Transferring to a New School Year

Transferring to the New School Year

Transfer students refect on challenges, benefts of moving to Stevenson

Rachel Bui, Helen Oriatti-Bruns

On Aug. 9, Stevenson welcomed new sophomore, junior and senior students to its annual transfer student orientation. These students received their schedules and met with their Transfer Buddies, student volunteers who help transfers adapt to their new school.

In addition to orientation, transfer students attend luncheons in the frst nine weeks of school. In these luncheons, transfer students are provided with a free lunch and a presentation about various aspects of Stevenson life.

Students can also meet with their Transfer Buddies during the frst weeks of school for tours, lunch and tips about Stevenson. For Alisha Machano ’25, who transferred from Massachusetts, the size of the Stevenson community initially made adapting harder but she was gradually able to make friends.

“Stevenson’ is a very big school, so it’s kind of hard to notice when there’s new students around, but gradually people started to talk to me,” Machano said. “Any random conversation helped me make friends.”

Stevenson’s large size means that it has over 140 clubs as well as 35 sports teams, in which many students make friends—93% of students participate in at least one co-curricular activity. Despite Stevenson’s opportunities, for students like Ella Berg ’23, who transferred in 2019, the academic culture of Stevenson can be intimidating.

“The school is so intense academically, but I would say it’s more open-minded,” Berg said. “On one hand it’s more toxic but on the other hand it’s easier to ft in because of the diversity.”

Many transfer students must adapt to Stevenson’s grading system, Evidence-Based Reporting (EBR), while they adjust to the school’s rigorous academics. For some transfer students like Seohyun Lee ’24, EBR is very diferent from their previous school’s grading system.

“My old Korean high school used a comparative grading scale, so only the top 10 people could get an A and the next 10 people could get a B,” Lee said. “But in Stevenson, if you meet expectations you get a three on the EBR scale.”

According to Stevenson’s website, EBR is designed to promote a growth mindset by grading students based on profciency, which some transfer students helps them earn better grades. Along with adjusting to a new grading system in their frst months, students must also work with the school to determine what course levels they should take.

“Transfer students may be asked to take a placement test in a particular subject in order to help ensure appropriate class placement here at Stevenson,” said Raymundo Tad-y, a Stevenson counselor and Transfer Buddies Sponsor.

While some students like Machano believe their course placement was “pretty fair,” others like Berg feel that specifc placement tests did not accurately refect their academic capabilities. As a freshman, Berg was initially placed in a college prep math class, not her correct level, but successfully moved up a level sophomore year.

Along with taking placement tests, many transfer students also work with their counselors to receive credit for courses they took at their old schools.

“I took World History at my previous middle school, but Stevenson said the course wasn’t transcribable, so I almost had to take another semester of it,” Lee said. “I emailed my old school and counselors to get credit for it.”

Although many students face challenges transferring course credit, some of those challenges are due to inconsistencies in curricula between states and countries. Once the students are placed in their proper course, their classmates often help them adapt to Stevenson’s culture. Ultimately, many transfer students believe Stevenson’s unique community provides resources for them that allow them to integrate with the school’s population quickly.

“Stevenson is defnitely more diverse than my old school,” Machano said. “There are a lot of people that are willing to help you as well as activities to join to make new friends.”

Alisha Machano ’25 stands outside of the Point. Machano had to adapt to Stevenson’s size when she transferred in 2021.