As promised in last week’s letter, I’d like to share the high school placements for our 19 8th Grade students today. This year’s results are truly exceptional and reflect not only the students’ hard work and dedication, along with that of their teachers, but also the commitment of their families. A stressful few months are coming to an end, and now the only thing left for each student to do is choose the school that fits them best. This letter is slightly longer than usual—but it’ll be worthwhile, I promise. Before I launch into it, my heartfelt congratulations go out to Melissa Millan, who oversees High School Placements at The École (and sincere thanks as well to our Middle School colleagues for the numerous letters of recommendation written during this process, which made these wonderful admissions possible).

Early in the year, thanks to the quick acceptance terms of our partnership, every student who applied to Léman was accepted (16 students). The Léman with The École partnership is therefore perfectly fulfilling its objective—offering our 8th graders a stress-free pathway to one of the city’s most remarkable international schools. We are particularly proud of our close collaboration with Léman, which, as a reminder, also allows our graduates to continue their studies in French thanks to electives taught by two of our Middle School teachers. In addition to Léman, our students are also popular with other private high schools in the city that emphasize international education and have received offers from Avenues (2), Dwight (2), and UNIS (1).

The fact that The École is accredited by the French Ministry of Education and has a partnership with the AEFE affords us a status identical in every respect to that of the Lycée Français de New York and provides a privileged pathway for our students to LFNY. Once again this year, all our 8th Grade students who wished to join LFNY were offered a place (6 students).

I often write to you about the excellent academic level of our students, which makes The École a very competitive school when we compare ourselves with others. This year, six (!) of our 8th graders were accepted into the ultra-selective Specialized High Schools. Four of them successfully passed the SHSAT, opening the doors to some of New York City’s very best public schools: Bronx High School of Science (2), Brooklyn Tech (1), and Brooklyn Latin (1). This achievement is the result of long-term effort by these youngsters, many of whom have spent more than a year preparing for this particularly demanding exam—work accomplished alongside their learning in our classes, which aligns well with the quality and rigor of our US program. Finally, as we are also a school where the arts play a vital role, we are extremely proud that two of our students were accepted, upon audition, to the prestigious LaGuardia High School, another highly selective specialized high school (you can find its impressive list of alumni here).

Since last year, other trends have begun to emerge. We are now seeing—something that is still relatively new for us—students applying to some of New York’s most prestigious schools. This year, we are extremely pleased to announce that two of our students were accepted to Horace Mann, with one student also offered places at Spence and Brearley. These private schools enjoy an international reputation and are regularly ranked among the very best in the United States. We knew our students could aspire to this type of high school (last year, you might recall one of our 8th graders was accepted at Trinity School), but having confirmation of this again today is a source of immense pride.

A real novelty this year for The École is the Catholic high schools, which our students had previously rarely applied to after 8th Grade. And it appears they are very fond of our 8th graders, too! Three of our students received a total of eleven offers from some of the best Catholic schools in the city and in New Jersey: Xavier, Fordham, Marymount, Trinity Hall (NJ), Dominican, Loyola, and more.

As for public high schools, there will likely still be some movement until the end of the year as waitlists shift and places open up. While chance inevitably plays a role—since placements can depend on the lottery—we are already pleased to see that our students have been placed at Clinton (an excellent nearby school that offers the IB program), Bard Early College (2 students, a school with a selective admissions process), Professional Performing Arts High School (another arts school whose alumni include Alicia Keys and Jesse Eisenberg), and the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, founded by Tony Bennett.

If we add to that that one student will be attending a private school in Paris, and another has been accepted to the culinary school of her dreams, the picture that emerges is of a Middle School that offers every student a path to success and the assurance of finding the high school that suits them and their dreams, whatever they may be!

Wishing everyone an excellent weekend!

List of New York schools to which our students have been accepted (source: Niche).

Specialized High Schools (with the SHSAT or an audition at LaGuardia)

  • Bronx High School of Science – Acceptance rate 3% – #2 Best Public High School in New York

  • Brooklyn Latin – Acceptance rate 3.9% – #8 Best Public High School in New York

  • Brooklyn Technical High School – Acceptance rate 5% – #18 Best Public High School in New York

  • Fiorello LaGuardia High School of the Arts: #1 Best High School for the Arts in New York

 

Private and International Schools

  • The Brearley School: #1 Best Private High School in New York (#4 Best Private High School in the USA)

  • Horace Mann School: #4 Best Private High School in New York

  • The Spence School: #5 Best Private High School in New York

  • Avenues The World School: #13 Best Private High Schools in New York

  • LFNY: #14 Best Private High School in New York

  • UNIS: #21 Best Private High School in New York

  • Léman: #34 Best Private High School in New York

  • Dwight: #38 Best Private High School in New York

  • Friends Seminary: #70 Best Private High School in New York

 

Catholic Schools

  • Marymount: #3 Best Catholic High School in New York

  • Loyola:  #4 Best Catholic High School in New York

  • Dominican Academy: #5 Best Catholic High School in New York

  • Xavier: #6 Best Catholic High School in New York

  • Fordham: #8 Best Catholic High School in New York

  • Notre Dame: #14 Best Catholic High School in New York

  • St Vincent Ferrer: #20 Best Catholic High School in New York

  • St Savior High School: #22 Best Catholic High School in New York

 

Art Schools (see also LaGuardia above)

  • Professional Performing Arts High School: #9 High school in New York

  • Frank Sinatra School of the Arts: #10 Best High school for the arts in New York

 

Public High Schools (every student was paired with a public school through the lottery; we list here only the schools students may or will actually end up attending). The list might evolve over the coming weeks and months, and we will keep you updated on major changes.

  • Bard High School Early College: #23 Best Public High School in New York

  • The Clinton School: #67 Best Public High School in New York

  • Food and Finance: #145 Niche Stand Out High School in New York