Catholic Memorial High School

Catholic Memorial High School is very good, most of the teachers and students there are very nice, but racial discrimination also exists. But forget about giving WIA good reviews. They post untrue messages in their official public account every day, using student photos without ever informing the students. The photos they publish always look good, but in reality, it's not like that at all. They're good at superficial work, but their management ability is extremely poor. Their reputation among parents seems good, but among students, it's completely out of line.

I deeply regret sending my child to study here. The management of the WIA dormitory institution is terrible. The teachers there have a low educational level and are unable to tutor students with their schoolwork (they can only tutor English and are completely clueless about science subjects). They often yell at students. There are not enough drivers, so they cannot pick up and drop off children on time. The accommodation conditions are poor. Using the refrigerator and microwave each semester costs 50 to 60 US dollars. At the end of each year, children are forced to buy a very small storage box for 25 US dollars and made to put all their belongings from their room into it, claiming it's for summer management fees. The food in the dormitory is unappetizing and not fresh; it's all leftovers from a partnered Chinese restaurant's customers, packed and brought over. My child once suffered from high fever and diarrhea due to eating stale meat. I genuinely do not recommend parents who want to send their children to study in the US to choose this place. It's a total rip-off!! There are too many fake positive reviews written by agencies hired by the official institution in the comment section. Do not be misled by their one-sided claims!!

Accommodation (Parents of boarding school students may skip this question): Accommodation choice, living, community, extracurricular arrangements
After selecting CMH, we learned about Wisconsin International Academy's full-care accommodation and immediately liked this guardianship service, which is suitable for younger international students. Subsequently, we also extensively researched their services, and both the CMH school administration and our agent highly recommended them. Later, we found out that this is also a fixed asset invested by a domestic state-owned enterprise, and upon learning this, we proceeded directly with the application. This Sino-US dual assurance approach is the most reassuring choice for families like ours.

After considering many schools for high school applications, we finally chose this one. One reason is that our child is young, and we weren't keen on sending them to regions like the East or West Coast. We thought that sending them to such bustling places during their undergraduate years would be more beneficial for their growth, so we opted for Wisconsin. By coincidence, we learned that a full-service boarding program like Wisconsin International Academy (WIA) would be more suitable for our child to have a stable and solid high school experience. Therefore, we chose CMH and WIA for full guardianship services through a domestic agency.

I originally thought that since parents' English wasn't good, we wouldn't be able to communicate with the school anytime, anywhere, or understand everything about the children at school, like we could in China. But it was exactly the opposite; the children are actually more willing to communicate with us about school matters than they were back home. Furthermore, the school also has a dedicated department and specific teachers for these international students. As WIA is the guardian, the school communicates and reports everything to the guardian. WIA then translates and relays this information to us in Chinese immediately. It feels like the frequency of communication is even higher than when we actively chased teachers for updates on our children's situation back home. Sometimes, when we were busy in China and forgot about our children's academic progress, WIA would regularly send reminders for us to pay attention. It feels like so many more people care about our children.

Let's put it this way: when they first arrived, it was exciting for a while, but after truly entering American classrooms, there was some initial difficulty adjusting. However, WIA's assigned Student Advisors (SAs) and language teachers were genuinely a great help to the child at this time. As a result, the child quickly adapted to life as an American high school student. With an organization like WIA acting as a "guardian" in the U.S., the child didn't experience the isolated and helpless feeling that we parents initially worried about. This is what made us happiest to see. Even during extracurricular time and holidays, this supervisory organization basically arranged everything very fully, and the child still had a sense of community there. The rich local community resources truly allowed the child to accumulate more experiences and learning. If we parents had to contact American activities for them every weekend ourselves, we really wouldn't be able to help.

The initial decision to choose this school was also due to its academic strength. Having attended a key middle school in my city back in China, I specifically chose Catholic Memorial IB School, known for its strong academics. The school has a very strong academic atmosphere and offers a wide range of specialized courses. For example, PLTW courses, IB, and AP software are offered concurrently, a resource available in only 4 schools across the entire United States. When my child first started, they did struggle to adapt, but the school itself, along with Wisconsin International Academy (WIA), a full-service guardianship institution we chose at the time, genuinely resolved the language and cultural adaptation issues. This approach is indeed much better than simply throwing a child into an unfamiliar environment with strangers! As parents in China, we can essentially stay updated in real-time on our child's studies, life, and academic progression in the US, and can communicate directly with the school. Finally, my child's university application opportunities also came through the prestigious university resources that WIA attracted. Top universities can directly visit this guardianship institution where the students reside for information sessions, allowing children to have one-on-one interactions with admissions officers, which was the most crucial preparation for ultimately securing successful offers.