Moorestown High School held open-house sessions for the incoming class of 2025 on Aug. 30 and 31, which gave a chance for freshmen to tour the building, look over their schedules and see what classes they will have for the upcoming school year.
For some high-school students who live in Moorestown, this was the first time at the school.
Moorestown student council officers and class ambassadors gave the tours and helped students who had any questions about issues such as classroom locations.
“It really helps them familiarize themselves with the building, so it’s going to be easier for them when they come to school, because from the middle school to high school is a big change,” said junior Keyan Vojdani, who sits on the student council’s executive board. “And it’s not just for those people; it’s also for people who are coming from other schools.”
After a hybrid and virtual format last year because of COVID, Moorestown High is ready for a new normal. Since this school year will be in person, students will have the chance to interact with their peers and resume face-to-face learning. Yet, the school has had to make major changes to maintain safety.
“One of the other things that they are doing at the school is having five lunches instead of three lunches that we had,” Vojdani explained. “That is meant to space people out more at lunch, so we don’t have 400 people during each lunch. They put all of these safety measures in place so that we can have the best possible return to school.”
Last year, the high school had half-days within a hybrid model that also enabled others to go fully remote. According to Keyan, one of the most unique challenges for students was not being able to learn coursework in person.
“Many students found that it was really hard to be motivated while they were working online and they couldn’t really concentrate,” Vojdani said. “I know a lot of students really struggled with some of the online formats, since they couldn’t really interact with teachers, and learning face to face really helped them.”
Since in person learning has resumed for the new year, Vojdani is optimistic for himself and his peers about gaining the sense of being a high-school student, and he looks forward to the return of school events.
“The high-school experience is not meant to be just talking via Zoom or Google Meets,” he noted. “It’s more about the friendships you can build, the experiences that you have and the high-school events like Spirit Week, pep rallies and all of these things.
“We’re looking forward to bringing back the events like homecoming and all of our assemblies as well.”
