Blog: Ensuring Every Student Has a Successful High School Transition

By Paul Davis ’81, President, Father Ryan High School

The transition from middle school to high school can be one of the most difficult for students. I remember when I came to Father Ryan High School as a student in August 1977, I was shy and really struggled. I had a core group of friends, and I stuck to them. As freshman year went on, I found my way and began to break out of my shell, but it was a long process for me.

This transition varies for each student. Some freshmen or transfer students arrive ready to go, while other students are nervous about this new environment. Father Ryan students represent 59 zip codes and 125 different schools. Ensuring that each student has a successful and smooth transition to this important new chapter in their education and life is critical. We must be intentional in this process.

Why the High School Transition is Challenging for Students and Parents

Researchers, educators, and parents know that the move from middle school to high school for adolescents is tough socially, personally, and academically. Adolescence can be difficult. Many students entering high school are not ready for the challenges they will face during this transition.

I love watching a freshman grow over the course of four years and seeing the amazing individuals they become by graduation. Today’s parents often step in to try and help when they see their children struggling. When parents are not willing to give their students that opportunity to grind – to test their grit and see what they are made of – they can be setting up their child for disappointment later in life. Students who learn to work through struggle and even failure prepare themselves for the real world.

Part of supporting your child’s successful transition to high school means not intervening too quickly or aggressively when your child struggles. Students who have the most success often are those students whose parents know that high school can be challenging.

It is a universal cycle at any high school. As a freshman, you encounter a new place with new academic expectations and more work, while trying to meet new people. If you come to high school with a group of friends, those dynamics may start to change. Sophomore year often challenges students to evaluate their friendships and ensure they are making good decisions. During junior year, academic demands increase as students understand more about the college process and expectations. By senior year, the struggle for many students is saying goodbye to this phase of life and preparing for the next transition to college and beyond.

In addition, the pace of high school is challenging for many freshmen. The amount of work, including classwork and homework, is different than middle school. Our students come from middle school classrooms with various levels of academic rigor, and students arrive with differing entry points in terms of their learning.

Our teachers do an amazing job of catching students up and preparing them for sophomore year. Last year, a student transferred in as a sophomore from a school with a reputation for superior academics, and the student struggled, which the student’s mother told me was a surprise. However, the design of our academic programs and the intentionality of our teachers provide support for students throughout this transition.

The Father Ryan Approach to a Smooth, Successful Transition

Our culture centers on our students being known and loved. It is hard for them to feel this sentiment early on when they do not know anybody. For the naturally extroverted students, the joy is seeing them acclimate quickly. I love those freshmen and transfers who jump into our community. But as an introvert and someone who struggled, I have an affinity for those who do not find their place quickly.

On our first day of classes on August 12, I saw a 9^th grader standing alone in the courtyard holding her notebook close to her chest and looking around. I told her my name but not my title. Some people are a little intimidated when they hear “President.” I asked about her schedule and what she knew about Father Ryan. I have learned after 39 years at Father Ryan and teaching for over two decades, it is all about finding a common interest and discovering what might be bothering a student.

Soon, we had both made a new friend.

Since 2017, we require every Father Ryan freshman to take a semester-long New Student Seminar. This past year we expanded that Seminar to Transfer students. I have taught in this program since 2019 and now team-teach the transfer seminar. The program, taught by faculty and some staff, is inspired by our graduates who enjoyed similar transition courses in college, and our Academic Dean’s office created the curriculum.

I loved being an English teacher and jumped at the chance to return to the classroom. Until my first New Student Seminar in fall 2019, I had been out of day-to-day teaching since 1998 when I became Dean of Students. At Commencement when my first freshman seminar students graduated, I asked them to stand. I thanked them for reigniting my love and passion for being on this campus because I had the opportunity to be back in the classroom and teach them.

Two years ago, I transitioned from teaching freshmen to transfer students. I remember having students in my classes who transferred to Father Ryan and seeing a deer-in-the-headlight look and later seeing, once they assimilated, how remarkable they were on campus.

The Impact of Intentional New Student Onboarding

Our New Student Seminar gives students a safe place to learn about our school, traditions, community, and about themselves as learners. The goal is to make the transition to all aspects of high school successful.

We meet every other day and discuss academic and social-emotional issues. We teach study skills and communication skills like body language, writing emails and letters. We talk about expectations for high school and cover social challenges they may encounter. Study Hall is the last half of every New Student Seminar class, which helps new students adjust to the workload of Father Ryan. If a student is struggling in another subject, our teachers often use this as a time to work one-on-one with them.

