St. Ann’s Academy
It’s an anxious time for students in the 8th grade at Saint Ann’s Academy. This week, we will start receiving our acceptance letters, or in some cases rejection letters, from the various Catholic high schools throughout the Washington, D.C., area. These letters will determine which schools the students will be able to attend next year.
To apply to the high schools, we had to take admissions tests, write essays, provide all our grades and get teachers’ recommendations. Applying to schools is stressful because there’s a lot of competition. We are praying for good news, but we know that not everyone is going to get into their first choice school.
Students in our class have applied to several private schools, and not all of them are Catholic. Over the past few years, Saint Ann’s students have gone to the following schools: St. John’s, Gonzaga, Stone Ridge, DeMatha, Archbishop Carroll, Holy Cross, Bishop O’Connell, Georgetown Visitation, Bishop McNamara, Elizabeth Seton, Don Bosco, Georgetown Prep, Georgetown Day, St. Vincent Pallotti, Bullis, Montrose Christian, and Saint Mary’s Ryken.
If we do get into a high school and make a commitment to attend, we are allowed to wear a sweatshirt from the high school over our St. Ann’s uniform. It’s a special exception to our uniform policy, and everyone here makes a big deal about it when an 8th grader walks into school for the first time in a high school sweatshirt. The student comes to the front of the gym in front of all the students, announces the school he will be attending next year, and leads the school in morning prayer.
– Rudy Acree, 8th Grade
