MS - HS transition

I'll try to gather all the facts and figures to back up my observation, but...speaking anecdotally at least....it appears quite obvious each year that many of our honor graduates and those receiving academic scholarships come graduation time are cadets who have attended since middle school. There appears to be a clear correlation between the number of years a cadet has attended FUMA and their overall academic success and future college opportunities at graduation time.

I received in my email inbox a note from a retired educator who, although not an alum of FUMA, has been following this board for some time. Although he was reluctant to post himself, he sent me the response he would want to post. It was so good, I've decided to post it on his behalf and thank him publicly for his insights and for his participation here on the FUMA411!

My years as an educator in the public schools have taught me a few things.

The one that most applies here is that when given an opportunity, teens will most always gravitate to the path of the least resistance. If a student is not constantly challenged, they will not ever achieve their true potential.

When suitably challenged, I have seen students achieve far beyond their potential. The public school system, due to large enrollments and limited structure can not truly offer the challenges that our students need. Sure, many of our students succeed, but I have to believe that this is in spite of what we do, not because of it. Peer influences, exposure to negative influences and the inability of parents to fully monitor their teen (despite their best efforts) cause many a promising student to pass by the wayside.

As public school educators, we plant seeds and hope they will take. From what I observe, FUMA plants seeds and are able to witness the growth. Teens grow by facing obstacles and then learning to overcome them. If you allow your son to opt out of what he sees as difficulty, you are in fact teaching him that it is indeed ok to take the path of the least resistance not and later in his life. I have worked with some amazing students, many of whom had great potential and dreams, I have buried a few, visited a few in jail, and for many saw their potential ebb away as they became entangled in negative influences and a victim of poor peer groups. Freshman year seems to be the most formative year in determining how the student will "come out".

This is the year that he will form his circle of friends, and those friends will influence him for the rest of his high school years and beyond. A bad experience here will impact him from now on. When I first started teaching, kids were different. Back in the day, the biggest problems we had was tobacco. When I retired, it was huge amounts of pills and other drugs.

Discipline was a constant problem, and I felt helpless when I saw "good kids" loose their ambitions and dreams, and spend four years learning to do the minimum to "get by". Do you really want to take that chance with your son? School for them became a game of figuring the system, and their ambitions became adjusted down to a fraction of what they once were. This is not to say that I didn't have my success stories, but the number of successes were never what they should have been or could have been, I often thought that if I had they opportunity to teach the students 24/7 the number of successes would have been exponentially higher.

One of my most amazing successes was with a student I involved in aviation. I worked as a night manager in an airport and got him a job there. Despite a poor home life and a negative peer structure, he found a life long interest. I used the money I made at the airport to send him to aviation college and he is now an aircraft mechanic. His high school "friends" are either in jail or dead. If I had the resources and time, others could have had this type of success.

I realize that financially, there is a burden. Your son is very fortunate that he has had the opportunity that many others could use and appreciate.

If you can navigate the financial waters, your son will be on a path to succeed that he would not have in public school. At FUMA he will be surrounded by far more positive peer influences and have a 24/7 focus on his future. While no institution is entirely free of negative influences, his best chance is where he is at

As a parent you need to teach your son to confront his fears and not take the easy way out. One year removed might translate to a number of years lost. While he says he wants to go back after a year, it is very possible that as he becomes comfortable with less structure in his life, he will ague for two years off, then three and so on. Dig in your heals and stick with your original plan. He will thank you in the end!

If you are entering FUMA from public school, Freshman year is the hardest year. If you are moving up from MS, the freshman year is not the hardest.

He already knows the "military discipline", he knows most of the campus, instructors and most importantly he already has friends.

Like Jack, I came from MS (started in 7th) and had no issues with the transition from MS to US. In fact, I found it easier. MS was very regimented compared to US at the time. It may be different now, but it was a relief not to have every movement choreographed.

He has already done the hardest "time". Which are the first years away from home. He has made that adjustment. How hard can the next step be?

Hope it works out for you and he agrees to the best step for him.

I attended FUMA from 6th grade until Graduation. Making the transition from MS to US was actually very easy for me. The only thing really different is your location on campus! The rules are basically the same. There is absolutely no reason for concern at all.

Yeah im sure that as long as hhe keeps his grades up and does not get involved in things he shouldnt then he would still have a good chance of becoming a cadet of "The Long Grey Line".
But then again if he stays at FUMA through out the transition then it would be good because it would help teach him to push through even when times get tough.

Freshman year in high school can certainly be an intimidating thought! Please note that we have an orientation just for current parents on April 10th and I hope you are able to attend. If you have not yet received information regarding this event, please let LTC Feathers know.

Whenever a family asks me how former middles school cadets in the high school program compare with those transitioning in from some other school, I like to point out that there is a measurable increase in the performance of the "old guys" compared with those coming into the program later. I recall that a few years ago, of the the 15 honor graduates, most (I believe it was 12) had been middle school cadets at FUMA).

I am hopeful that a few of the families who have tried the "year back at my old school" (the FUMA boomerang) route might post in the forum and let you know their perspective. Generally, when I hear from those families as they are seeking reenrollment, they tell me it was a mistake to leave in the first place.

To answer your questions:

The admissions process for HS is similar to the middle school process. When you reapply, we will want to make sure the school is still the right fit and that the young man's behavior has been reasonable.

Making teams in the upper school program varies by sport. In general, I believe the coaches give a fair chance to anyone wishing to try out. Simply being an "old cadet" does not mean guaranteed playing time or even making the team.

The service academies are among the most difficult school to be accepted to. I would like tot think that academic consistency would only strengthen a young man's prospects at attending. However, if your son is capable of maintaining excellent grades back home, I would imagine his chances would be similar.

The bottom line is that your son is going to have one opportunity at 9th grade.

I am sure it is no surprise that most of our high school students transition to FUMA after they have already started high school. More often than not, each of those families state that they wish they had started sooner.

I echo Ms. Liles in suggesting a chatwith Dr. Grant regarding this idea.