Welcoming our 8th Grade Students!

As each new year begins, students transition from grade to grade and in some cases from school to school. We are keenly aware that the transition from middle school to high school could be a slightly stressful experience. The purpose of this post is to let you know that making this transition smooth is extremely important to us.  

​The first two days for 8th graders will be different... with a focus on getting comfortable with the building as well as the procedures, expectations, and technology here at the high school.  There will also be plenty of time to visit the lockers and practice learning a new lock combination. This work will continue throughout the year as we work in our advisory groups and help our students develop a growth mindset.  

On day one, the periods are shortened (Figure 1) and students will spend the first block of time touring the building.  

• Guidance Offices
• Nurse’s Office
• Main Office
• Attendance Office
• Cafeteria - On your way point out music wing.
• Design Wing (Fab Lab &Art room)
• Gym & Weight Room
• Auditorium
• Library & Student Service Center.
• Athletics and Fine Arts Offices
• Technology Office
• Second Floor - English and Social Studies Office.
• Third Floor - Math and Science Office.

After the tour, the teacher will be playing BINGO to help reinforce the important places and people in the school.

Then, they will hear about the "Road to Graduation" and complete an activity in which they browse the high school course catalog in order to see the big picture!  Mr. Azzara, our 8th grade counselor will be pushing into all classes and discussing the following:

• Where the guidance office is
• How do you make an appointment to see him.
• Learning from mistakes, what to do when you get a test back, Importance of extra help
• The High School Transcript
• Clubs/Activities 

Finally, on day one, students will learn about our code of conduct and focus on developing a positive school culture.  Of course we will review the rules, but we will also review how to get involved in a positive way.

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Figure 1

On the second day of school, each subject area will spend time with a specific App (Figure 2) that we use as an integral part of our structure.  While students are accustomed to using the iPad from middle school, learning the new structure will help set everyone up for success.  

iTunesU houses our digital curriculum.  Our students will be downloading their courses that have materials including videos that will help if they don't understand something from class.  They are organized by unit. 
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​Edmodo is our communication tool.  Our students and parents will be able to join their teachers' classes and receive information about upcoming assignments, tests, quizzes, etc.  parents will hear more about this at Open House

eBackpack is a workflow solution. Students can access their course materials in iTunes U and bring them into eBackpack to mark up.  Students can save them in their own files or return them to a teacher when an “assignment” turn in is created.  

Mathspace provides students with adaptive work aligned to the courses they are taking in high school. Teachers are able to see every step their students complete as well as access a class dashboard of performance data.  This will help to personalize learning and intervene where students are struggling.

Figure 2

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Finally, Actively Learn is a reading and writing platform that helps our students read for depth.  It provides an environment where teachers can embed questions into reading assignments and monitor the progress of the students.  When students attain deep understanding of text, they are able to establish meaning, analyze the text, and apply their knowledge in meaningful ways (e.g. writing an essay or completing a project).  

Although your children will be tired after the first two days, please be sure to talk to them each night when they get home.  Make sure they know what each of the images above are and that you know too.  Parent involvement is an important part of student success.  Finally, keep the lines of communication open and  make sure your children internalize the importance of their decisions and how everything that they do makes a difference.

This is going to be a great 5 years!