Is this normal for a former public school students who just came to catholic high schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is a former MCPS student, and at his old high school, he was a B+ / A- student. Well, after getting his report card, I see he is a straight B- / B student, with his best being a B+ in theology and an A- in English. This is concerning because humanities is his strong suit. Should I be concerned?

My kids had high grades in their well-regarded DCPS schools prior to moving them to Catholic schools and we were similarly surprised when we saw the initial dip in their scores. Part of it was due to a lack of preparation in certain areas, like writing and grammar, that Catholic schools tend to emphasize more. However, a large part was also due to the rule following as previous posters have noted. Late assignments, participation, minor behavioral incidents, not being able to redo quizzes or tests, etc. Those things add up. In the end they're much better off for it, but it took some getting used to.

[Anonymous]

Did they take the HSPT and then placed in leveled classes?

[Anonymous]

Part of it is the adjustment to a new school. Discuss with the counselor and teachers. Also, an A is a 94 at my son's Catholic school (although I've heard they will around 93.5 up for an A). So it's possible that your son's grades are similar, but don't equate to the same letter grade.

For example, an 89.3 might round to an A in public school. That would be a B+ in my son's school. He's came from public school too, so it's been a challenge for him to keep his grades up.

[Anonymous]

Coming from DCPS to Catholic was also an adjustment. Our DC is working hard to maintain 3.7 while his friends at DCPS all have like 4.7. Worried how this might impact colleges.

[Anonymous]

My kid came from MCPS to a Catholic HS and was way ahead in math and language. I even noticed at prize day in ninth grade that almost all recipients of the academic prizes came from public school.

That said, she did have some adjustment issues, esp, with sticter rules about turning in work.

[Anonymous]

Am I weird if I think given the circumstances with MCPS having basically no rigor and with no prep he was able to get Bs in classes that he ended up well overall? If there’s something wrong with this take let me know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid came from MCPS to a Catholic HS and was way ahead in math and language. I even noticed at prize day in ninth grade that almost all recipients of the academic prizes came from public school.

That said, she did have some adjustment issues, esp, with sticter rules about turning in work.

What Catholic school has ‘prize day’?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Normal. Catholic schools are generally more rigorous in the humanities and have higher standards for writing assignments compared to many public schools.

Definitely normal.

When I briefly left Catholic for public, I was skipped a grade because I was so advanced. When I returned to Catholic, they made me repeat my final grade in public although I had straight As. My writing was much stronger by the end of the repeated grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is a former MCPS student, and at his old high school, he was a B+ / A- student. Well, after getting his report card, I see he is a straight B- / B student, with his best being a B+ in theology and an A- in English. This is concerning because humanities is his strong suit. Should I be concerned?

My kids had high grades in their well-regarded DCPS schools prior to moving them to Catholic schools and we were similarly surprised when we saw the initial dip in their scores. Part of it was due to a lack of preparation in certain areas, like writing and grammar, that Catholic schools tend to emphasize more. However, a large part was also due to the rule following as previous posters have noted. Late assignments, participation, minor behavioral incidents, not being able to redo quizzes or tests, etc. Those things add up. In the end they're much better off for it, but it took some getting used to.

We are at a Catholic high school coming from a K-8 private, and this echos our experience to a T. I think the block schedule too—figuring out what to do when etc. The volume of homework is so much more!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Coming from DCPS to Catholic was also an adjustment. Our DC is working hard to maintain 3.7 while his friends at DCPS all have like 4.7. Worried how this might impact colleges.

Same—our kid went from straight As and As and Bs. It shouldn’t matter that much but with today’s crazy college admissions, I fear it does

[Anonymous]

Catholic HS is much more difficult than public.

My kid easily earned straight A’s in mcps middle school and had to work very hard to earn all A’s and 2 B’s at an area Catholic HS.

I’m glad the school is challenging him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid came from MCPS to a Catholic HS and was way ahead in math and language. I even noticed at prize day in ninth grade that almost all recipients of the academic prizes came from public school.

That said, she did have some adjustment issues, esp, with sticter rules about turning in work.

What is prize day?

And how would you know which kids came from public and which didn’t? I teach in a Catholic high school and don’t readily know this information.

[Anonymous]

Catholic schools does not hand out As, they are earned. No retskes, no late work accepted. Welcome to accountability.

[Anonymous]

DS switched from public to Catholic for HS
and struggled a bit at first. At public, he took all honors classes and earned all As in 6th and 7th and all As and two B+s in 8th. He placed into all honors classes for 9th based on his HSPT scores and the school’s placement tests. He was well prepared in math and science but really struggled in English and history at first and earned a B in English and a C in history his first quarter. His English teacher worked with him a lot freshman year and gave him a lot of feedback on each of his papers. In history, he had been used to just memorizing a study guide and getting an A and DH and I had to teach him how to outline text. He figured it out and ended up getting B+s for the year in both of these classes and an A or A- in everything else and his writing improved pretty dramatically. Despite it being a bit bumpy at first, we’re really glad we switched.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid came from MCPS to a Catholic HS and was way ahead in math and language. I even noticed at prize day in ninth grade that almost all recipients of the academic prizes came from public school.

That said, she did have some adjustment issues, esp, with sticter rules about turning in work.

What is prize day?

And how would you know which kids came from public and which didn’t? I teach in a Catholic high school and don’t readily know this information.

NP but I assume prize day is the academic awards ceremony.