Returning to school a week earlier than the rest of the school, the newly dubbed Convent and Stuart Hall Seniors, who are undergoing the IB program, were given the privilege of returning to school early to get a head start on their IB coursework. Less intensive than normal school days, the early school week only consisted of HL classes and one college counseling session. Starting the week off bright and early at 9 am on Tuesday was HL English, where students from Convent and Stuart Hall met with their collective IB English teachers. Over the week, students attended their respective HL IB courses. Some of the popular courses for the week were global politics, Early Modern History, language, Math Applications, Chemistry, and other sciences like Physics.

With the strenuous challenge that was Junior year, students are now looking to a difficult fall college applications, IAs, and the most formidable hurdle of all: the IB exams.

“I’m glad Junior year is over; it was insanely difficult at the end of the school year”, said Senior Benny Moosbrugger. This reflects the almost the difficulty of the coursework towards the end of junior year. Although students face arduous challenges in the IB program, it does a good job at setting them up for success and is widely considered a truly exceptional educational program. “IB is pretty hard and time-consuming, but I’m glad I chose to do it”, said Senior Antonio Ruby. This highlights the benefits of IB, such as challenging students academically and preparing them for college, which could have an even greater emphasis on intensive academic culture. Despite starting school a week early, students were able to use this time to their advantage by getting ahead on assessments and the end-of-year exams. Although exasperating for students, the Senior Start Week reflects the IB program’s approach to pushing students to reach their academic potential.

Tuesday, August 12th, marked the beginning of the IB Senior Start week for the class of 2026. Students attended one of each of their HL IB courses as well as a college counseling day, where students received feedback from admissions officers and worked on their personal statement for colleges. This has marked the start of a challenging, but productive year ahead.