Have a DS23 enjoying his summer vacation and playing summer baseball. Very proud that he maintained his 4.0 throughout middle school. He’s watched his sister, DD19, go through high school and knows that it takes hard work. Hopefully he’ll remember that as he goes through the next 4 years. Didn’t find this site until DD19 started looking for colleges a year or so ago and haven’t commented too often but I look forward to going through this process with you all.
Good evening parents. New poster. Ready for the big move to high school in the fall. S23 finished middle school with all A’s. Anticipated freshman schedule will be Honors English, Honors Bio, Honors World History, Algebra 2, Spanish 2, AP CS Principles and PE. Training for his first season of FB and play travel baseball on weekends with hopes of making the team in the spring. Gave up trumpet after 5 years, but is trying to self teach the electric guitar. Enjoys math and computers and Spanish more than English. Initially has interest in programming/CS as a career, but sure that will change 100 times. He’s looked at 50 pages of “Algebra 2 for Dummies”, but seems preoccupied with Netflix.
Cant complain…he’s 14! Enjoy your summer!
Do you have recommendations for summer preparation for HS classes? I’m specifically looking for Spanish 3 and Ag2/Trig prep. I’m getting the Barron’s AP CompSci book too.
For Spanish you could watch some Spanish TV as there is a lot on Netflix/Hulu. You’ll have to research and decide on the maturity level for your child. This article has some recommendations. https://spanishlandschool.com/best-spanish-tv-shows/
My Spanish native spouse is binging Gran Hotel (which is listed). Your child might find it boring and I’m not sure of the rating. My spouse did mention they speak very formally in the show which is why it’s probably recommended. I called it a Spanish Downton Abbey. Another show she watched that isn’t listed is El Ministerio del Tiempo which is more modern/action about a Spanish gov’t agency that guards against time travelers trying to change history. A 14 year old might find that show much more interesting - it kind of had a time traveling A-team feel to it.
Thank you @Dolemite for the link. I’ll share it and hopefully it’ll replace at least some of the anime that’s viewed frequently. 
My kiddo is currently in a bridge program at the high school. It’s for a few weeks to get them acclimated. They have home room and several periods like math, science, tech, history, etc. No homework though. The kids are really enjoying it.
I will join this thread as I have a DS23. My D18 graduated from HS last year so I had a break one year and now gearing up for HS again.
Welcome @Pri930 !
My D17 is less than a month away from returning to college… It’s been nice having her home for the summer. My D20 just started her Common App 
S23 is busy playing Rocket League on his computer and just enjoying the summer before HS (and enjoying hanging with his big sisters)! There’s also some FaceTiming going on with a new girl
hi you all. didn’t know this thread had started, but I’ll join! I love this website; and appreciate all the advice and no-politics.
I feel like this is going to be a challenging year. My S20 is getting seniorities already. And D23 made the HS dance team, so now she’s is tanning, highlighting her hair, watching make up videos . . . AHHG! it’s making me nervous. She’s a smartie; I hope to keep her focused. Anyways, glad to be part of this, and hope to hear about you and yours over the next few years.
Just finished up with my D19, going to Manhattan College in the fall. Not sure I am ready to start talking about my S23 yet! Outside of school, my S23 is a competative fencer we live in Central NJ outside of Princeton. Looking forward to sharing the journey with this group
@Novacat9191 Welcome! My D17 is a Div 1 collegiate fencer, so feel free to PM me if you have questions about college fencing or the recruiting process.
^^^ That’s a great score! Well done! I’ll bet you’re excited about what high school brings for your son!
If it’s that high now, as an incoming freshman, I’ll bet it grows through HS. Do you know if scores will count at colleges taken before freshman year? And, can I ask why you had your kid take it this summer, out of curiosity?
Our DS23 has high school orientation next week, classes start in 13 days! He seems pretty cool about it. I am freaking out a little! 
