Determined: Caroline's Success Story
Before coming to Swift School, graduate Caroline H. hated school. Hated might not be a strong enough word.
“I hated school so much; it was horrible, pure loathing," said Caroline. I just didn’t want to go.”
Caroline attended Swift School beginning in sixth grade and went to Walton High School after graduating from Swift in 2016. Like all of Swift's students, Caroline has dyslexia.
“After I found out what was going on in my head, and when I found out I could learn ‘normally,’ I was determined to do better than before," she stated about her transformation and attitude change. "I had less of an ‘I can’t do this’ attitude and more of an ‘I am going to annoy everyone by doing so well,’ feeling about school.”
-Caroline H.
While at Swift, Caroline enjoyed the class trips and also found her classes very engaging. “I learned tricks to spell and to twist things the way I could understand them. I found out how to spell ‘friends’ and that was the best time of my life,” she mentioned.
In high school, Caroline felt like she did “the impossible.” During her time at Swift, she became more organized and learned to advocate for herself. Interacting with the same group of people day after day in the small, close-knit community of the school helped her develop her interpersonal skills—she became skilled at not letting social situations get in the way of learning. Caroline also gained practice in using her laptop as a learning tool.
Caroline with two Swift School friends.
Swift School has a robust technology program and 1:1 policy. Students in first through third grade receive ipads, while fourth graders are provided a Chromebook. With the start of Middle Division in fifth grade, students are required to have a parent-purchased Chromebook for daily use at school.
In her free time, Caroline enjoyed performing with Walton Drama and at the Red Door Playhouse. She completed her first speaking role as Lord Astor in Walton’s production of Peter and the Star Catcher.
Just as Swift had a positive impact on Caroline, she left her mark on the school as well. The Swift faculty use words like “leader,” “determined” and “enthusiastic” to describe her.
Caroline’s advice to current Swift students: “Don’t sweat it. Anything you do will be a journey, but show life, school, anything you aren’t going to go down without a fight and you will likely succeed.”
What is the Swift Effect and how can it impact your child the way it impacted Caroline? Click below to find out or email admissionassociate@theswiftschool.org