Parents of the HS Class of 2015

[Kelowna]

No summer school plans here. D'13 leaves US on the last day of May and will not be back until
mid August. She is going to spend 6 or 7 weeks in Spain and then go to visit her grandmothers and the rest of the family in eastern Europe.
I am so excited about her going to Spain! Excited and frightened at the same time. She is going to stay in Madrid and help at the local elementary school for the first month, then hopefully travel a bit. I am planning on joining her for a few days just before her departure, so she can show me all her special places and friends she has made. I do hope it will be a HUGE learning experience for her.

As far as the second foreign language, after very careful research, we have decided to take French. It is said to be at a higher academic level at her chosen HS than Mandarin.
I still hope she can continue Mandarin with a private tutor. For now, I am searching for a private tutor in French, since she has decided to skip French 1 altogether and start with French 2 without prior exposure to the language....

Here are the classes she has chosen for her freshman year:

Precalculus
AP Statistics
Spanish 3 (still thinking if it is a right choice)
French 2
Honors LA 10
Honors Bio
Honors Geography
PE

I am so glad this thread has taken off - already 30 posts!

[CheckersMidwest]

Hello everyone - I just stumbled across this thread & am thrilled ! I have a D15 along with a S10. He is a freshman in college. D will be a freshman in high school next fall.

I am impressed with all your courses and things offered to many of your kids ! We are in a small town, so one school. It doesn't offer much to be quite honest, but live here instead of the city for many reasons.

D will follow the standard college prep track. She has to study twice as hard as our S did. Our expectations are somewhat different. Not necessarily lower, just different. She turned in her fall schedule last week. Typically, no foreign language offered to freshman. Our school ONLY has spanish 1 & 2 anyway. She is taking freshman PE, which I think is rediculous because she plays basketball almost year round. I've never figured out why that doesn't count, especially the time for the school team. I see it as a slot for another class !

She played the Clarinet very briefly. She was wonderful, picked it up quickly and can play by ear somewhat. A talent she got from my grandmother. The kids can't stand the band teacher, so several quit, her included. (She, of course, finished the year - we're strong believers in "Finish what you start".)

Her passion has always been science. When other girls her age wanted hair straighteners for their birthday, she wanted an erupting volcano and a telescope ! Her birthday is in June and we're sending her to Space Camp. She is going to be thrilled ! I am going to have a really hard time keeping it a secret until her birthday !

We've made sure she is well rounded. In previous years (starting about age 2) she's had several years of dance, is an orange belt in Tae Kwon Do, received her Bronze Award in Girl Scouts, a member of FCCLA (It was FHA when I was in high school !), a cheerleader (varsity next year too! Try outs were 2 weeks ago), and an awesome basketball player.

[mihcal1]

Welcome aboard CheckersMW!

Your D sounds like a neat kid. What is it with jr.hs girls and hair straighteners anyway? I agree with your D that volcanos are much more interesting. It's amazing that she manages to keep up so many different activities. What is FCCLA?

Where does your S go to college? Is he happy there? Any lessons you can share from your college-search-process with him?

Your HS sounds very limiting -- especially only offering two years of Spanish. You might want look beyond your HS for advancement or enrichment options to keep her challenged. Is there a college nearby where she might take classes? Or else look for online options. She sounds like the sort of kid who might end up self-studying for science APs, or going out on her own for Science Fair.

[shillyshally]

Waving to Checkers from the '10 thread

I just asked S (my '15er) if he felt like he was almost done with MS and he said sometimes it still feels likes he just started at the school! He's grown about 7" while he's been there though, LOL, just hit 6'.

[mihcal1]

My D2012, her best friend (girl) and other good friend (boy) were all the same height when they finished 8th grade. When they showed up at HS in the fall, the boy was >3" taller!

A lot of growth happens between 8th and 9th grades. Not just physical growth, either.

[CheckersMidwest]

~~waving back at shilly ~~

Thanks for the welcome ! My S goes to University of Missouri (Mizzou). He loves it. We didn't do a lot of searching - it's where he's always wanted to go. It's a 'state' school, but a step up from the regular ones like Northwest, Central, etc. They go to a lot of work to make the freshman fit in and make it home.

