Especially with regard to college prep and applying to selective colleges? I go to a good school but nobody really cares all that much about attending selective colleges. It seems nearly everyone is fixated on attending the local party colleges and just does enough to get into them. I’m class president and I was wondering if there are certain things a school can do to have a more spirited vibe or is it pretty much all on the parents?
I don’t know where you live and I’m sure your school is fine but questions like this point out the basis for so much inequality in this country. The truth is lizzy that at most schools with high achieving kids the school does little to promote high achievement. The school doesn’t need to. Most of the kids walk in the door with those values from home. No matter what a school that doesn’t have kids like that from homes like that does, the school is playing “ catch up” in terms of pumping out kids with a desire for selective schools. If the majority is like this kids who attend get all kinds of peer pressure ( spoken and unspoken) to reach those goals from other kids.
I think the “desire for high achievement” needs to come before the students enter high school. Parents needs to teach their kids to work hard, set goals, etc. from a young age. Unfortunately, many parents don’t know how to do that, especially if their own parents didn’t teach it to them. It’s not necessarily something intuitive. Some kids want to do “more,” but they don’t have the experience to know how.
However, once the kids start high school, it’s the quality of the administration, especially the guidance department, that can really make a difference. There is, again unfortunately, a lot of disparity between schools, districts, and sometimes even states and regions when it comes to the goals of post-secondary education. I personally went to a rural, blue-collar, low income public school where only a small percentage of kids even went to college. There were only a handful of students like myself in each class (kids that already knew that they wanted to go to grad school and beyond), and so the guidance department wasn’t as well educated themselves on what was needed to go to an elite school, especially if it was out of state. I’m not sure I could blame the guidance counselor specifically, he was the only one there and had to cater to the masses.
My DS is a senior at a well-respected but not elite college prep private school in the midwest, but it’s not one that is known to send kids to HYPS and the like. The vast majority of the kids go to the various in-state schools or the neighboring states. In retrospect, I have been a little disappointed in the relative lack of proactiveness (for lack of a better word) in the guidance office with respect to educating the PARENTS on what it takes to get into those elite schools during the first year or two, when it’s crucial to plan ahead for those years ahead. In hindsight, my DS would probably have had better counseling at one or two other private schools in town, and possibly even at the local public school, which is one of the best in the region.
On the flip side, when you are looking at the long-term goals for your life, please don’t equate getting a degree from an elite (or even selective) school with making a success of your life. If you are willing to do what it takes to get into a “good” school and work hard (and smart) you will be fine. My DS has been happy where he is, and if he doesn’t get into an elite school because his resume was not good enough, so be it.
@lizzie1234 - Yes, there are specific things a school district can do to promote high achievement. My kids attended HS in the largest Public School District in the state & we have students that go to top schools all over the country. SOME of the things they did (do) to promote /recognize high achievement:
- Monthly recognition of top performing students in Principal & District newsletters.
- Monthly recognition of students for Positive Action - i.e. helping others.
- Encouraging all students to take AP courses, not just elites. AP Testing is not required. Challenging yourself is.
- Sports recognition nights are held on a different night than scholarship recognition nights, so that kids can get both awards. "Dumb jock" stereotype is not encouraged - all round performance is encouraged. Sports Award Nights also award the top performing student athlete for work in the classroom.
- Monthly Parent - Principal meetings to share ideas and feedback.
- Middle Schools have created advanced classes - allowing some to enter HS with sophomore level courses.
- Yearly recognition of 25 Top Performing Seniors - who get to bring their favorite teacher and parents to a formal dinner at a local country club with great food.
- Performing Community Service is required of all students to graduate.
The 8 points above are just off the top of my head, and I am sure there are a lot more specifics that I didn’t list that help encourage students to promote high achievement. Obviously, I have been impressed by the District’s emphasis on recognition and reward. I think they do a great job on giving their students the tools that can prepare them for life after HS. And if the top students and student athletes are all working to attend selective colleges, then the majority of the student body is as well.
Good luck with your school!
“What does your child’s high school do to promote high achievement ?” Nothing publicly. Child went to an elite boarding school. Standards were & are very high. Additionally, parents & kids took the lead with respect to pursuing ultra selective colleges & universities. The school college advisors steered students toward safety schools.
Don’t I wish they did something. Anything. They’re just happy that most of the kids aren’t in jail or pregnant or both. Remedial kids get a lot of attention. High achievers are on their own. It’s assumed that they are smart enough that they don’t need any of the very limited resources.
Very little. Our school gives seniors 2 college visit days. One per college. They cannot be use for travel (so if you travel Friday, tour Saturday, come home Sunday, Friday will not be counted as a college day because you did not tour on Friday). My daughter is at a week long honors fly in program this week and will be doing detention hours for her absences when she returns. 
We also tie semester testing to absences so that makes it worse.
