lesson: Create a Resumé: An Issaquah School District step-by-step guide to creating a resumé; Part of Senior Xello Lessons
How to Write an Impressive High School Resume: Online article with steps to create a high school resume
Resumé Template: Download this Resumé Template to get a jump start on creating a resumé
200+ Action Verbs & Power Words for Your Resume: Lists of impactful action verbs you can use
20 good skills to put on resume for new grads: 20 skills, FAQs, and the difference between hard and soft skills
Ultimate List of 150+ Hobbies and Interests for Your Resume: Guide to understand what hobbies to include with ideas for you