FCCLA = Future something. (college, careers, leadeship.....) In the 'old days' it was Future Homemakers of America. It has broadened over the years and now has more to do with leadership, careers, and home. They have several regional & national competitions, both with group & individual projects. The projects usually include research, public speaking, etc.

We are in a unique situation.....our school was left money for a girls scholarship several years ago. The fund is quite hefty, but with recent interest drops, it doesn't pay as much. It use to be full ride, now it pays all tuition & books for 4 years. You have to be female, attend high school at our school, non smoker, non married and attend a Missouri college of your choice. That's it. We are also an A+ school - a program that if you complete the community service & other requirements then you automatically qualify. It only pays community college tuition or some schools give you a small 'scholarship' in it's place. Mizzou gave S $1000 for it. Small change, but $$ all the same.

So, D will attend a Missouri college. We're considering the things she is interested in and looking at each school to see what they offer, what their towns offer, special things about each, etc. She really likes Mizzou too.....but not sure it is the right fit for her.

As far as 'keeping up' with all the activities....we've always kept the kids busy. Not overwhelmed, but busy. We think it's important for them to be well rounded. I hate to say it.....but there are more things in life than just school. (Did I say that - on CC ?!) They've had lots of opportunities and experiences, I think it's help make them who they are. We went to the high school tonight to a soup supper & seniors vs. faculty basketball game. It was a fundraiser for new uniforms. We got home at 9:00 and she is outside now shooting baskets. She's not much for sitting around.

This past year, she dropped Girl Scouts. Too many activities at the SAME time. Also, the other girls were going in different directions. She's continuing with football cheerleading, school and travel team basketball, FCCLA, and next year golf. She tried track last year, but we discovered she has exercise induced asthma. It only bothers her outside & mostly in the spring, so we think it must be triggered by an allergen.

I'll also say that school (and the pressure of doing well) stresses her a lot. We let her have the outside, unacademic activities to balance out.

I look forward to meeting all of you and your 2015 kids......

