Extra support for freshmen

Freshmen exam-takers get extra help from upperclassmen through ‘strategies for success’ program.

It’s exam time at Notre Dame Prep for 9th through 11th graders. It’s also a time of both nervousness and anticipation for students looking to finish the year well and then head off for a restful summer. And that’s especially true for freshmen as it’s their first foray into year-end exams at NDP.

This year, though, for the first time at NDP, freshmen have been getting extra exam-prep help as part the school’s “Strategies for Success” program.

Kim Anderson, Notre Dame Prep’s IB-DP coordinator, along with counselors Stacy Golliff and Jamie Rodda, and IB-MYP coordinator Katrina Sagert, have been working the entire school year with the freshmen on developing more effective and efficient study habits.

But they haven’t been alone in this program. Anderson said many students from the 10th, 11th and 12th grades have also pitched in.

“We've been very impressed with the peer exam-prep sessions facilitated by our sophomores, juniors and seniors,” Anderson said. “All freshmen had completed a survey to identify the course they found most challenging going into the June exam session and we did the same in December. We then compiled the results and divided the students by their need.”

She said each subject area has two to three upperclassmen who have been assigned to mentor and advise the freshman as they prepare for their final exam in that course. The program has been entirely successful, according to Anderson, and they plan on implementing it for all students in the coming years. 

“We started with 9th-graders as they entered NDP, hoping that they will build valuable skills they can use through high school, college and just life in general,” she said.

Anderson and her team also set up monthly workshops on topics such as good study habits, creating a conducive and personalized study environment, Marist Habits of the Heart, how to deal with stressful situations and how to prep for finals, just to name a few.

She said all freshmen participated this year and she’s confident they are much better prepared for the next three years at Notre Dame Prep.

Follow Notre Dame on Twitter at @NDPMA.

About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.



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