Introducing Xello

Beginning with the 2024-25 school year, West Des Moines Community Schools students in grades 8-12 will use a new Career Information System called Xello. This engaging online program helps students build the skills, knowledge, and plans to be future ready. The program uses an investigative, discovery-based learning process. Students better understand themselves, their future career options, and the 21st century skills they’ll need to succeed. Throughout this upcoming year, students will begin interacting with Xello through a number of designed lessons embedded in any number of learning environments from advisory to their everyday classroom.

• Here's How It Works: The Xello experience for students
• Safe and Secure Environment: Data protection and privacy information
  
• Xello Family: How families can access and use Xello
• Getting Started: Logging in with Clever, what's next
• Unique to Seniors: Important notice for college applications next year

Xello Family lets you explore and discover your child’s future goals and plans so you can better support their learning and development.

• Access your account. Near the end of September, you will receive a Welcome to Xello! activation email to the address we have on file. Once you click “Activate Account” through the email, you will be redirected to Xello and asked to create a password.
• Explore Xello Family. On the welcome screen, you will see all children linked to your account. Clicking a child’s name will bring you to their profile.
• Discover your child’s interests and goals. In your child’s profile, you will see all the work they’ve done in Xello. If there’s no information in a certain section, your child has not yet started or completed the activity. You can explore each section to learn new information about your child.
• Access your student demo account. Try Xello for yourself to get a better understanding of the platform to support your child. On the welcome screen, select your child’s grade/school under “Your Demo Account.” Lessons and assignments are catered by grade and school, so if you have multiple children, each demo account might look a little different. Once you’re in the demo account, you can take assessments, try a lesson, explore careers and much more.
• Discuss your child’s future goals and plan. Xello is a great tool to use to start future planning conversations with your child. Try asking them why they liked a certain career. Were they surprised about their top career suggestions? What different pathways can they take to achieve their goals?

All students in grades 8-12 currently have access to their Xello account through Clever SSO. By logging into Clever and selecting “Sign in w/Google,” students can scroll down through the application options until they see and select Xello. Please note that as the school year progresses, your student will engage in a variety of directed activities that will connect them with Xello. Invitations from Xello to students in grades 8-12 will be sent in the weeks to come. Invitations to parents/guardians will follow.

Important Notice for College Applications Next Year

Effective for the 2024-25 academic year, West Des Moines Community Schools will now use Xello (xello.world) for college and career planning.

This means as of Aug. 16, 2024, you will now use Xello to link your common app/request documents for your college applications.

You will sign into Xello using Clever SSO.

Xello has provided the following resources to help you understand how to link your account and start your college application:

• Student Guide for Linking Common App and Xello (article)

• Linking your Common App to Xello (video)

• How to request counselor forms/teacher evaluations (article)

• Requesting transcripts for non-common app schools (article)

Check out xello.world to learn more about what Xello can do to support your college and career planning.