For many students, their first year of high school is a nervous blur that they may or may not remember in the future. The anxiety of dashing through the halls; the squeak of new sneakers on the waxed tile; the fluttering of hearts as the bell chimes. This can be a very well-awaited move, but it is often very scary for students just leaving middle school.

Freshman Meetings

Integration into the high school begins in the eighth grade. For many, the Nashoba Freshman Open House is their first real taste of what high school will be like. Some students have not even been inside the high school before the meeting, and taking it in all at once can be overwhelming.

This year, the two hour Freshman Open House took place on Thursday, February 12th. During this meeting, Dr. Graham addressed the incoming freshmen by giving them an overview presentation and answering questions. After that, class officers took small groups around to explore the school and familiarize them with the layout.

Think of it as a safari guide leading wide eyed tourists through unfamiliar territory, except that it’s probably not as deadly (or as fun, for that matter).

How do next year’s incoming freshmen feel about making the move? To provide an inside look, one 2015-2016 freshman from each town in the district was interviewed.

Online Information

Generally, it seems that most eighth graders attend this meeting, especially those without older siblings who have already gone through the process. It falls upon them to cut their own path, especially if they have other younger siblings coming through after them.

On the high school website, there is a page titled “Incoming Freshmen”. Currently, this particular page does not have ANY information on it, but hopefully that will change. Thankfully, the student handbook and program of studies can always be found online.

On the middle school websites, there is seemingly no information to direct eighth graders.

Perhaps that should change, because many eighth graders have a variety of questions. One decidedly unnamed eighth grader from Lancaster asked “Do we have to be naked in the locker room?” Hopefully the class of 2019 will be in good hands.

 Class Enrollment

It seems that generally most students find out about the process of class enrollment through older siblings or other students who have already undergone the process. This is really the easy way to do it, the speedboat down the river.

For those who have to paddle through it themselves, the process can be more stressful and unsure. This year, students seem to have a basic grasp of how it is done, and it is not too hard to understand, so we can rest easy over that.

For eighth graders, next year’s class selection takes place early in March.

 New Chieftain Day

New Chieftain Day was a very big success last year with quite a large turn out. Many eighth graders seem to know about this already, even though it won’t be taking place for at least six months. This is a meeting that begins on the turf with games and fun, and then continues into the school where freshmen can receive help as they discover the routes to their new classes.

First Day

Last year many students said it was very helpful and engaging, but that they wished a bit more time was spent trying to navigate the school. In an article written by Hannah Feakes, freshman Rileigh Hallberg said, “It helped me navigate the halls on my first day but if it were to happen again next year, I would ditch the games and allow more time to find classes.” It seems as though  that is always the hardest part.

On the very first day of school, many kids are nervous and often have trouble finding their classes. In the past, upperclassmen have been invited for the first half of the day, and then freshmen for the second half. This way they can find their way through the halls with their map and schedule without having to face the sea of other students.

Depending on how prepared they feel, most freshmen are some degree of nervous for their first day, which is very understandable.

We were all freshmen once though, and as the saying goes, tourists can become locals.