Next year, 40 new students will be added to the current eighth grade class. This is a gradual enrollment increase that started with the current ninth graders.
“We have had a large number of students join us and that was a very planned intentional growth on the part of UPrep,” Director of Upper School Susie Wu said.
There was motivation for this increase of students.
“Not many people leave when upper school comes around. And so this resulted in not having as many openings for brand new students to join UPrep,” Wu said.
People are looking forward to this change.
“I’m super excited about it. I think it’s gonna be great to meet some new people and work on important skills like being able to accept new people in different groups, be kind to these people and accept them into this new community,” current eighth grader Petar Mandic said.
Wu shares similar opinions.
“Having 40 new students come in and really bring a different energy to the class is also really exciting. New ideas, new experiences, and I think it just creates a sense of something different, ” Wu said.
There are some pros to this change.
One pro is that we’ll be big enough to offer additional elective classes, enhanced clubs and activities, and continue a robust and inclusive athletics program, according to Director of Enrollment Management Ryan Hannon.
Associate Director of Upper School Admissions Margaret Marks shares about what they changed this year according to the new families’ needs.
“Families, once they had been admitted to the school, really wanted to see inside classes. And so we made a change this year to offer almost a full visit day for all admitted students. And that has proved to be quite positive for the families to really get a sense of what it’s like to be a Puma,” Marks said.
Faculty voice how our grade has to welcome these new students.
“I’m hoping that your group of eighth graders are going to be able and ready to receive them. I’ve seen you do it already with some of the new eighth graders,” Wu said.
“I was accepted from the beginning, and I made friends really easily,” new eighth grader Faizi Moradian said.
It has been brought up how important it is for new students to be integrated into the current student body.
“I’m looking at how we navigate through [building a community] this year and then thinking about kinds of conversations and planning that we do to make sure that your class will have some good chances to bond and form new friendships,” Wu said.