By ROBERT LINNEHAN | The Voorhees Sun
Life is filled with transitions: The first time a young son or daughter moves away from home, the transition from childhood to adulthood, and moving on from an old school to a new school. All are challenges for students at every level.
Education professionals all agree that transitions to a new school and new surroundings can be stressful, but school districts employ several strategies that can help students’ and even their parents’ transition.
Even children moving to first grade can experience stress, said Voorhees Kristos Elementary School Principal Barbara Dunleavy — also a guidance counselor for many years.
“For the most part, kindergarten programs, unless they’re private, are a half-day program. The first difficulty the children have going into first grade is the longer day. They’re in school from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. for the first time in their lives. I find the students who have had more preschool and a kindergarten program have fewer adjustment problems. They’re much more used to being in school at a younger age,” she said.
Children that young are egocentric, she said, and need to be included in a lot of group work and participate in a lot of activity during daily lessons to make the day seem shorter.
Anxiety rules when children make the jump from fifth grade to middle school, she said.
At this point in their lives children are much more peer oriented and can experience a lot of anxiety moving from the safe elementary school environment to the foreign creature that is middle school.
Most, if not all school districts, offer an orientation for new middle school students, Dunleavy said.
But some districts even offer an optional class for elementary students to take over the summer to prepare them for their new middle school lives. Parents should investigate whether the school district offers such a program and seriously consider sending their children to the course.
“Counselors are available over the summer, and if a parent is anxious they can set up an appointment with the principal or counselor as well,” Dunleavy said.
When leaving middle school, students have to be aware that their workloads and expectations will be greater in high school, said Jeffrey Holman, a guidance counselor at Haddonfield Memorial High School.
High schools typically offer a freshman orientation program, he said, to help ease students into their new surroundings. At HMHS, Holman said a counselor in the department also deals specifically with first-year students and their challenges.
“There are a number of other things we do as well. The peer leadership program runs a freshman orientation class,” he said. “Also, the peer mentoring program has about 170 students who are paired up with an older mentor to navigate through their first year.”
Even with extracurricular activities students can find difficulties. More is expected of a student who signs up for a sports team or a drama club than what they’re used to in middle school, Holman said.
“Students have the mindset that they need to do everything well to gain acceptance into a great school. There’s a tendency to get involved in too many things, an overburden of academic and extra-curricular activities,” Holman said. “Experiment as a freshman and find out what you most enjoy and want to commit too.”
Even though they’re older, a major transition and one of the most difficult is when a high school student decides to pursue a college education and has to leave their safety net and go off on their own.
Dr. Lee Schneider, dean and executive director of the Rutgers University Parents Association, said it’s a challenging time for both student and parent.
Prior to his current position, Schneider was the dean of students for Cooke College at Rutgers University.
One of the most common challenges and trip-ups for a new collegiate student, he said, is placing too much emphasis on their new personal freedoms and letting their educational career fall behind early.
“The first thing I see when students come from high school to a college program, I’d love to say they’re interested in their academic career but like any student they want to make friends, be comfortable, and enjoy themselves. They want to be comfortable, and it does take time to adjust, but many forget about the education,” he said. “The students who focus and make this a full-time experience, they will be the ones who make a good transition.”
New college students also have difficulty with so much freedom, said Julie Traxler, director of First Year Students at Rutgers University.
Coming from a support group of friends and family, many students aren’t use to doing things for themselves. Traxler suggested incoming freshman create a web of five people they can depend on to answer questions. Students need to have a residential advisor, guidance counselor, or other campus employee administration member know who they are so they can approach them with possible questions.
“Getting that web of people makes everything so much easier, even if they don’t know your answer they can get you to someone who does. Many of the students aren’t used to having to get noticed. It at least gives them a web to start with,” Traxler said. “Students expect things to be the same that they’ve always been in high school.
“The pace of the semester is so much different than the pace in high school. By the time you realize you’re behind, it’s late October and you have just about a month to get back to where you need to be. They don’t understand the changes. Take advantage of speaking with residential advisors and student advisors for advice.”
