Ze Gahan’s eighth grade year at Minnesota Waldorf School will soon end, and for this 14-year-old from Minneapolis, big changes are on the horizon when she begins life as a freshman at Southwest High School in Minneapolis next September. As one in a class of 26 students, most of whom she has known since third grade, Ze will become part of a student body with over 1,600 kids in grades 9-12. “I’m excited, but it’s going to be a little weird. I haven’t been to a big public school before,” she says. “I’m nervous about finding my locker and my classes.”
Finding the right locker. Choosing the right lunch table. Making friends. More homework. These are some of the most common concerns shared by students making the transition to high school. Coming fresh off a year as big fish in the little pond of middle or junior high school, suddenly they find themselves swimming with the sharks-i.e., upper classmen-in a brand new school environment.
Tami Johnson, coordinator of guidance and counseling for Minneapolis Public Schools, says the logistical questions are the ones that do tend to weigh heavily on incoming freshmen. “There is a lot for them to think about during those first couple of weeks,” says Johnson. “The atmosphere might seem impersonal initially, and they may worry about what to do if they get lost or if something’s confusing.”
To help ease the freshmen jitters about logistics, Johnson recommends parents take as many opportunities as possible to visit the high school with their student on both a formal and informal basis. “The more interaction a student has had with a new school building, the easier the transition will be,” says Johnson. “I encourage parents to take students to plays or sporting events at the school since this will help them feel like part of the community.” In the Minneapolis school district, as well as in other districts throughout the metro, all the high schools host open houses for incoming freshmen a few days before school starts. “This gives them a chance to become familiar with things right away before the halls are crowded with students on the first day,” Johnson explains, adding this is also a time when teachers, office staff, counselors. and other school personnel are introduced to families, and important school contact information is provided.
Joining a new school community
Although many of the Twin Cities public high schools are large in size, often incoming freshmen find themselves making the transition with a large number of their junior high classmates. According to Johnson, that familiarity can be especially helpful during the first days of the school year. “Parents might want to suggest their child make a plan with a friend or classmate to meet in front of the school library or in the lunchroom during the first week to help ease into an unfamiliar place with someone they know,” she suggests.
At the Academy of Holy Angels, a Catholic 9-12 high school in Richfield with approximately 850 students, there are often incoming freshmen arriving from smaller schools across the metro area that may not know any fellow classmates. Jesse Foley, director of admissions, says that is one of the reasons Holy Angels values the importance of establishing a welcoming atmosphere and helping students make connections well before their first day of classes. “One of the things we really encourage is for our incoming students to spend a school day with us during their eighth grade year,” he says. “We’ve found that really helps ease their minds when they come in as freshmen-they’ve seen what we’re about and know what to expect.”
One of the keys to the success of school day visits, according to Foley, is carefully matching the eighth grader with a current freshman student. “Before the visit, we ask parents about their student, what their interests are, and things like that, which help us find a current Holy Angels student who will be a good fit,” he says. Many of the students who tour the eighth graders belong to what the school calls the Admissions Team. In addition to giving tours, they are also on hand during school open houses and placement test days. “We’ve found that it’s one thing if an adult is welcoming, but it’s that kid-to-kid interaction that makes a real difference,” says Foley.
Since social interaction is also a vital part of the high school experience, Holy Angels hosts a bowling/pizza party event in June for new students-a strategy also designed to help calm fears incoming ninth graders might have. “Over the summer, kids can definitely have reservations about starting any new school. We used to hold the bowling event in August, but we moved it to June last year so kids can make connections with other classmates right away,” says Foley. One of the icebreakers at the event involves handing each student a sheet of mailing labels with his/her own name, address, middle school, and phone number, along with a space for their email address. “The goal is to try and hand out as many of these labels as possible to other kids, and then take one of their labels in return,” explains Foley. “This gives them the information they need to get in touch over the summer if they want.” In August, the school also hosts an open house for incoming students and families followed by a family picnic.
A different type of transition
How is the transition to high school different if you’re going to be attending the same school you’ve been at for years? At St. Paul Academy and Summit School, a K-12 private school in St. Paul, the majority of the approximately 85-100 students in the freshman class are longtime students, with only about 25 incoming freshmen. “We really treat all of our ninth grade students as new students,” says Judy Cummins, dean of students. Although the school’s seventh and eighth graders share the school building at St. Paul Academy’s Randolph Avenue campus with the high school students (the lower school is located several blocks away), the upper school classrooms are in a different part of the building, on the other side of the Summit Center, which houses administrative offices.
“Seniors and student leaders are invited to come to talk to middle school students during the spring of the eighth grade year,” says Cummins. “We also form advisory groups for freshmen-those are put together very intentionally-and our seniors serve as mentors to the students in those groups.”
