On Monday, Aug. 25, a non-instructional transition day was organized to welcome incoming freshmen and new students, helping them adjust to the new building. As it was a full school day, new students were able to experience arrival and dismissal while finding their classrooms and learning what this school has to offer.
In previous years, freshmen and new students attended a new student orientation the week before school began to review their schedules and learn more about the school before the rest of the students arrived. This year, Montgomery County tried something different: a transition day. Two Patriot Ambassador executive board members, juniors Catherine Bucsa and Alvin Wang, planned the day with support from Patriot Ambassador co-sponsor Anne-Marie Steppling, who created the schedule and format of the day over the summer through Zoom and in-person meetings.
When students first arrived at school, they were welcomed by the school’s poms and cheer team, who cheered them in through the door as they entered the auditorium to be seated in their homeroom classes for their initial activity, an assembly. The assembly featured speakers including the new ninth-grade administrator, Misirach Seyoum, and Principal Dr. Joseph Bostic along with the counseling and security teams.
After the assembly, the freshmen in each homeroom section were escorted to their classrooms by their assigned Patriot Ambassadors. New upperclassmen visited the college and career center to pick up their schedules, accompanied by a small group of Patriot Ambassadors who stayed to assist them throughout the day.
The homeroom teachers then presented a slideshow explaining basic information about the school and the purpose of homeroom. Students also logged into their schedules and StudentVue to check for any issues. The Patriot Ambassadors then handed out maps for students to circle their classes and wristbands for their breakout stations to complete the day. Each class received one of four colors: green, red, orange, yellow and blue groups. “We went over the safety drills in homeroom, and it made me feel safe and secure,” freshman Anya Micalizi said.
After sitting in their homeroom classes, new students were able to practice their schedules by visiting each of their teachers for seven minutes each, with a six-minute passing period in between. “The teachers had their own plan. It was mostly just general instructions, and some of them did icebreaker games,” Bucsa said.
After students ran through their schedules and met their teachers, they had lunch at 10:37 a.m.. Following lunch, all students went to their designated area depending on the color of their wristband.
The four rotations included the auditorium for counseling and career resources, the cafeteria for student life and presentations, the Commons for Chromebook distributions and the lower gym for the activity expo. Each rotation lasted for about 40 minutes. “The rotations helped me because I was able to learn about what a day-to-day looks like for a student athlete,” freshman Maddy McCormack said.
Freshmen said that the new students’ transition day was a great way for them to learn about the school, find their classes and start getting involved without the disruption of the rest of the school.
