Seven freshmen and two sophomores were welcomed into Monsignor Edward Pace High School’s Spartan Sword and Shield Honors program at a breakfast held in the school’s Innovation Center on September 1.
The breakfast was themed “Oh, The Places You’ll Go,” echoing the program’s purpose of preparing its members for Ivy League and Top 10 universities. The newest additions to Pace’s elite program mingled with current members and shared their expectations for the coming year.
Having begun in 2011, the Spartan Sword and Shield program prepares intellectually gifted, hardworking, and driven students for Ivy League and top 10 universities by placing them on a set four-year track consisting only of AP, honors, and dual enrollment classes. Students are selected by invitation only, based on a review of their entrance and placement exam scores, past grades, and previous honors classes. Once they are invited, they must maintain a high GPA, receive a final average of an A or B in all of their classes, and be an active part of the Pace community.
Past graduates of the SSS Honors Program are currently attending universities such as Princeton, Georgetown, University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, and Northwestern University.
Spartan Sword and Shield will be holding an alumni night in December so the program’s graduates can tell the current generation their success stories. For now, these nine new members will be hard at work as they start the journey to their own successful futures.