Graduate Support
Nativity Prep has an extensive Graduate Support Program, which substantially continues building the vision, skills and experiences of our students beyond graduation. Our Secondary School Placement Coordinator works to have our 8th grade students admitted to the high school that is best for them, and our full-time Director of Graduate Support, himself an alumnus, works closely with our graduates in high school, college, and beyond. The Program provides financial support for high school tuition gaps; SSAT and SAT prep classes, college placement, and financial aid counseling. There is not a day that goes by without several of our alumni in the school, and an Alumni Association is now beginning to take shape.
The goals of the Graduate Support Program include the following:
- Expand our students’ and graduates’ vision of themselves and the world by challenging them academically, physically, ethically and socially to maximize their success in high school and college.
- Facilitate a smooth and successful transition into high school and college.
- Provide funding for tuition gaps, textbooks, computers and miscellaneous fees.
- Provide tutoring, internships, work experiences and mentoring for academic and professional success.
- Develop responsible and contributing members of the community.
Secondary School Placements
Nativity Prep strives to place its graduating 8th graders in secondary schools that will prove to be good matches for them academically, socially, culturally, and athletically. Most students go on to attend independent day and boarding schools, while many others attend Catholic schools, and pilot schools.
The application process begins in the spring of their 7th grade year. The Secondary School Placement Advisor meets individually with the students, their parents, teachers, and staff to discuss possible high school opportunities. Over the next year, students are guided through the steps of information gathering, visits, interviews, standardized tests, application writing, and financial aid forms.
Each year in October, we host an open house for approximately 40 secondary school representatives, who come to Nativity Prep to meet with students and families as well as to learn more about what we do here each day.
Though long and occasionally arduous, the secondary school placement process is an important rite of passage for our 8th graders. In addition to learning the valuable skills of personal organization, meeting deadlines, and self-advocacy, our 8th graders take great pride in charting their own educational futures – the first time in their lives that they have done so – by deciding what school they will attend once they graduate from Nativity.
Please contact Ramon Gomez, Director of Graduate Support, at 857.728.0031, ext. 15, rgomez@nativityboston.org, or stop by the school for more information.