Last year, a transfer student of mine wrote in her capstone project that the class truly set her up for success: “It was a class full of us who had taken the unknown leap into an institution that valued knowledge and faith just as much as we did. We got to walk into room 109 and be new students learning and acclimating together. We became a little family who got to both help each other and give each other ego checks when needed. I just want to thank Mr. Davis, who took the time out of his president duties to help transfer students integrate as seamlessly as possible. He was warm, welcoming, kind, and treated us with love.” That is the goal.

Creating Success Through Small Communities and Personalized Learning

Five years ago, Father Ryan launched its House System, and it has been key to making a big school feel smaller. Other schools have house systems, but our goal was to create this program in the Father Ryan way and expand how we help students be known and loved.

At our New Family Welcome event in August, students find out which one of our six Houses they will be joining. Each House offers peer-to-peer mentoring, leadership opportunities, and spiritual development. Houses are sorted into seven Mentor Groups comprising freshmen through seniors, which gather daily and are student-led with faculty advisors.

We have an annual House Cup competition throughout the school year, and the Canned Food Drive plays a big role, which we intentionally have freshmen organize for their Mentor Groups. This gives our newest students the opportunity for leadership roles in their first year at Father Ryan.

Other precursors to our New Student Seminar and House System to help students transition to high school include our Student Ambassador Program and Peer Mentor Program. Student Ambassadors help visiting students and families get to know our school and culture, while Peer Mentors connect with new students as a peer-to-peer resource for their transition to Father Ryan. We started the Peer Mentor Program originally for students who came from middle schools where few or even no students from their previous school enrolled at Father Ryan. Now, any parent may request a Peer Mentor for their child.

Another way we focus on transition to high school is through our four levels of learning: College Preparatory, Honors, High Honors, and Advanced Placement. Father Ryan students have their schedules customized to their academic strengths and challenges. A student who is exceptional in math but may need more help in Spanish can easily move among the levels during a year and throughout the student’s Father Ryan experience.

We are constantly evolving our onboarding program. You cannot be stagnant in this world. For the Class of 2028, we set a specific focus for each new student event:

• At the New Family Welcome, students discovered their assigned House, and parents join to celebrate and learn more about the Father Ryan experience as a family. We value onboarding our parents just as much as onboarding our students.
• New Student Orientation welcomed students to classes and included a new teaching Mass to educate non-Catholic students about the traditions of the Eucharist. 
• Our Saturday Freshman Night focused on our faith with students in small groups going on a campus “Night Walk,” led by faculty, administrators, and retired faculty to learn about those who came before us and our traditions. For example, a long-term retired teacher and Father Ryan alumnus, Robert Kent ’74, was at the Christ statue on our Academic Lawn, dedicated to the memory of former faculty and administrator Father Fleming, telling stories of Father Ryan’s past.

We take our students as individuals, not as a group. We understand that every student will have a different Father Ryan experience, and through our programs, we strive to help students find their place.

Yes, we are proud of fourth-generation Father Ryan students, but we are equally excited to introduce new families to the Father Ryan tradition. It does not matter if you are the quarterback on the football team, the lead or townsperson in the play, or the first or ninth person in your family to attend Father Ryan. Together, we are all Father Ryan.

Faith as the Heart of a Successful High School Transition and Experience

This month, Father Ryan kicks off its 100^th year celebration that spans 2024-26. In 1925, when the school was founded, Bishop Byrne wanted a place for Catholic boys to learn and live out their faith. We have always been centered around Christ, but at the same time, we welcome all faiths. Our teaching Mass this year allowed us to share our traditions and help those who are not Catholic better understand what they can expect at Mass – again, helping them experience a more intentional transition focused on a sense of belonging.

We provide an excellent education in the Catholic tradition for our students, and that is open to all. The Father Ryan mission – to be an experience of the living Gospel while challenging students to reach their spiritual, academic, and personal potential – is an intimidating mission statement.

Recently, one of our board members, who is a priest and Father Ryan graduate, said that no other school can claim this as their mission and that no other school has a more difficult mission to be an experience of the living Gospel, to be Jesus Christ every single day. We are human with human frustrations and challenges. At the end of the day, how do we live the mission?

During our Freshman Night, a faculty member talked about the mission statement and explained to our new students that our goal at Father Ryan is to challenge them to reach their spiritual, academic, and personal potential. This is the reason Father Ryan exists. While that statement was not written in 1925, it has always been the mission of our school.

We have an obligation to those who came before us to live that mission. We have an obligation to our families. We have an obligation to our students to be that experience of the living Gospel. This is what it means to be Catholic, and this is the example Christ gave us.

To be an experience of the living Gospel is at the heart of our intentions in how we help students transition to high school and to Father Ryan.