The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) is excited to introduce statewide implementation of the Launch for Students (LFS) Platform during the 2026-27 SY. The LFS platform is designed to support the development and implementation of Student Success Plans (SSPs) and student-centered academic and career planning aligned with Arkansas law (Arkansas Code § 6-15-2911), including Arkansas LEARNS and ACCESS.
LFS is an important component of Arkansas’s broader workforce and education strategy to connect learners with meaningful career opportunities.
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- Assists students in building their Student Success Plan (SSP)
- Houses the Student Success Plan (SSP)
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- Provides tools and resources for career exploration
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- Allows students to select the appropriate College & Career Readiness Assessments (CCRs)
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- Expands access to real-world work experiences
- Allows students to connect career interests to secondary and post-secondary pathways with a focus on enrollment, enlistment, and employment
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- Provides a place for tracking community service hours, early career exploration experiences, and work-based learning
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- Transfers SSPs and interest inventories with the student
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As part of a statewide effort to support job seekers and strengthen Arkansas’s talent pipeline, LFS helps young people make informed decisions about their future - aligning their interests and strengths with opportunities in the local and regional economy. This work contributes to a more prepared and competitive workforce across the state.
How it supports districts:
LFS is intended to complement the existing work districts are doing by guiding students toward postsecondary readiness through a student-centered portal with streamlined tools for planning, documentation, monitoring student progress, and school-family communication. The LFS platform supports districts and schools by:
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- Organizing and documenting Student Success Plans, including community service hours
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- Aligning academic planning, career exploration, and postsecondary readiness
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- Providing consistent access for students, educators, and families
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- Supporting collaboration among counselors, teachers, and administrators
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Additional details regarding platform functionality and access will be shared with district leaders as implementation approaches.
CALL TO ACTION - What Districts Should Do Now
*A whitelist is a list of approved websites, applications, email addresses, or digital resources that are permitted to be accessed or used on a school or district network. Only items on the whitelist are allowed, helping ensure student safety, data privacy, and appropriate technology use.
2. Identify LFS Facilitators for both the district and school levels to coordinate implementation efforts. These facilitators will serve as contacts for LFS at the district and school levels respectively. LFS Facilitators will receive state-coordinated training to ensure readiness to support staff and students during implementation and ongoing use of the platform.
As part of the role, School-Level LFS Facilitators will:
- Serve as the Tier I technical support contact at the school level, assisting students, families, teachers, advisors, and counselors with basic navigation, access issues, and general LFS functionality. LFS School-Level Facilitators will also escalate issues to the District-Level Facilitator (Tier II technical support) as needed.
- Support local onboarding, implementation consistency, and communication related to LFS expectations, timelines, and updates.
As part of the role, District-Level LFS Facilitators will:
- Serve as the Tier II technical support contact at the district level, troubleshooting escalated issues, coordinating with district data and technology staff, and serving as the liaison between school districts and the ESCs (Tier III technical support) as needed.
Districts are required to confirm their designated LFS Facilitators by completing this form, by Friday, June 26, 2026. Designated LFS facilitators will receive targeted communications, training opportunities and technical guidance as part of the statewide rollout.
3. Review current Student Success Plan practices to identify implementation strengths, gaps, and opportunities for alignment. This document can serve as a resource.
5. Begin planning for the integration of LFS into existing counseling, advising, and scheduling structures.
6. Engage key LFS support staff, including advisory teachers, career coaches, school counselors, and all other teaching staff, in early conversations about implementation needs, professional learning support, and family engagement.
Next steps in eSchool - As implementation expands beyond the pilot cohort, all districts must complete essential preparatory steps to ensure full functionality and a smooth experience for all users. All data powering LFS is pulled directly from eSchool. It is imperative that this summer (2026), districts ensure that:
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- District email addresses for all students and faculty/staff are accurately entered in eSchool, as these credentials drive user access, communication, and system notifications.
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- The counselor and advisor roles are correctly assigned in eSchool.
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- This document provides step-by-step instructions for completing this process.
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- For accurate Pathway selection, audit the eSchool course catalog by inactivating courses that are no longer valid.
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- With the release of the 2026–2027 course code changes, districts should enter all pathway courses they intend to offer into the course catalog, including courses that will not be taught until 2027–2028 or beyond. Having these courses listed allows the ARData and DCTE teams to accurately map the offered pathways for each district.
- If a new CTE pathway is implemented in the district, ensure that Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 courses are added to the master course catalog in eSchool - this will ensure the pathway is available for students to select in LFS.
- Ensure that the Web Access Flag for parents and guardians is set to "Yes". Be prepared to provide parents and guardians with a copy of their HAC code at the beginning of the 26-27 school year.
Completing these steps in advance will help ensure reliable data flow, reduce technical issues during implementation, simplify onboarding, and support a successful LFS rollout.
ADE will provide additional information, including timelines, training opportunities, and technical guidance, as the LFS rollout progresses. District leaders and designated LFS Facilitators will receive advance notification prior to the distribution of platform access codes for faculty/staff and students.
Guardian Information:
Guardians can now log in, link students to their account, then view and acknowledge Student Success Plans.
- Guardians will navigate to Login.gov to complete the login process
- Guardians will link the student to their account by entering the student access code and HAC onboard token provided by the student
- Guardians can view and acknowledge Student Success Plans for any linked student
Once student accounts are established, communicate essential tasks for guardians in a timely manner.
For more information on the guardian login process, please see the following resources:
How-To Guide: Student Generation of Guardian Link Code
How-To guide: Guardian Registration
Contact Information