As the school year is underway, transfer students are getting a feel for what the BSM community is like and how it compares to their old schools. This school year, BSM has more transfer students than in years past.

Community among current students seems to be a very strong aspect of why people are drawn to BSM and enjoy their time here. “There’s some community connections that are always so important for new and potential students. Your positive experiences at BSM from the student perspective reflect the BSM community on to others,” Admissions Director Betsy Van Cleve said.

Another important factor that makes transfer students enjoy BSM is the attention teachers and staff offer to students. “The teachers at BSM pay more attention to you, rather than at a bigger school where there is a lot going on. There were no real opportunities to connect with teachers at my old school, but at BSM there have been a lot,” sophomore Sophia Wessling, who transferred this year, said.

This school year, BSM has had many new transfer students, but also many students have returned after taking a year or two off. “We have seen many kids who took a year away from BSM come back. This year’s number of those types of transfer students is actually bigger than normal,” Van Cleve said.

While many students liked their previous schools, BSM was a fresh start that offered something new or important that their old school didn’t have. “I went to Breck before BSM and yes I did like it, but I was there from preschool to 9th grade, so it was a very long time. It was the same thing over and over. I also liked that BSM has a dance team and other activities for me to get involved with,” recent sophomore transfer, Alana Jaffe said.

Transfer students have noticed and appreciated the school spirit BSM has to offer and how fun the school is as a whole. “It’s [a] better atmosphere than my old school and [the] experience at BSM has been overall better. Also, things such as football games and the people here are more fun in general,” junior transfer Jack Anderson said.

BSM academics is an additional reason some students made the switch. The staff works hard to make sure each and every student that transfers is successful during their highschool years at BSM. “The guidance team does a great job of making sure that transition is seamless from an academic and social perspective….I would say that transfer students typically in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade transition pretty successfully at BSM,” Van Cleve said.