The change from Elementary/Middle School to Junior High is one of significant transition as students and parents adjust to more student “ownership” of educational endeavors. Our desire is to partner with students and parents to make this transition smooth and to minimize unnecessary stress. Below are a few ideas to help with expectations.
What Students Can Expect
- More movement between classes. You will have at least four different teachers, with the distinct possibility of having seven.
- With the increased number of teachers comes an increased number of teaching styles, so you’ll have to make more adjustments during the course of the day. All teachers have the same goal of loving you and teaching you; they’ll just approach it in different ways.
- Teachers will expect you to keep up with what is due for homework, tests, etc., challenging you to be prepared rather than relying on your parents to take care of all the details for you.
- Your teachers will challenge you to apply more of the knowledge you’re gaining in the classroom. You will still have some things to memorize, but the goal is to teach you to think about the information and use it in different situations.
- We will continue teaching and helping you grow as leaders, both in the school and in the community. You will have to accomplish a limited number of service hours each 9 weeks, and you will have opportunity to step back into the Elementary and Middle School to lead chapel, read to classes, etc.
- You will have opportunities to participate in numerous activities—sports, clubs, student government, drama, etc. While these are great places to grow, you will have to learn to manage your time wisely to keep grades as the most important thing.
What Parents Can Expect
- Communication from teachers will be reduced somewhat. Teachers will maintain an electronic means of providing you weekly overviews and updates, but our goal is to help these growing young men and women assume more responsibility for their education, which includes keeping up with homework assignments, schedules, etc.
- Internet grade updates occur once a week at a minimum. Teachers will communicate with parents of students whose grades fall below a 70 average at intervals during each 9 weeks.