College Readiness and Workforce Education
COLLEGE READINESS AND WORKFORCE EDUCATION
The Poughkeepsie City School District has placed an emphasis on college and career readiness with dedicated staff and programs for all grade levels encouraging exposure to post-secondary possibilities.
College and Workforce
Readiness Counselor
Kelly Semexant
I have been a school counselor in the district for a decade. My role is to help students plan for life after graduation.
Throughout the year, I work with every grade level in all seven buildings. We go on campus tours and field trips, hold career fairs, college fairs and workshops, and enjoy presentations in all buildings.
My office is located in the library at PHS. Please join my College Resources google Classroom using the class code 3fgynn6.
Email: ksemexant@poughkeepsieschools.org
Phone: 845-451-4850 ext. 6464.
Scholarships
Semexant each year curates a running list of available scholarships for students, complete with details of requirements and deadlines.
College and Career Highlights
33rd Annual College Fair
College and Career Wednesdays
Programs and Initiatives
The district has instituted a number of programs and events to expose students to college realities and other post-graduate possibilities.In addition to those highlighted on this page, some of them include:
• College and career exploration projects and presentations for elementary students
• Parent/student FAFSA workshops with financial aid representatives from DCC
• Trips to tour college campuses, including a trip touring HBCUs in the Washington D.C. area
• College, trade school, and military representative, visits to the high school
• Elementary tours of college campuses
• A college exposure fair at Poughkeepsie Middle School
Senior Signing Day
Each spring, Poughkeepsie High School holds a celebration in which each soon-to-be graduate is treated like a star. The idea is to recognize each senior’s future plans in the same style blue chip athletes are celebrated when announcing the team for which they will play, signing their name while sitting in front of a Poughkeepsie High School backdrop.
In a party atmosphere, complete with food and a DJ, each senior who has registered their future plans is called to the signing table, one by one, to sit down and write their name and plan in the district’s keepsake book. While they do it, their cheering friends are free to swarm them to take photo and video, documenting them like a star.
Check out Senior Signing Day 2025
Alumni visits
Each year a panel of recent Poughkeepsie High School graduates returns to the school to speak with students about what to expect from college and life in general post-graduation.