At three Regional High School Fairs hosted by IMS during September, this year’s high school admissions process got a running start. Admissions representatives and students from 26 local high schools were on hand to meet with families and students in grades 5-8 during separate fairs held at St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Helena-Incarnation and St. Rose of Lima. “I loved seeing 5th and 6th graders there,” one high school representative said. “It’s never too early for families to become familiar with the application process so they can prepare both academically and socially.”

The Pottinger family attended all three High School Fairs! Having moved from New York recently, they are new to IMS and their two daughters are enrolled at St. Martin de Porres, Zahir in 8th grade and Zoe in 5th. Darnell Pottinger was impressed with the fairs. “The attention to detail regarding education and readiness for the next level of learning put my wife and I at ease with the quality of our 8th grader’s transition into high school,” he said. Zahir added, “It’s very helpful for pre-teens like me to have these resources because they help with the decision-making process by giving us a little dive into what the schools are like. We are very impressed with the schools that we saw. I am considering a few of them but I’m still doing research.”

Participating in the fairs to offer families additional admissions support were three IMS educational partners: the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Breakthrough PHL and ApplyPhillyCharter.