Successful careers begin early and they begin at home. Working together, parents, teachers and children should discuss what things children like to do and what jobs seem interesting. All students in Stockton Unified have access to Xello, which provides students with grade level appropriate career awareness and exploration.

Parents and teachers need to raise awareness by talking to their young children about jobs in the neighborhood and community as well as what jobs family members do. 

Parents and teachers should encourage self-discovery, personal and academic growth in the early years. Children need to do their best in school and read books that are exciting and stimulating. 

All subjects in school are important to future careers. Reading, writing, computers, math, and science are especially important in today’s demanding careers.

Together, families should use the career exploration tool, Xello, to discover what the specific career interests the children have.  Then, carefully explore the high schools to discover which programs would best prepare the child for that career. Learn about the different Career Technical Education Programs availiable to your child in Stockton Unified. 

Middle school students may also take electives classes like PLTW, MESA, or AVID that help prepare students prepare for high school, explore careers, and learn technical skills in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) that are present in almost every industry today.

The high school years are where career preparation starts and continues from high school to colleges to on the job training with, industry certifications, professional reading, and advanced college degrees. Learning never ends, even once you have a job! 

In high school, as well as all other grades, reading, writing, computers, math, and science are very important and lead to career and technical classes.  Stockton Unified offers a wide variety of Career and Technical Education Pathways at most of its high schools.

Good work habits begin in school: Attendance, behavior, manners, and professionalism are all skills students can practice while in school and can take with them to work. Employers call them "Soft Skills."