The Alternative Press

It can be scary to enter a new school that is completely foreign to you. The sixth graders just made a huge transition from elementary school to middle school. Every person has a different expectation of the middle school and some people were scared. “I didn’t want to get lost,” said sixth grader Kelsey S. Grace M. was also scared but for a different reason. Grace was worried that there would be too much homework for her to handle. Luckily, so far, both girls are enjoying the middle school. Six out of eight sixth graders said they liked the middle school so far.

The eighth graders also had these problems when entering the middle school. Many of them said that they didn’t want to get lost, or get bad grades. It took about a week or two for the current eighth graders to get used to the middle school. Stephen D. a current eighth grader said,”It took about a week or two to get used to everything but now I like it.”

The school also tries to make the transition easier. Mr. Block, LCJSMS principal says,”We do everything we can to make the sixth graders comfortable. The process starts in fifth grade when the parents come to orientation. Then, I come to the elementary schools and talk to them about sixth grade. Next, the fifth graders come to the middle school and get a tour. Lastly, the sixth graders go to Stokes and that’s the end of the process.”

The teachers also try to help the sixth graders. Sixth grade teacher Mr. Wannamaker said, ”At the beginning of the year the sixth graders were not prepared at all. They had trouble with their lockers and didn’t get to their classes on time. To help sixth graders more this year there was a new orientation that we did to show the students around so they could get familiar with the building.” Also, Mr. Wannamaker said that if a sixth grader is struggling they have study buddies and the teacher websites. The teachers slowly give more work to the students as they get comfortable with the middle school. Sixth grader Kerry K. said,”I don’t have a lot of homework, tests, and quizzes yet but I know I will soon.”