While RBTV looks to prepare our kids in a wide range of disciplines, one of the most critical aspects in ensuring their access to the greatest possible opportunity, is academic training and support.
Academic success is only achieved through preparation. RBTV currently has a 100% success rate in high school graduations and an 88% success rate in college admissions. Despite the high success rate, we are always working to improve our admissions numbers. One major criteria for college admissions is the standardized tests; national scores show that most high school students are underprepared for the SAT/ACT exam. RBTV offers an educational program during our five-week summer session at the Hubbardston campus that focuses on the basic fundamentals in the English and Reading sections of the SAT/ACT. These are research-based preparation courses designed and facilitated by Elizabeth Scott, Master of Education that focus on the fundamentals of SAT/ACT concepts in order to help students achieve a higher score. Scott’s class is a long-term continuous and methodical approach that incorporates all the rules and strategies students are expected to know, including a step by step process that better prepares them to answer the questions.
Preparation for the SAT/ACT does not end in the summer. Throughout the academic year, Ms. Scott provides tutoring to 50+ RBTV students on Saturday mornings and Sunday and Monday evenings via an online distance learning platform. Some students receive individual tutorials on an as-needed basis.
According to Ms. Scott, standardized test preparation should be viewed in the same manner as playing – and excelling in – sports, and she states that “You can’t just practice: you have to practice enough.” Extensive preparation can result in the higher scores required for college admission, and for greater access to scholarship monies. A vast majority of RBTV youth will need scholarships to help pay for school. While RBTV college students received over $2,300,000 in scholarships, this is just the tip of the iceberg in actual costs.
“This class is a learning journey,” Scott says, and believes that if students correctly and effectively learn and practice all of the rules and strategies over time, they will significantly raise their test scores and increase their chances at educational success over the long term.
