To prepare fifth graders for the transition into their sixth grade year and the entirety of middle school, Souderton schools educate and acclimate fifth grade students to the sixth grade experience.
According to Indian Valley Middle School (IVMS) counselors Jennifer Toby and Kristen Raught, IVMS has various opportunities for future sixth graders to get a taste of middle school life, including the fifth grade carnival, visitation hours over the summer and sixth grade orientation.
“Each spring, we do visits to the elementary schools to introduce students to our WEB [Where Everybody Belongs] team, teachers and current middle school students,” Toby and Raught said.
Sixth grade IVMS math and science teacher Julie Rappo feels that the amount of time IVMS spends getting sixth graders used to middle school is a “huge commitment” that helps with the transition.
“In many cases, we don’t really start tons of learning until weeks into the school year,” Rappo said. “We go very slow in the beginning to help set the students up for success in sixth grade and really for success for the rest of middle school and beyond.”
The middle schools work alongside the elementary schools during this transition process to ensure fifth grade students know what to expect in sixth grade.
Fifth grade Salford Hills Elementary School teacher Janet Smith said that Salford Hills uses Outdoor School as a tool to get students ready for the new “social interactions, friendships and risks” they’ll experience in sixth grade.
“As a school, we always have an eye towards what academics [students] need to know next year,” Smith said. “We’re also always thinking about how it’s going to be a new opportunity to join clubs and meet new people, and so we’re trying to foster those skills.”
Sixth grader Emery Gehman advises fifth graders to “take it easy in the beginning” and work on getting adjusted to the “movement” of middle school.
“I felt very prepared for sixth grade,” Gehman said. “It was a really good year.”
Gehman instructs future sixth graders not to “procrastinate” and to also “get mentally prepared” since there is “more independence in middle school than in elementary school.”
For Salford Hills fifth graders Karas Samy, Casey Shisler, Luke Burgmeier, Blake Hoogenhuis and Leo Roman, they’re excited about classes like computer science and Family and Consumer Science and the chance to join school sports teams in seventh grade.
Alongside their excitement, the fifth graders also feel nervous about lockers, the transition in between classes and meeting people from the other schools.
According to Toby and Raught, there’s “plenty of time for students to practice with their lockers” and get used to their schedule. “[Students] usually have it down by the end of those two weeks,” Toby and Raught said.
The end of fifth grade is a “bittersweet moment” for fifth grade teachers and students, according to Smith.
“I just think they’re ready,” Smith said. “They may not know it all the time, but they’ve grown a lot.”
“I feel prepared,” fifth-grader Bella Costa said. “I’ve heard good things from my aunt who says anyone who had Mrs. Smith will do good in sixth grade, so I’m glad I got Mrs. Smith.”