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Seven ways to prepare for middle and high school transitions | Chalkbeat
FIRST PERSON
Seven ways to prepare for middle and
high school transitions
by Ann Schimke on August 23, 2013 12:03 pm
WHAT IS FIRST PERSON?
In the First Person section, we feature informed perspectives from readers who have firsthand experience with
the school system. View submission guidelines here and contact our community editor to submit a piece.
Q: What can I do to help my children make the transition to middle school
and high school?
Whether it’s sixth grade or ninth, graduating to a
new school level usually means bigger school
buildings, larger student bodies, more choices
and more freedom. Along with excitement,
students can feel anxiety, frustration and
isolation. We spoke with several veteran middle
and high school educators who gave us the
following advice for how parents can help their
children make a smooth transition.
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1. Logistics are the hardest part
Let’s start with middle school, where students’
first hurdles are logistical — needing to remember a locker combination, learning the
building layout and getting to class on time.
“It’s all those little things that at their stage of development become everything to them,”
said Sandra Bickel, principal of Webber Middle School in the Poudre School District.
One safeguard is early exposure. Jessica Fiedler, principal of Westlake Middle Schools in
Adams 12, urged parents to make sure their kids visit their future middle school as fifthgraders and attend any orientation or kick-off activities prior to the start of school. This
and a variety of other suggestions are contained in the district’s 11-page “Middle School
Transition Guide“.
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2. Let them handle challenges on their own
Both Fiedler and Bickel emphasized the importance of giving children the space to handle
challenges on their own. That could mean letting them fiddle with their combination lock without
stepping in to help. Or, if they come home with a complaint about an assignment or class, pushing them to
problem solve for themselves.
Instead of stepping in with a solution, Fiedler said, parents might ask, “Have you spoken
with your teacher?”
Bickel said homework is another area where parents should show support but not take
over. She said parents can help by focusing their praise not on talent or natural ability, but
the hard work their child is doing.
“Praise the effort,” she said. “Parents can let their kids struggle through some of that and
not enable [them].”
3. Don’t end your involvement; change it
Parent involvement is still important as children grow older — the form just needs to
change, middle school educators said. Classroom volunteering is usually not appropriate
after middle school, they said, but parents can show interest by having dinner with their
children, asking about their day and monitoring their phone use and social media
presence.
“If parents just wash their hands of it and give them free reign…it can be very damaging to
kids,” said Bickel. Sixth-graders “want to be treated more like young adults…but they’re
not.”
Jen Holm, a counselor at Webber, noted that extracurricular activities, whether at school
or in the community, are also very important to students’ success. She said while parents
should let their children pick activities themselves, she suggested parents say, “You need
to be involved in something every quarter of the year.”
4. In high school, establish routines
When it comes to the high school transition, “the absolute number one thing that’s
different is the amount of freedom,” said Pam Smiley, principal of Horizon High School in
Adams 12.
Students have to adjust to not being part of “teams” as they might have been in middle
school, having a broader spectrum of peers and a wider range of movement within the
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school building. In addition, she said, “The rigor amps up a little bit. The amount of work
amps up a little bit.”
For some students, the demands of high school can bring about feelings of loneliness and
isolation, she said.
She said parents can help their new high-schoolers by setting up after-school routines at
home to ensure homework gets done at and students stay organized.
5. Monitor progress
Smiley also recommends that parents monitor their students’ grades and attendance if
the school offers some type of online parent portal showing students’ progress. One
system used at some Colorado schools is called Infinite Campus.
If parents see poor grades or attendance, it may be a sign that the student is wasting
study time, battling disorganization or struggling in some other way. Smiley also
suggested that parents push their students to monitor their own progress on Infinite
Campus or whatever system their school uses.
6. Keep track of friends
At both middle and high school, educators recommend that parents keep track of their
child’s friends. Smiley said parents should be wary if their ninth-grader starts hanging out
th
th
with 11- or 12 graders, whether in a romantic relationship or a platonic friendship.
“It’s usually never a good thing,” she said, noting that older students sometimes take
advantage of the younger ones.
7. Red flags to watch for
At the middle school level, Bickel and Fiedler said red flags that may indicate the transition
isn’t going well include students complaining of headaches, stomach aches, sleeplessness
or simply not wanting to go to school.
“That’s definitely a time when parents need to say, ‘What’s going on?’” said Fiedler.
Smiley recommended parents not only watch for any out-of-character behavior, but also
any mismatches between how students say things are going and what their grades or
other indicators suggest.
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Ann
Schimke
Ann Schimke is Chalkbeat Colorado’s healthy schools reporter. Schimke launched her journalism
career as a copy aide, eventually becoming a freelance writer for The Washington Post in 1997. In
2000, she moved to Michigan and became the primary K-12 education reporter at The Ann Arbor
News, covering issues ranging from school re-segregation to the impact of the No Child Left
Behind Act. After covering education issues for five years, Schimke went on to earn a master’s
degree in education policy from the University of Michigan. Subsequently, she worked as a family
advocate in Ann Arbor, helping homeless students in several area districts access transportation,
financial assistance and academic help. In 2008, Schimke moved with her family to Colorado,
working as a freelance writer and editor for several local publications. She joined Chalkbeat (then
EdNews Colorado) in 2012. Email: [email protected]
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