[jc40]

~~~waving to Shilly & Checkers from the Class of 2010 thread ~~~

Hi! Our second and last is a boy (14 yo) who will be starting hs this fall. He has an older sister who is a first year at UVa now. Like others, our two children are remarkably different. Our son eats, sleeps, breathes football. He loves very physical sports. He's a 2nd degree black belt in one martial art and working toward his first degree in another. He is also working toward his Eagle Scout. He has a natural intelligence that is impressive; however, we have to push him constantly to get him motivated. His sister is extremely bright, but unlike her younger brother, has an uncompromising work ethic. Our hope is that maturity will rectify some of the imbalance .

A bit more...we live down south, and I teach 8th grade at a large Christian prep. Both of my children attend(ed) a nearby K-12 secular prep. As far as our S's hs schedule...it's still a bit up in the air, but this is most likely what he'll be taking:

English (no honors offered)
Honors Geometry
Ancient World History (no honors offered)
Honors Biology
Latin II
CAD (computer-generated art)
Football (fall); martial arts (winter); golf (spring)

Having gone through this before, all I can say to those first-timers is be prepared -- hs will be over in the blink of an eye.

[Kelowna]

I absolutely agree, HS will be over in the blink of an eye. I have a S in class'13 and I can't believe it is almost half way through.....it seems like he started just a few months ago!

As far as HS offerings go, please remember that your kid will be compared only to his/her HS classmates. Make them take the most difficult courses in which they can get the best grades.
My D'15 is choosing to commute to a HS that is more than 30 miles away, partially because of course offering, partially because of the quality of the kids that are choosing that IB program.

[IJustDrive]

We just got D'15's course selection/registration report back from the high school, and they are going to let her register for all the courses she wants, even the ones that she doesn't yet have the pre-reqs for! I was a little worried that there would be an initial, wrong schedule, and then we'd have to fix it in July or August, and classes would fill. She wants to take a couple of classes that are not standard for freshmen, and that requires summer school (pre-req) or certain testing. She's testing out of/into a math class, but since she doesn't finish learning the material she'll be tested on until April, so she can't take the test yet. I'm so relieved!

[shillyshally]

Waving back to my '10er friends

My oldest D('10) is a happy student at our instate flagship UVA which is not an easy admit from our area. She was the hardworking dedicated student with excellent grades, well rounded ECs and good scores and I found in her college process that GPA matters, scores matter, ECs matter, it just matters differently to different schools. D'10 had the best results at schools that looked at her as a whole and not just by her scores (good but not amazing). She is an engineering major and her class selections really showcased her passion for math/science but she was an A student in all classes. She did well with merit offers from many schools and even received a full tuition offer from a top engineering school but her heart was at UVA and it ended up being the best financial offer as well so it worked well for us.

So my recommendation is focus first on what your student is passionate about and go from there - colleges want to see your child in their application and by focusing on what they are passionate about that becomes easy come application time. If you lurk at all on any of the current senior threads you will see the tippy top schools are a crapshoot in terms of admissions so I am thankful looking back that D pushed herself on her own terms and focused on what made her happy and I think her results worked well for her. I'm using the same approach for my 2nd D, a '13er, although she does not have the same work ethic my oldest D had/has and she'll be aiming for different schools (not the reachy ones, that isn't her personality at all) but especially for her it wasn't worth the struggle over the next few years while she is home to be in a battle zone over making sure she is taking all APs or whatever and I think I'm going to use a similar approach to my S'15 who falls somewhere in between his sisters.

He fell in the usual MS rut of boys of slacking off last year but this year has taken much more pride in his work and I hope that is carrying over to HS. he'll be a lot more like my D1 with a math/science focus (D2 is humanties) and I imagine he'll be reaching somewhere above D2 but not as high as D1 although he loves UVA which is a reach even for the top students as we are in the very competitive densely populated part of our state so that in itself is a crapshoot.

I am very thankful though we have a lot of great public options in our state since I learned so much about the FA process last year and where we fell and in-state publics will likely always be our best option.

[tutor2015]

I have two daughters 13 months apart, D15 & D16. I started a new thread about "if you knew then what you know now" to get advice from folks who have just finished (or are finishing) the admissions process, and was directed to this thread. So, hi to all parents of S15s & D15s present!

I'm currently doing a consulting project reviewing the top online sources of college information and creating scorecards indicating what each source offers new and returning college students. College Confidential's edge seems to be the forums, although I do find their college selection tool endlessly entertaining..and potentially better at uncovering previously unconsidered college options than other sites.

Now that I'm here, I'm planning on making myself a regular. Congratulations to those of you who have kids15 who know exactly what they want and who are academic stars! I'm guessing that this may be typical of parents already thinking about college at this point.

My D15 and D16 don't fit the high-achiever, self-directed mold so I'll be especially listening for advice and stories related to kids like them.

[gamomof3]

welcome tutor2015. I have a D11 who I just finished the HS get into college phase. It went pretty good for us and she is where she wanted to be so I consider that a success. D15 will be another story.... This will be a long 4 years for me.

I also have a D18 so I have 7 more years of this.

[IJustDrive]

Welcome! I have a D'12 who has always known what she wanted to do with her life (since age 4) and a D'15 who is now and has always been highly conflicted with many, many interests. We're starting to see some come to the fore-front, but this is not a focussed child. I don't think it matters so much for a HS freshman, but a little more focus could make it easier to make choices.

[njdadof5]

S15 heading into 9th grade in a few months. He will attend same pvt high school as S11 (who will likely graduate as valedictorian of his class). He and a couple of friends are having t shirts made up that say "I am not my brother" to wear on the first day - very concerned about living in his brother's shadow. S11 has a 99.26 GPA, scored a perfect 2400 on SATs, 4 800s on Subject Tests, won an NMS $2,500 scholarship and was awarded a full academic scholarship to college. D13 (different high school) is not far behind and likely headed for Ivys or equivalent. S15 is just a different kid. He will get a ton out of high school, just in very different ways. He will struggle to be a B/B+ student while still learning to conquer his ADD and has not shown the kind of motivation that his older sibs have shown.

Any advice from those out there who may have similar situations? I suspect it is going to be an interesting ride with S15...

E

[herandhisMom]

My d. is taking the following for her freshemen year - (hope it will work and no conflict. anyway this is the list of request we put in)

- H. Algebra II
- H. geometry.
- H. English
- AP U.S. Government
- H. biology
- French II.
- Band

she wants to take Chinese but the school won't allow more than 7 credidts. She'll have to do PE in a summer to try to put more classes in school years. We haven't got summer school list yet. She is not allowed to do summer school anyway until she is in HS. So we signed her up for a CTY summer camp.