More than 100 incoming sixth-grade students at Arlington Middle School recently attended a special school orientation camp with their parents.
The purpose of the three-day camp, which was funded by a grant from the United Way, was to provide both students and their parents with an inside look into the middle school experience.
"Incoming sixth graders are often nervous about the transition to middle school, and our orientation camp is an opportunity for them, along with their parents, to better understand what their first year will be like at Arlington Middle," said Assistant Principal Tracy Carter. "We want to comfort these students and take away some of the angst about the first day of school."
Sixth-grade math teacher Tracey Montgomery applied for the grant, the United Way Achievers For Life Parent Engagement Project, last March after she learned that Arlington Middle School needed more involvement from parents and community members.
Citing the African proverb "It takes a village to raise a child," Montgomery felt receiving the grant for the orientation camp would be an opportunity to get more people involved at the school.
"At Arlington Middle School, it is our goal to make our students more successful,” she said. “To do this, we need the full support of our parents and community members."
Montgomery, along with 10 other teachers, led the three-day camp, which provided parents with a thorough overview of the school, as well as the opportunity to sign up with the PTSA (Parent Teacher Student Association), Achievers for Life and Team-Up organizations. Students spent time in language arts, social studies, math and science classes so they would know what to expect when school begins.
"For many students, the transition to middle school is especially difficult because they begin changing classes, and they spend a whole period in social studies and science classes, which they did not do in elementary school," said teacher Labrina Halsey.
For the math session, students took a scavenger hunt around the school, which not only strengthened their math skills, but also helped them learn their way around the campus.
In their science lab, students made slime. If they didn’t make the slime correctly, they got slimed.
"It is our hope during the orientation camp that our new students realize that middle school will be a fun learning experience, and that their parents will understand that their involvement is very important to their student's success," said Montgomery.
Staff members at Arlington Middle hope to expand the orientation program to 400 sixth graders next summer.
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