A Positive Introduction For Parents and Students

A comprehensive school transition program provides a proactive and positive introduction for both your new students and their parents.

Why is that important? In the transition from elementary school to middle school and middle school to high school students experience:

Changes in environment, social structures, workload, and educational practices.

• New surroundings and larger and unfamiliar buildings
• New teachers, counselors, administrators, and support staff
• Changes in classroom expectations and instructional techniques
• New peers, new peer pressures, and more dependence on peers for self-concept
• Increased pressure to earn grades
• More choices in course selection, school related activities
• More need for balancing of school activities as time demands increase
• Increased need for time management skills
• Pressure concerning post-graduation education and/or career issues

Ask yourself how many student and parent complaints you receive because of these changes. Do you have parents who expect their child to continue to be treated as they were in their previous school or who have unrealistic expectations about their child continuing to be an "all-star" in the classroom, in athletics, or in extra curricular activities? The solution is a comprehensive transition and mentoring program that assists in articulating expectations, establishing realistic goals, and providing assistance to students in a new environment.

Studies indicate that most students entering a new school are anxious about getting lost, arriving to class on time, remembering the location and combination of their locker, and remembering the order of their classes. This anxiety can get in the way of the major issues and have a negative impact on the quality of the learning environment. The Kick-Off Program gets these issues resolved before the first day of school.

Success or failure of a smooth transition can have a dramatic impact on the remaining years of education and career path for every incoming student. One study indicates that decisions to become a high school drop out are usually made during the first two weeks of the freshman year.

Colleges have discovered the importance of a comprehensive freshmen orientation. Some national organizations that "rank" colleges are now using freshmen orientation programs as one of the major criteria for evaluation. Time magazine recognized four institutions that have highly effective transition programs and stated, "Helping new students has, in our judgment, become an essential responsibility of every college." Is it not also an essential responsibility of every high school?