Saint Thomas More High School

To be honest, American schools are all pretty good! For most Chinese children, the biggest problem encountered when going to study in the United States is the language barrier. As several American high school principals have said, here English is not used for communication, but as a tool for learning knowledge. However, at St. Thomas More High School, you don't need to worry about this. Students attending school here can live in the full-service boarding facility of the Wisconsin International Academy. This place actually has a special curriculum mechanism that allows courses with higher language requirements to be studied later. Furthermore, the school has specifically set up language courses for these students. This is a very important point! The Wisconsin International Academy also has a state-owned enterprise background in China, making it quite reliable, and it offers much more help than a traditional homestay.

After graduating from STM, I am truly grateful for the excellent education the school provided me. St. Thomas More shapes students' sound character, focusing on their holistic development in spiritual and academic aspects.

St. Thomas More established a strong community in Milwaukee, and I am delighted to see that St. Thomas More provides a platform for local young people to actively perform and develop, becoming passionate, capable members of society.

Saint Thomas More established a strong community in Milwaukee, and I am delighted to see Saint Thomas More providing local young people with a platform to actively express themselves and develop, becoming passionate and capable members of society.

Saint Thomas More High School, founded in 1972, is located in downtown Milwaukee, adjacent to Lake Michigan. The school has twice been recognized as a "Blue Ribbon School," a prestigious national high school in the United States, with a four-year college matriculation rate of 99%. In 2014, Saint Thomas More High School was named one of the top 50 best Catholic high schools nationwide. The school offers a distinctive Bridge Engineering Project as a special course. Another hallmark feature of Saint Thomas More High School is its Robotics Club, which once designed and built a pair of basketball-shooting robots that won first prize in the MIT Robotics Competition. Saint Thomas More was also the first high school in the city to adopt "paperless" modern teaching; upon enrollment, students are provided with a laptop computer, and the entire campus has Wi-Fi coverage. The school is equipped with dedicated teaching software, and various educational materials are produced on CDs and distributed to students. Class notes and teaching feedback are uploaded online, allowing parents to monitor their children's learning progress via the internet. The college acceptance rate is 99%, with 25% of students admitted to top 100 universities such as Harvard, Yale, Caltech, and Northwestern University. To help Chinese students better adapt to learning and life at Saint Thomas More High School, the school specifically uses ESL courses arranged by the Wisconsin International Academy (WIA) to replace English literature course credits. As a Catholic school, all Chinese students' religious education also starts from the most basic knowledge, with teachers slowing down their speaking speed and repeatedly confirming students' understanding.

Reflections after Caesar Liu's interview with the principal of St. Thomas More High School.
This interview was truly an eye-opener for me. My school, although highly ranked at 14th among U.S. universities, does not have a religious background. This made me somewhat prejudiced against church schools in the past; like many parents in China, I always thought they were ascetic monks who spent their days holding bibles. However, the reality is quite the opposite. St. Thomas More High School, which I saw in Wisconsin, is truly a gem among private high schools – albeit one buried in the blizzards of the Midwest. The students here are highly capable organizers; they help local communities develop better. After graduation, most students attend schools on par with mine; they are truly strong. Although their test scores are not as high as mine, American private high schools represent the essence of American education and are a passport to top universities. Having absorbed the essence of American liberal arts education, they naturally have a greater advantage and competitiveness compared to their peers.