McClellan High School - Principal's Message

Hello and Welcome!

Hello McClellan Families and Friends!

I want to welcome you to our McClellan Family. Our entire staff works very hard to make sure every student feels welcome, safe, and capable. We present our students with a challenging curriculum, designed to bring them to grade level standards, no matter where they are starting. We also feature a variety of extracurricular activities, including sports, to help students find connections to school. Through our curriculum and through the relationships we forge with our students, we equip them with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed after high school, and as graduation approaches, we present them with a number of options for beginning their adult lives.

Education and Earnings

Everyone says you have to have to get your diploma to get a job, and you need a college degree if you want to make any money, but are these old sayings really true? Yes, according to statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes figures every year comparing unemployment rates and earnings for different levels of education. In 2018, someone 25 years or older without a high school diploma had a 5.6% chance of being unemployed and, if he or she had a job, earned an average of $553 per week. Someone with a high school diploma had a 4.1% chance of unemployment, and made $177 more a week. Add in a 2-year associate's degree, and unemployment drops to 2.8%, while wages climb to $309 more a week than with no high school diploma. Finally, with a 4-year bachelor's degree, unemployment is only 2.2%, and wages are $1,198 per week, $645 more than without a high school diploma.

Educational Level	Unemployment	Wages per Week	Wages per Year
No High School Diploma	5.6%	$553	$28,756
High School Diploma	4.1%	$730	$37,960
Associate’s Degree	2.8%	$862	$44,824
Bachelor’s Degree	2.2%	$1,198	$62,296

(Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics - Unemployment Rates and Earnings by Educational Attainment - https://www.bls.gov/emp/chart-unemployment-earnings-education.htm

Georgetown University published a large study in 2010, predicting workforce trends for the next 8 years. Some of the main ideas are that education after high school gives access to a wide range of jobs, while workers with a high school diploma or less are limited to a smaller variety of lower-paying jobs. Estimated lifetime earnings show a startling difference based on education. A high school dropout will earn about $1,198,447 over 40 years of working. Someone with a bachelor's degree is estimated to earn $3,380,060 over the same 40 years, and someone with a professional degree will earn $4,650,588 in his or her working life.

Educational Level	Lifetime Earnings (over 40 year working life)
No High School Diploma	$1,198,447
High School Diploma	$1,767,025
Bachelor’s Degree	$3,380,060
Professional Degree	$4,650,588

(Source: Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce - Help Wanted: Projections of Jobs and Education Requirements through 2018 - https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/help-wanted/)

What does this all mean? It pays to stay in school! The time and effort required to get a high school diploma will pay off in greater chances of getting a higher-paying job, and the cost of a college education will be more than repaid over the course of a lifetime.

At McClellan High School, we are committed to helping every student earn a diploma. While we understand that college may not be the next step for all students, we help all interested students enroll in college and apply for financial aid. Our mission is to help prepare students for success in a variety of post-graduation options.

Please share this information with your children, and please call us with any questions.

Three Steps to Success

Three Steps to Success

Respond to failure with thoughtful change.

Work hard.

Refuse to give up.

Respond to failure with thoughtful change.

Failure defines and describes what is past, but it does not have to define the future. Accept the pain & hurt that may come from failure, then look at it as information that can direct thoughtful change. Students who are at McClellan because of a lack of credits need to ask some important questions: What did I do that contributed to failing classes? What could I have done to avoid the failure? What can I change? How do I need to change that? To refuse to admit or see your part in a failure is to think of yourself as a victim, helpless to do anything to improve the situation. Once you start to look at what you can change to affect outcomes, you become powerful and in control of your circumstances, and you move toward success.

Work hard.

When you have figured out what to change and how, work as hard as you can. The idea that success comes from just luck or talent is a myth; talent alone cannot make up for a lack of work. Your job is simply to do your absolute best. Push yourself to the point where it is uncomfortable. You never know your own limits until you push yourself to them. If you have not done that, you cannot complain that you cannot succeed. If you fail after working as hard as possible, go back to Step 1.

Refuse to give up.

Working hard for a few days or a week or a month will not be enough. Set your mind to work hard until you succeed. You may not see immediate gains; you may not see gains for some time. That does not mean you are failing. It may just mean that success is farther off. You will probably need to work hard past the point where it is new or fun. This means working hard even when you do not want to. Approach it with that attitude: “This will not always be fun, but I will not quit.” Also keep in mind that quitting is often not a healthy alternative. When you run into big problems or fail miserably, quitting will not change things. Rather than live as a victim, refuse to give up. Live as an achiever.