Anonymous wrote:We've found that homeroom often is used for administrative tasks like delivering report cards, announcements, etc. It can be used for checking in with teachers, homework (if that is a thing

)/unfinished classwork, SEL, etc. It may be held at the beginning of the day or between first and second classes. (Maybe some schools do it around lunch?) Not every day has homeroom for some schools.
Kids come in to MS with some friends from ES. They get to know others from their various classes & activities over a longer period of time than in ES due to that shorter time together/rotation through classes, but sometimes connect well at first meeting someone. With all that goes on in MS, both academically and developmentally/socially, there can be kids who get/feel left out. Often that can be ameliorated by having a few close friends, but for someone coming in new who isn't naturally outgoing, it can be tough, even though there appear to be a lot more kids in schools willing to reach out to new students to try to include them than when I was young.