My D23—who for the past several years, has been laser-focused on becoming an occupational therapist, and doesn’t normally talk nearly as formally as she did this time—last night, quoted from memory:
That’s frighteningly introspective coming from a 14-year-old.
S23 Twins has their high school orientation today!!! Aahhh! It’s really happening, I officially have three high school students lol!! Class schedules will
be released Aug 9 and school officially starts Aug 13!!
We started marching band camp yesterday so these guys are already pooped…I told them to buckle up, we’re just getting started!!
Hello everyone! It’s been a while since my last CC visit. It’s been hectic the past few months.
My oldest son, S23, will be a freshman soon. His schedule is up. He is in honors Geometry, honors Biology (I guess you call it AP Bio?), and honors Social Studies. He will be playing only two sports: basketball and tennis. I am very excited for him to start this new chapter.
On the side note, I saw a post about taking SAT pre-test while in 8th grade. Is that recommended or optional?
hi 2boysmom84 - I’d be surprised if the Biology was an AP class; that’d be super hard for a freshman. (However, my D23 is taking AP US History; so who knows.) If it were me, and I had a choice, I’d look heavily at the honors bio rather than the AP bio class.
D23 is the last of 4 kids. We’ve had a few of them take the ACT early as freshmen. Their scores were all lower compared to their best scores (31-34) end of junior year . As a freshman I inherently knew them and their abilities, and knew they wouldn’t get super high scores; I’m not sure what the point was in having them take those tests as I look back.
D23 will not take early tests because I don’t think it’s helpful and it goes on her record. However if I knew my D23 was an incredible brainiac – like some of the scores reported here – I probably would have her take an early test! You will see a lot of growth between freshman year and a the end of 10th/jr year.
I will have D23 take the PSAT as a sophomore, and probably focus on those results heavily for her junior test.
Thank you, @bgbg4us ! I appreciate your reply.
I did not go to school here in the U.S. so I’m still learning about the system, process etc…
My mistake, he is in Honors Biology and not AP Biology.
I plan on having my S23 take practice tests until we think he’s ready. May I ask how many times can SAT be taken? Do they only record/pick the highest score?
@2boysmom84 the testing companies (ACT and SAT) will keep all of your scores on record, however you choose who (as in which colleges or schools) you want to report them to… they are not public record unless you make them so. I tried to provide a link to an article about sending your scores - cost of doing it when you take the test vs after once you know the results - it but it will not post.
You can actually take the ACT up to 12 times but that seems very excessive. Most people I know took it 3-4 times the most was 6 but they were struggling to get to a full-ride scholarship level for in-state flagship. My D18 (now college sophomore) took it in 8th grade as part of the Duke TIP (Comp. 19, which does not show on her transcript), February of Sophomore yr (Comp. 28), October of Jr year (Comp. 33), and then her high school offered it for free for all Juniors in April that year (Comp. 31), and although satisfied with her score took it one last time Sept of Senior yr (33, gave her a 34 superscore - she wanted to do better in Math).
Had it not been free, as a high school student she would have only take it 3 times (omitting the April test). As a side note, she took the PSAT also once in 10th for practice and then for the NMP consideration in 11th; score was Commended for our state, but one point off from Finalist consideration. She took the SAT once, but all the colleges she was interested in took both and her ACT was a better indicator of her abilities.
I hope this helps you plan. Don’t let some of the CC posts get you too worried - there are many overachievers on here. Our 2023 graduates have plenty of time! More important than testing right now is finding Extracurricular Activities (ECs) they are truly passionate about, making some great friends and just finding out who they are in this next chapter of their lives!
@2boysmom84 our HD has kids take psat 9-11, offers free ACT that isn’t reported so we do those as practice and don’t start for real until junior year. Every family is different and every child is different. My D21, at different than S18, and S23 different than both. We meet them where they are and encouraged them to walk their own path
High School Orientation today! (Classes start next week.)