Heading Into High School With a Running Start

The first day of high school can be a nerve-racking, nail-biting experience for even the most cool-headed adolescent: There are friends to be made, lockers to unjam and packs of self-important seniors to avoid.

To help incoming freshmen get over the jitters -- and hit the ground running for the coming year -- administrators at James Hubert Blake High School in the Norwood area transplanted the first days of school into summer. About 150 students spent two weeks in July getting to know some of their peers, teachers and school officials, as well as learning how to navigate a system of high school transcripts, grade-point averages, activities and athletics.

"The data across the board is: If they're successful in their freshman year, they tend to continue to be successful," said Barbara Jeweler, one of the program's coordinators. "Students who struggle in freshman year, who don't get a foothold, tend to have a harder time getting where they need to go. . . . The idea is to become successful from the start."

Several schools in the region have similar programs for helping ninth-graders begin the crucial school year, which for most Maryland public schools systems begins Aug. 27. Prince George's County students return to classes Aug. 20, and most Northern Virginia students start Sept. 4.

Maryland and District schools have summer transitional programs that help students, struggling or not, review language and math skills. Virginia devotes about $4 million in grant money to improve the transition in 51 high schools. Most of those have some type of summer program that runs over several days to review academics and help students acclimate.

Blake offers its High School 101 program twice in July. Any incoming ninth-grader can participate for $50. Since the program began last year, enrollment has doubled, officials said.

During a session, students divide into four teams that rotate classrooms throughout the morning. They play math games, make huge soap bubbles during a lab, build reading skills through textbook searches and reading, and learn to read notes and make music by beating on trash cans and buckets. School officials have a chance to assuage some of their fears -- such as the myth of freshman hazing week -- and communicate their expectations for a more mature school setting.

"The days of running around the halls playing tag are kind of over," security team leader Charles Harper said.

Those days are replaced by the structured four-year academic plan of classes the state requires for graduation, a plan Assistant Principal Beth Thomas shows students. She tells them about the school's rules, courses and eligibility requirements for extracurriculars.

Thomas also tells a group of incoming ninth-graders learning about the school's freshman academy: "If you play the game that I'm trying to teach you, you will pass go, get 5 1/2 credits and move on to the 10th grade."

The students' team leaders are Blake graduates who've gone on to colleges and universities -- models for a successful experience at Blake. Attending college is a point administrators hammer home with a field trip to the University of Maryland, where students visit dorms and see physics demonstrations.

Blake Athletic Director Butch Hilliard, who helps coordinate the program, said students who come from five public feeder middle schools are encouraged to break out of their comfort zones and "blend together." Not having to wonder about whom to sit with at lunch is one less thing to worry about on the first day.

Rewiring the rusty brain connections from the past school year was a welcome component for 13-year-old Matthew Schnapp. "Your brain just rots, and you forget almost everything," he said.

He said he's looking forward to taking honors classes that will raise his GPA -- a system that was previously unfamiliar to him.

In his recent session, Matthew met several other students who will help ease his transition, administrators hope.

Team leader Gibran Jourdain-Earl, 20, a junior at Morehouse College in Atlanta, said he watched students' shyness wear off as they went through the program.

"The first day, everybody didn't talk at all," he said. "As the week went on, everyone has been a lot more open, a lot more ready for high school."

One of the students' favorite parts of the summer session is getting their first grade out of the way, according to program feedback. They complete the county's required math and reading packets -- reviews of math principles from middle schools and a literature analysis -- with individualized attention from teachers.

"When you see a group of 70 students, and they say one of their favorite things is getting their math packet complete, what that says to me is that they really enjoyed receiving the help," said math specialist Ethan Bilby.