Why doesn’t MCPS do a 6th/9th graders only first day?

[Anonymous]

They do this in Anne Arundel County. The first day at a middle school will only have 6th graders, and the first day at a high school will only have 9th graders. The upper grades in the middle and high schools return the following day. This allows for the middle and high schools to engage in special activities with their 6th/9th graders, take them on tours of the building, informational rotations, team building activities etc, and gets the newbies acclimated to the school before the bigger kids come back the next day.

[Anonymous]

Because they do that exact same thing, only before school starts.

[Anonymous]

They’d have to pay the teachers an extra day?

[Anonymous]

I don't know about 9th grade, but pre-covid there was definitely a day for 6th graders to go to an "orientation" right before the first day of school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know about 9th grade, but pre-covid there was definitely a day for 6th graders to go to an "orientation" right before the first day of school.

They have those in AACPS too, but they still have the first day reserved for 6th and 9th graders. Sometimes the older kids come in as mentors and help on tours and mentor freshman in their homeroom classes throughout the year. It’s good for college applications.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know about 9th grade, but pre-covid there was definitely a day for 6th graders to go to an "orientation" right before the first day of school.

They have those in AACPS too, but they still have the first day reserved for 6th and 9th graders. Sometimes the older kids come in as mentors and help on tours and mentor freshman in their homeroom classes throughout the year. It’s good for college applications.

So you want a second 6th/9th graders only first day? Why not three or four?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They’d have to pay the teachers an extra day?

Yeah, but it would be worth it. Freshman would get a day to learn the building, test out their schedule, make friends from the other feeder schools, and engage in meaningful activities before the upperclassmen come back. I could especially see something like this being useful for 9th graders entering DCC high schools.

Even colleges do the same thing. Freshman generally move in a day or two before the upperclassmen do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because they do that exact same thing, only before school starts.

On the Thursday before school starts they run buses and have a new student (mostly 6th & 9th graders) orientation at MS and HS. Kids start in auditorium for a welcome, get taken to homeroom by their teachers and get their schedules, and then they run their schedules with ~10 min "classes". In each class, the teachers introduce themselves, go over part of a general slide show about school information, and answer questions. It's just the morning, and it is just long enough for kids to figure out their way around school and see who is in their classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know about 9th grade, but pre-covid there was definitely a day for 6th graders to go to an "orientation" right before the first day of school.

They have those in AACPS too, but they still have the first day reserved for 6th and 9th graders. Sometimes the older kids come in as mentors and help on tours and mentor freshman in their homeroom classes throughout the year. It’s good for college applications.

So you want a second 6th/9th graders only first day? Why not three or four?

An orientation right before the first day of school isn’t the same thing as a 9th grader or 6th grader only first day. Orientations are brief and mostly informational. The 9th/6th grader only first day in AACPS is more like an actual day of school where the bells ring and you see all your teachers briefly (20 mins), get tours of the building, have icebreaker activities, get a feel of the school culture, and get a feel of how school will be. You don’t get that experience when you’re sitting in an auditorium next to your parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because they do that exact same thing, only before school starts.

On the Thursday before school starts they run buses and have a new student (mostly 6th & 9th graders) orientation at MS and HS. Kids start in auditorium for a welcome, get taken to homeroom by their teachers and get their schedules, and then they run their schedules with ~10 min "classes". In each class, the teachers introduce themselves, go over part of a general slide show about school information, and answer questions. It's just the morning, and it is just long enough for kids to figure out their way around school and see who is in their classes.

Wouldn’t it be more helpful to move that to the first day of school instead, rather than have it in the middle of the summer?

[Anonymous]

In MCPS, my son had a 9th grade only orientation day, and in 6th grade, his building had a wing reserved just for 6th graders. Having a first day of school with just those grades doesn't really change the fact that MCPS middle and high schools can be HUGE and overwhelming. My son's high school has 3000 students - he could go to a college that's smaller than his high school! So it takes several weeks to adjust anyway.

[Anonymous]

It eats into the calendar. They need to offer X instructional days and then everyone would need to go another day because the 10-12 graders missed the first day of school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because they do that exact same thing, only before school starts.

On the Thursday before school starts they run buses and have a new student (mostly 6th & 9th graders) orientation at MS and HS. Kids start in auditorium for a welcome, get taken to homeroom by their teachers and get their schedules, and then they run their schedules with ~10 min "classes". In each class, the teachers introduce themselves, go over part of a general slide show about school information, and answer questions. It's just the morning, and it is just long enough for kids to figure out their way around school and see who is in their classes.

Wouldn’t it be more helpful to move that to the first day of school instead, rather than have it in the middle of the summer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because they do that exact same thing, only before school starts.

On the Thursday before school starts they run buses and have a new student (mostly 6th & 9th graders) orientation at MS and HS. Kids start in auditorium for a welcome, get taken to homeroom by their teachers and get their schedules, and then they run their schedules with ~10 min "classes". In each class, the teachers introduce themselves, go over part of a general slide show about school information, and answer questions. It's just the morning, and it is just long enough for kids to figure out their way around school and see who is in their classes.

Wouldn’t it be more helpful to move that to the first day of school instead, rather than have it in the middle of the summer?

Middle of the summer? The comment you posted about literally said the orientation is held the Thursday before school starts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know about 9th grade, but pre-covid there was definitely a day for 6th graders to go to an "orientation" right before the first day of school.

They have those in AACPS too, but they still have the first day reserved for 6th and 9th graders. Sometimes the older kids come in as mentors and help on tours and mentor freshman in their homeroom classes throughout the year. It’s good for college applications.

So you want a second 6th/9th graders only first day? Why not three or four?

An orientation right before the first day of school isn’t the same thing as a 9th grader or 6th grader only first day. Orientations are brief and mostly informational. The 9th/6th grader only first day in AACPS is more like an actual day of school where the bells ring and you see all your teachers briefly (20 mins), get tours of the building, have icebreaker activities, get a feel of the school culture, and get a feel of how school will be. You don’t get that experience when you’re sitting in an auditorium next to your parents.

Parents don't attend these orientations.