Oakside Prep Academy Executive Principal Amy Tansel sees these transitions across her building, as the school educates Kindergarteners all the way up to seniors in high school. She shared some of the techniques her school and parents can employ to make this change easier for scholars.
Get Acclimated Early
Becoming familiar with new environments, peers, and teachers can help students embark on their journey in middle and high school. Tansel mentioned a variety of ways her school provides scholars the chance to become more familiar with their fellow students and new classrooms.
“We have an event called the Sixth Grade Dinner,” Tansel said. “We invite scholars and families where they celebrate moving on from sixth grade. We have our seventh and eighth graders there so everyone can meet. We have a scavenger hunt, which sends them around their new wing of school, and they meet teachers.”
While this one-night experience can be beneficial for students, it isn’t the only way Oakside is helping its newest middle schoolers get comfortable with the new faces around them.
“We did some things where high school kids came over and helped sixth graders do writing projects,” Tansel said. “We also had a Day of Service where the younger kids went to the high school. We try to bridge that gap for them and show them it isn’t scary over with older kids.”
This activity across the school engages both the older and younger students. It comes as no surprise Oakside has outperformed the local district since it opened ahead of the 2013-14 school year.
Building Healthy Learning Habits
Another one of the many unknowns that scholars have when moving up grade levels is the workload. Tansel shared that creating good habits can help students during this time.
“Planners are a big thing,” Tansel said. “Student planners help keep track of everything going on.”
Using a one-stop-shop for all classes can help scholars map out what is going on in each class. Students can also keep track of key dates and might want to include information about extracurricular activities.
Tansel also talked about a couple other techniques students can use to maximize efficient organization.
“Whenever you have multiple subjects, color coding can help because it’s an easy way for them to separate materials by color and that makes organization easier,” Tansel said. “Using technology is also a tool for them to feel more comfortable. Some families might find that keeping an online calendar could be beneficial among other things.”
Adult Partnership
The teachers and parents in a student’s life can establish and foster partnerships to ensure a smooth road forward to upper grade levels.
At the classroom level, teachers start this relationship early on, sending post cards in the mail to students the summer prior to the new school year. Tansel said building the relationship between teacher and student early is a focus at Oakside.
“Just getting to know the teachers is important,” Tansel said. “Once kids are in the classroom, it’s important to focus on procedures, routines, and expectations so those things are clear going forward.”
While at home, Tansel said something as simple as having a conversation can impact scholars. Going over routines, checking planners, and seeing what homework needs to be done are all things parents can discuss with their students to help them get comfortable at school quicker.
“The most important is just having conversations,” Tansel said. “Talking about how the day went, some great things or challenges that may have come up, that’s so powerful.”
While willing partnerships with parents are important, it does not substitute for scholars making their own connections and taking accountability for the work they’re doing. Tansel said that a positive parental partnership can also be one where parents are there for support and encouragement but are not driving the students’ success.
“Parents can also push their kids to be more independent when it comes to owning their work,” Tansel said. “Students can have a bigger voice and advocate for themselves. If there are questions for teachers, parents can encourage their students to reach out for a solution instead of handling everything for them.
“This helps them build confidence in these interactions as well.”
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About Oakside Prep Academy
Oakside Prep Academy is a tuition-free, public charter school in Waterford, Michigan, serving students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. It is part of the National Heritage Academies network, which includes more than 100 tuition-free, public charter schools serving more than 65,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade across nine states. For more information, visit nhaschools.com.
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