Welcoming our future stars!

 

Research has shown that the transition years in a child's education are the most difficult.  It is important to us at Normandin Middle School that we have a system in place to welcome our incoming 6th grade students, parents and guardians into our school family.  We want our future stars to know our school, the great people in it and our criteria for success before they enter our doors in September.  A successful plan like this could not happen without the support of our outstanding feeder school Principals and their staff, our dedicated teachers and administration and our wonderful students!   Here's our 7 Step Plan:

 

Step 1: Principal Visit (May)

We have 7 elementary schools that feed into our school.  It was important to me as Principal to meet our future 6th grade students personally, and to do so on their turf.  My intent was to share all the awesome opportunities we offer at Normandin Middle School, answer all of their questions, and get them excited to visit!  I stayed until I answered every last question- my favorite being "are their any male teachers there?" 

 

 

Step 2: Meet & Greet (May)

We set a date and our feeder school Principals sent home information to parents/guardians.  Our event was prepared by our 6th grade Assistant Principal (Ms. Murphy) and involved several of our teachers (all who volunteered!).  We offered an introduction to our school, tours of the building (in English, Spanish and Portuguese) and had our terrific community partnerships GEAR UP & Citizen School set up booths sharing information on our after school opportunities.  Our staff stayed after to answer ALL of our student and parent/guardian questions.  This evening couldn't have happened without a caring and committed staff volunteering their time to welcome our future family members.

 

Step 3: School Field Trips (June)

Now that we have the kids excited about our school we want them to see it in action during the school day.  Each feeder school has their own day to visit our school and we call it a "field trip" to keep it exciting and fun.  The focus of the trip is for our future students to see our school in progress, meet our students and ask more questions.  We involve our National Junior Honor Society students as tour guides and they answer student questions.  It is important to us that future stars meet current stars and learn what it takes to be successful at our school. 

 

Step 4: Counselor Watch (May/June)

It is important to us we personalize our incoming student's learning experience and meet their needs the best we can.  Familiarizing our counselors with their future students is a terrific 1st step.  Our counselor's meet with each feeder school's staff to discuss children and ensure we are doing whatever it takes to meet their needs as they enter our building. 

 

Step 5: Summer Visits (July/August)

There are certain students that may not feel comfortable attending the large field trip visits to our school and/or need a more personalized visit.  We set these visits up through the feeder school Principal and make sure the experience is extremely beneficial to the child and their family.

 

Step 6: Open House (August)

Similar to our Meet & Greet, we offer our future stars and their families another opportunity to learn more about our school.  We discuss more specific expectations, provide another tour and end with question & answer sessions. 

 

Step 7: 1st Day of School (September)

Our district believes strongly in supporting students during the transition years.  Students in Grade 6 come back to school one day before their Grade 7/8 classmates.  This is an excellent chance for us to connect the students with their new teachers, future teachers and entire school staff.  It allows us to slow things down and begin introducing routines and school expectations to our new students.  We look at it as a celebration!

 

It is our goal to provide the best possible transition for our incoming sixth graders and their families.  Our dedicated staff, collaborative feeder school leadership and staff, and our students commit to this process, which allows our future stars and their families a reassurance that we are doing whatever it takes to make this difficult transition a seamless one.