The Welcome Families Program run through the Moorestown Home and School Association is trying to make the move to Moorestown a little easier for new families.
Starting at a new school can be tough at any age. For that reason, each year the Welcome Families Program, run through the Moorestown Home and School Association, creates opportunities for incoming students to meet and greet their fellow new students prior to the start of school in hopes of relieving some of the new school anxiety.
“We want the kids to see familiar faces the first day of school,” said Danielle Goldglantz-Lance, who is one of several chairs working on the Welcome Families program.
Each school in the district has its own representative, and Goldglantz-Lance acts as district chair. She said the program is not just about connecting students but parents as well.
“The parents are new as well, and the easiest way to make friends as an adult is to have children in common,” Goldglantz-Lance said. “It’s a great way to get everyone connected.”
The program facilitates meetup opportunities, with two such meet and greets happening in August. On Wednesday, Aug. 23 and Wednesday, Aug. 30, families new to Moorestown can meet their future classmates at Sunnybrook Swim Club. Kids are given a wristband with a color corresponding to the school they’ll be attending to easily recognize their fellow new classmates.
Allison Pond, the chair for Moorestown High School, said after new students are registered for school, the district registrar Cathy Kain passes along the names, and the various committee chairs take it upon themselves to extend a warm welcome.
While the program has been around in some form or another since the 1990s, Pond said these days the goal is to get parents up to speed with networking in 2017. She said that means pointing them to the websites to know and Facebook pages that will keep them informed. She said the committee is constantly trying to find new ways to connect with families and get them up to speed.
The parents involved in Welcome Families set up playdates, swim meets, text groups monitored by adults and a plethora of other networking opportunities, Goldglantz-Lances said.
Additionally, Pond said this year she’s hoping to get established students more involved in welcoming new students. She said her daughter Alex is helping her to recruit student ambassadors at each grade level to look out for new students and be a friendly face so after school starts, new students aren’t left hanging.
Alex, an incoming sophomore at Moorestown High School, said she wanted to get involved because going into a new high school where friend groups are already established is difficult.
“I know it can be harder to make friends once you get older,” Alex said. “In elementary school, it can be easier.”
Goldglantz-Lance said she’s witnessed the benefits of the program firsthand. When her family moved to Moorestown eight years ago, Welcome Families introduced the family to friends then, and her continued involvement has enabled her nine children to make new friends at Welcome Families events every summer.
While the bulk of the networking activities are during the summer and first few months of the school year, Welcome Families is considering an ongoing process throughout the school year, Pond said. She said parents looking for information about how to register for sports or other relevant information know they have a point person to come to for answers.
Looking toward next year, the program is going to concentrate efforts on forming a team of parents at each level to work with incoming families. For Goldglantz-Lance, the most important part of working on the program is providing an example to children.
“I’m so happy I volunteered for this, and my kids can see how reaching out to others and including others is so important,” Goldglantz-Lance said.
New families to Moorestown are invited to meet and greet on Aug. 23 at Sunnybrook Swim Club from noon to 4:30 p.m. or on Aug. 30 from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. For more information on the Welcome Families program, visit http://moorestownhomeandschool.com.