My kids went to high school (most of it; long story) at a large, urban, public academic magnet. The school is diverse in every way – rich, poor, all different shades of everything, something like 43 home languages. The kids don’t enter with any shared culture at all. They all wanted to be there, and they all passed an admission exam, but it’s nothing like Stuyvesant or Thomas Jefferson (famous public magnet schools with super-high standards). The median SAT is around 1100, although the top 50 or so kids in the class would be competitive with great students anywhere, and the school has a long list of high-achieving, prize-winning alumni.
Anyway, the school has a goal, which it almost achieves, of having 100% of its graduates go to college, and it actively encourages the most successful students to apply to hyperselective colleges. That starts on Day 1. At freshman orientation, with parents present, the principal talked about the sacrifices a family might have to make to allow a child to go to college and complete it. And he said to the parents, “If you are not willing to make that commitment now, and stick to it, come see me afterwards. We’ll find a good school for your child to attend, but it won’t be here.” At another point, students and parents sitting in small groups were told to identify all of the Ivy League universities. (No kidding.)
In order to overcome the near-total lack of common culture at the point of entry, the school is brutally simple with its messages. Everything is a competition. Everything is assigned a numerical grade, which is posted publicly in real time. The students are told, “We want to do our best, and to get better all the time. Competition is how to do that. So we always want to be competing.” Notwithstanding generally strong athletic teams – it’s a big school, with generally disciplined, intelligent students, and that’s not bad for high school spots – and excellent music, drama, and fine art, essentially there’s a single-factor prestige system in the school, or close to it: academic success. Not just GPA, exactly, although that’s the most obvious manifestation. The school touts its successful alumni all the time, and kids going to selective colleges or winning big scholarship competitions are treated like superstars.
Notwithstanding all that competition, and not a little pressure, it’s a remarkably warm place, and the kids are generally nice to one another. While my kids were there, there was essentially no racial or ethnic tension.
We have a limited (but growing) variety of AP classes offered at the school, as well as dual enrollment classes. They call meetings to talk to all the students who might be interested in taking those courses. We have the standard stuff - like a college fair. Parent info night. Our school doesn’t tell the students which schools to apply to, at least I’ve never heard of the school doing that.
I very highly doubt that any ivy league school rep has attended our college fair or visited our school. I might be wrong about that because the college fair this past fall was cancelled due to the hurricane. We did attend the fair two years ago and it was mostly Florida and a few Alabama schools that I recall. I certainly don’t remember seeing any ivy schools at the fair.
High school graduation is the culmination of what for kids is mandatory education. It really isn’t in scope to do more than celebrate all the graduates but almost all schools have a senior awards night that celebrates all the achievements of that graduating class and I am OK with that.
I think our school district does a pretty good job promoting high achievement. First of all it is a unit school district - in other words it teaches students from kindergarten through 12th grade. I believe it contributes to consistent messaging and long term goal setting.
As a parent I appreciate the effort by our district to encourage mentoring and acknowledging diverse interests. Personally I would not equate applying to selective colleges with promoting high achievement, but that’s my opinion.
@lizzy1234 here are a few things our district does to promote excellence.
– Academic peer tutoring: service hours are awarded and count toward NHS applications
– Jr and Sr PE team leaders as well as Adaptive PE peer leaders
– Art students were selected to paint murals in some public spots in our town
– National Merit Finalists get their senior yearbook picture hung in the front hallway
– Committed athletes get their picture hung up in the main athletic area.
– Varsity seniors on academic and athletic teams, as well as some other ECs get their group pictures placed on banners throughout the common areas…they’re pretty fun. Later they’re auctioned off for charity.
– Individuals and groups are recognized for their accomplishments at District Board meetings.
– And of course, while accomplishments are shared online in the district website’s weekly newsletter, pictures are often shared via social media.
– There are also periodic evening meetings by our Home and School organization where a panel of “experienced” parents lead a discussion. They share their experiences on a wide variety of topics. It’s less a presentation and more of a question and answer session so parents can learn about topics that interest them. I found these especially helpful. Home and School selected a nice sampling of parents…most had a child or children who were in college along with one or more still in high school. These parents had kids with a variety of interests, a variety of colleges and of course, majors.
– Recent graduates are invited during their winter and/or spring break to share their knowledge and experience. A few tables are set up in the cafeteria and students can informally ask these kids about their schools and solicit suggestions.
– Fostering collaboration is a priority and it’s very satisfying to see the district try to respond to student needs. For instance, one of our high schools had a large library that wasn’t really being utilized well. The school moved a lot of the books and created group workspaces and a coffee bar. I hear it’s a popular destination and has had a positive impact on the school in general.
– Also, kids with I believe a 3.5 or above GPA are recognized at a before school recognition ceremony. Parents are invited but it’s fairly informal. Only 7th semester seniors are called by name, but juice and snacks are provided and each student get a pin and certificate. After a short congratulatory speech and usually one inspirational speaker, the bulk of the program is a raffle. A bunch of gift cards to local restaurants and stores are given away along with some highly sought after prizes. They give away prom tickets and some prom stuff like a tuxedo rental and mani/pedi, a parking space for the next year, a class ring from Jostens, etc.
There are a few other things as listed by nugraddad. Hope this helps you.