In the fall, St. Paul Academy freshmen go through an orientation similar to one they’d attend at any new school. Parents also participate in an orientation wherein they meet high school teachers and advisors. The entire freshman class participates in a retreat together sometime during the first weeks of the school year, where they spend two days and nights together at Eagle Bluff Environmental Center in Southeastern Minnesota. “We work on activities that are part of our science curriculum but also use the time to create community for our ninth graders,” explains Cummins.
Referring to the first year of high school as “a fresh start” for returning students, Cummins says it has been her experience that kids change a great deal between “June of eighth grade and August of ninth.” “The kids realize how much fun it is to finally be part of the upper school, but we really emphasize to them these four years of high school are the ones that count the most,” she says. “It’s also an opportunity for them to re-create who they are, maybe let go of some middle school behavior. They really bring a lot of newness, energy, and excitement with them to ninth grade.”
Challenges of freshman year
Once the novelty of the high school experience begins to wear off, the reality sometimes hits hard. “Parents should be aware there is usually a slight academic drop during the second quarter of the school year,” says Johnson. “During the first quarter, students are working hard to do everything right. After awhile, they start to relax a little and socialize more.” In general, this shouldn’t be a major cause for concern and will probably right itself, but Johnson says it does provide a good opportunity to talk to your teen about personal responsibility and setting goals. “In middle school, there isn’t much consequence for failing,” she says. “There are certainly bigger consequences in high school when you’re talking about making up lost credits.”
A full understanding of these consequences is an important part of a high school student’s development. According to Johnson, parents who are tempted to hover around and become too involved in their child’s schoolwork might want to consider pulling back. “The fact is that if the student fails at something, it’s up to them to work their way back up,” she says. “If this happens, parents should engage in dialogue with the teen and let them know you’re there to help, but the ultimate responsibility belongs to them.” Along similar lines, Johnson says families might want to establish their own grade point average guidelines for sports and other extracurricular activities. “Lay out the rules and expectations early in the year,” Johnson advises.
As parents keep an eye on how freshman year is progressing for their student, many schools are doing the same thing. For example, a student well-being committee, focusing only on ninth graders, has been implemented at Holy Angels. The group, comprised of school administrators, guidance counselors, a school nurse, and three ninth grade teachers meets monthly to talk about students, especially those who may have certain risk factors. Areas of risk might include grades, social isolation, or lack of participation in any extracurricular activities. “We look at whether these students have made connections with other students, staff, or faculty,” says Foley. “We want all these kids to have the feeling they can be successful at this school.”
A parent’s perspective
Mary Yetzer of Lakeville is what you might call a seasoned veteran when it comes to parenting high school students. The youngest of her four children, Elizabeth, is currently a junior at Lakeville High School, and the other three are recent graduates of the school. “I think a lot of what parents do from the beginning can be really helpful,” says Yetzer, a first grade teacher in the Lakeville school district. All four of her children were runners-Elizabeth currently holds a state high school title-but Yetzer says she and her husband always encouraged them to get involved in more than one school activity. “We suggested music, speech, student government. Something different, that was our mode,” she says.
Communicating with teachers was also important to the Yetzers. “When kids are in high school, they certainly have much more responsibility to manage their school work than they did in grade school,” she says. “But we still made a point of going to school conferences and letting their teachers know we were involved and interested in what was going on in the classroom.”
Lakeville High School, which has an enrollment of approximately 3,000 and is actually a 10-12 school, also pairs older students with younger ones during those first weeks of school. As a parent, Yetzer appreciated the fact that her kids were able to connect with upper-class students. “They would meet with them several times a year; the older student might bring the younger one a little treat or something,” she says. “It was nice for them to have a face to recognize and a nice gesture that shows the school is doing a good job of transitioning kids.”
When it comes to a freshman’s expanding social life, Yetzer also believes it’s important for parents to get to know their children’s new friends. “I always encouraged my kids to invite their friends over, and I loved that,” she says. And as her kids were invited to parties or gatherings at homes where Yetzer didn’t know the family, she made it a point to call and offer to bring something. “It can be awkward to just call because what you’re really doing is checking out whether the parents will be on hand. My little trick was to offer to bring something which kind of broke the ice, and we’d have the chance to have a nice conversation,” she says.
Advice from a freshman
Tyler Effertz, 15, of Bloomington, is currently completing his freshman year at Holy Angels. Prior to the start of the school year, he shared concerns similar to those expressed by eighth grader Ze Gahan. “At my old school, we were kings of the school last year. I thought being the youngest ones in high school that we’d get picked on or something, but that didn’t happen,” says Tyler, who adds he also worried about getting to know people at his new school.
What a difference a year can make. Tyler played soccer, basketball, and was also a kicker on the varsity football team. He was elected 9th grade class president, a role he really enjoys. “People were a lot more accepting than I thought they’d be,” says Tyler. “I’ve made lots of friends and met a lot of upperclassmen through sports.” The only negative he’s discovered about high school is “more homework than I expected.” For those students preparing to start high school in September, Tyler offers this advice: “Don’t be too tentative. Don’t be afraid to join in different activities,” he suggests. “And just be yourself.”
