SAUGUS — Fifth-grade students and their families gathered at the Saugus Middle/High School Complex Wednesday evening to begin the process of transitioning from elementary school to middle school, and to hear directly from school officials what the day-to-day of being a middle school student in Saugus is like.
Saugus Middle/High School Principal Brendon Sullivan said the event was really aimed at families, as school officials are cognizant of the fact that families have options for middle school, and he wanted to take the opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of the public school system.
“It’s important that we don’t take for granted our families. Families have choices. There are private schools, there are charter schools and I think we are as good or better than all of them. But we can’t just take for granted that, ‘hey, this is your middle school, you come here,’” he said in an interview. “We need to do outreach.”
That outreach consists of more than the event Wednesday, Sullivan said, though it did represent the first step in the process. Families gathered inside the Lemoine/Mitchell Auditorium to hear from Sullivan, Assistant Principal Maureen Lueke, and the middle school’s two guidance counselors, Sabrina Monroe and Nancy Franks.
Sullivan gave students, many of whom seemed excited by the prospect of seeing their friends outside of the normal school day, a brief overview of the school and its philosophy. Lueke then walked students and families through the nuts and bolts of the middle school — when school starts, when it ends, how the day is structured, and the overall focus of creating a developmental learning environment.
“There are lots of physical, emotional, social, and intellectual changes when kids are entering Middle School,” she said. “We really work hard to support your school students by supporting them with a variety of interventions to really help for them to be successful.”
The sixth-grade level, she explained, is split into two teams to provide a more individualized learning experience for students, with smaller class sizes. The first floor of the middle school side of the complex reflects that goal, with different sides of the building being dedicated to different teams.
Students and their families then heard from Monroe and Franks who shed light on the guidance counseling process, and explained that between the two of them they serve each student in the middle school, and do so for the entirety of the three years they are in middle school.
Lueke also gave an overview of the extracurricular opportunities available for students, including athletics, band, and drama club, among others.
Students and families were then sent out to tour the middle school with the aid of eighth-grade students, who served as tour guides, taking families through the first and second floor of the middle school, and pointing out notable areas like classrooms, the nurse, and the main office.
Sullivan said the event Wednesday was the first of many to try and aid the transition between elementary and middle school. He cited an upcoming field trip where students will see the middle school drama club’s production of “The Grunch,” a middle school staff meeting with elementary school students closer to the end of the school year, and an orientation specifically for incoming sixth graders as some of the ways school officials attempt to aid the transition.
“We can’t take for granted that the transition is just going to be smooth,” he said, praising Belmonte STEAM Academy Principal Rebecca Long for being an “excellent partner.”
“This night is really about trying to get the families more involved earlier on,” Sullivan added.
