St. Michael Catholic High School is poised to begin its third year, with its first senior class beginning in August. But already, those seniors are getting noticed.
“They’ve begun getting back A.C.T. and A.P. scores,” explains Faustin Weber, principal. “And many of them are doing exceptionally well. The colleges are coming after them.”
Of the 46 seniors, one student has a perfect 36 composite on the ACT, another has a 35, three students have 34’s, one has a 33, two have 32’s. Just under one-fourth of the class has scores of 30 or higher.
“Look,” Weber interjects, “we understand that the measure of a student is more than a test score. Most of all, we want our graduates to be faithful, morally upright, and strong leaders. But yes, we also want them to become scholars, and these early scores indicate they’re on the right track. It's great for them in terms of scholarships and admissions to college, but also important for us as a young school, seeking external validation.”
Even so, Weber says the top scores don’t tell the whole story: “Most of our seniors have improved their ACT scores by 4 to 7 points since their sophomore year—some, even more—a tribute to their hard work. It’s the ‘before and after’ picture, not just the final tally, that better tells the story of their growth and success.”
Weber says the first wave of A.P. results are also encouraging: “Last year's juniors took two A.P. classes, English and American History. Of the 50 scores, eight were perfect “5’s” and many more were “4’s” and “3’s," all considered ‘passing’ by the College Board. It will take us a few years to build up the A.P. culture at St. Michael, but the results indicate we’re on the right path. Strong students are used to comparing themselves to their classmates, but the A.P. program helps them compare with the best and brightest kids in the country, which stokes the competitive fire in them, encouraging them to dig a little deeper.”
The program will grow significantly with this year’s senior class, as the school is adding A.P. Physics, A.P. Calculus B/C, A.P. Government, A.P. English 12 and A.P. Spanish IV to its offerings.
“A number of our seniors will end up graduating with six, seven or eight A.P. credits,” Weber notes. “Not only will that give them the chance to win A.P. honors, it might also save them significant tuition dollars for college. They’re setting the bar high for our younger students."