St. Pius-Siena partnership benefits students

While most students don’t start thinking about college until high school, a new partnership between St. Pius X School in Loudonville and Siena College allows outstanding middle-school students a jump-start on early admission. 

The first-of-its-kind partnership offers an automatic early admission to Siena, as long as St. Pius X graduates maintain academic excellence throughout middle school and high school. To qualify, students must maintain an 85 or higher average in state-mandated courses, which include English, science, math, history and foreign language. 

Ned Jones, Siena's vice president for enrollment management, said by setting a bar for students at a younger age, they become more inspired to commit to school work every day, rather than viewing college as an abstract thing to worry about in the future.

“We want students to be really aware that what I’m doing today, deeply matters to my future, every day,” Jones said. 

Mirroring Siena’s standard procedure for enrollment, which is “test-optional” when applying for admission, recent high school graduates will be exempt from submitting standardized test scores such the SAT’s under their pre-enrollment agreement. 

Dennis Mullahy, principal at St. Pius, said sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students and parents can meet with him and Jones to go over the details of the agreement. 

“It’s a win-win - they work so hard; I think of it as a reward.” Mullahy said.

And it’s not uncommon for St. Pius graduates to continue their education at Siena; currently, eight seniors at Siena graduated from the school.

 “We’re going to have these conversations that usually wouldn’t happen until they’re a junior in high school, so it’s really progressive” Jones said. “It’s exciting, and you know, I think a lot of people are saying, ‘That’s a lot of risk you’re taking’ and it’s like, ‘No, that’s a lot of inspiration I’m sharing.’ ”