McNicholas High School had the highest class size in recent years, in part, thanks to the preparation of local grade schools. When students begin at McNicholas, a quick touch point is what grade school that a student went to prior, as many different schools are represented in each grade level. Some students walked in on the first day with many peers from their grade school and others.
Schools with larger pools are Guardian Angels and Immaculate Heart of Mary, mostly because they are the two closest schools to McNicholas.
Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) had. 33 students of the 56 from IHM’s graduating class of 2023 choose McNicholas as their high school. An IHM graduate and freshman, Riley Williams, states, “IHM really helped me with knowing people because almost everyone went here.”
With over half of the 2023 8th grade class choosing McNicholas, IHM was a grade school for people to have a chance to get to know more people for high school because of the large class. Other than the social changes, with academics, Williams states, “I wish I would have been taught more ways for studying because that is an important skill to have in high school.”
Guardian Angels, which is right across the street from McNicholas High School, is largely represented in the class of 2027. Freshman Molly Dornheggen, states, “They really taught us how to be independent, and taught us how most high schools would.”
With McNicholas having a block schedule 4 out of the 5 days of the week, this is important so that when a student has extra time in their class or have a study hall, they know what to spend their time on.
Dornheggen states, “The work didn’t really prepare us for all the work that a high schooler does.”
St. Veronica is another grade school that has a lot of students choose McNicholas for their high school. Former St. Veronica student and freshman Anna Woeber states, “St. V taught me to be outgoing because it was a small school, so it brought me close to everyone.”
Some students from bigger schools didn’t know may people going to McNicholas, so a small school like St. Veronica provided a good opportunity to grow close to students that will be attending the same high school. A grade school that had a few students choose McNicholas is St. Ursula Villa. They had 4 people from their school join Rocket Nation. Freshman Meredith Sedler, a graduate from St. Ursula Villa, states, “The work had really prepared us for the workload that we now have in high school. The quality of work was also harder than most schools.”
Since there are far fewer students from St. Ursula Villa at McNicholas than other grade schools, there are more unfamiliar than familiar faces in the halls of McNicholas. Sedler states, “They didn’t really help me know people going into high school.”
A grade school that is relatively new to the McNicholas community is St. Mary’s Hyde Park. A freshman, Annabel Comer, states, “St. Mary’s helped me write better essays, and they also helped me with managing my time with the way our study hall was set up.”
St. Gertrude Freshman Audrey Ackerman who is a graduate from St. Gertrude who states, “St. Gertrude helped me with becoming more outgoing, and making it easier to meet people in high school.”
Not only do students choose McNicholas from private schools but also from public schools such as Milford, West Clermont, Forest Hills, Sycamore and Cincinnati Public. A public school helps prepare for not knowing everyone in the grade because grade sizes are much larger than a private school typically is. Freshman Maycee King states, “Milford helped me with meeting people, because the school was so big that I became used to a big class.”
Freshmen students Molly Dornheggen, Maycee King, Anna Woeber, and Meredith Sedler are working on some math homework.
The grade schools McNicholas represents are Batavia, Bethel-Tate, Cardinal Pacelli, Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, Cincinnati Waldorf School, Good Shepard Catholic Montessori, Guardian Angels, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Loveland, Mercy Montessori, Milford, Nagel, New Richmond, Ohio Virtual Academy, SASEAS, SCPA, Spencer Center for Gifted and Exceptional Children, Springer School and Center, St. Aloysius Gonzaga, St. Andrew, St. Bernadette, St. Cecilia, St. Columban, St. Gertrude, St. Ignatius, St. Louis, St. Margret of York, St. Mary Hyde Park, St. Thomas More, St. Ursula Villa, St. Veronica, St. Vincent Ferrer, Summit Country Day, Walnut Hills, West Clermont, Williamsburg, Wilmington, Xavier University Montessori Lab School, as well as out of state middle schools.
McNicholas has grown over the years, and the list of grade schools shows. Although students have some issues with their grade school, there were also things that the students liked very much.
The McNicholas Milestone 