High School Transition Coaching

High school is a very important time in students’ academic lives, a new adventure after middle school. It also brings on many new challenges, from having to pick courses and electives, often for the first time; to dealing with more difficult coursework; to beginning to think seriously about college.

All of this can lead to a lot of stress for students and parents trying to successfully navigate the transition between middle and high school. Luckily, Ivy Scholars is here to help. Our full-service high school transitions coaching enables you to face these challenges head on, and ensure the best possible experience for you and your student.

Here’s how it works:

STEP 1

Assessment

We first meet with you and your student to learn your skills, needs and abilities. With this, we are able to determine what high school experiences would best support you. All of our engagements are individually tailored to the specific student we’re working with.

STEP 2

School Selection

We help you choose a school to apply to, deciding between local public schools, private schools, magnet schools, and charter schools. We compare what each offers, and how they will support your needs.

STEP 3

Applications

If you are applying to a private school (or selective charter or magnet school), we’ll guide you through every step of the process, from writing the essay to preparing for interviews, to studying for the ISEE or SSAT.

STEP 4

Course Planning

The classes you take in high school matter for college applications, and we’ll help you plan out a four year schedule which both prepares you for college and lets you grow and succeed academically. High school is often your first chance at choosing your own courses, and you want to make the most of this opportunity.

STEP 5

Managing the Transition

We manage the transition itself by helping students build the needed soft and hard skills for high school. These include studying skills, time management, communications skills, and anything else they need assistance with.

The transition to high school is an exciting and challenging time, and high school itself presents many new opportunities for students. We can help you with the transition to high school, and then beyond; showing you how to make the most of your time there, and how to find and explore your passions.

How this Works

Here’s what our High School Transition service looks like in action. We began meeting with student E in the spring of her 7th grade year. Her middle school was good; welcoming academically vibrant, but not great. It did not provide the extracurricular opportunities or academic challenges her parents knew she would benefit from. They came to us to help find the high schools that would best support her, and to help ensure her transition to them was successful.

We began by meeting with her parents to gauge what they were looking for in a school, then with the student herself. She had clearly defined goals and ambitions, and was interested in a school that would support them.

With this in mind, we began researching schools, and finding ones which met their criteria. We settled on a mixed assortment of private schools, ones which would support her both in and out of the classroom, and which offered the kind of supportive and collaborative environment she knew would help her thrive best.

With the list in hand, we began working with the student on the two key aspects of her applications; first on the applications themselves, and second on preparing for the standardized tests required to gain admission to these private schools. We helped the student draft essays for the schools, polishing her language and honing her ideas to truly express what she would bring to her new communities.

In addition, our test prep experts helped her prepare and register for the tests, working to craft a schedule which allowed her to continue her school and extracurricular obligations while greatly improving her performance.

Once an acceptance was secured, we helped student E prepare for her transition to high school. She had a good grasp of many of the skills she would need, including communication and time management, and we taught her new ones, including study tricks and how to take notes efficiently.

In the end, student E was a joy to work with, and we were glad to see her well prepared to embark on the next chapter of her academic journey.

If you want to learn more about how we can help you make the most of your situation, and make your high school transition smooth and painless, schedule a free consultation today.

High School Transition Coaching