By Haleigh Miller ’12, News Section Editor
As they walk through the doors, their eyes tend to grow larger. Some suddenly begin to perspire, shake, or silently swear. For many students just coming into the ninth grade, high school can be something exciting, stressful, or just an abyss with a giant question mark hovering in front of the unknown. However, the Country Day high school experience is a little different that at many other schools: it’s smaller, teachers are more engaged, and the school itself is a totally different beast.
The class of 2014 is made up of 72 students. True to the high expectations CCDS holds, they are a strong class. The freshmen are “personable, friendly, attentive, courteous, academically competent, willing to ask questions, ready to listen, and quick to help out when needed,” said Freshman Dead Trish Robitaille.
However, despite their strengths, the Upper School will test them. “Freshmen are learning how to balance their time between academic work, sports and extracurricular activities, and social networking,” said Mrs. Robitaille. For many freshmen, the Upper School exam schedule is particularly challenging to manage. Mrs. Robitaille explained, “this balance is most evident when first semester exam are given because students need to learn how to study and prepare for five major exams in one week.”
However, exams are still a long way off. For the time being, the freshmen are working to adjust to their new environment. “I expected [the Upper School] to be more structured than it really is,” said Kelsey Bardach ’14. For others, the Upper School hasn’t come as much of a surprise, even if a few things here and there were different than expected. “High school was really all I thought it would be, if not more,” explained Chase Frederick ’14.
For many students, the anticipation of transitioning into a new division is a source of great excitement. Bardach explained that she was looking forward to having more freedom than she had had in the Middle School, in addition to experiencing new surroundings. Frederick was also excited to start high school. “Going into the Upper School was something I’ve been looking forward to for a while. In the beginning of August, I was just dying to go back to school and be in high school,” she said.
For many freshmen in the past, the transition from the Middle School into the more challenging Upper School can inspire a little shell-shock. “Students who come from the Middle School often think that they are just changing their physical space in the building,” said Mrs. Robitaille.
However, that is simply not the case. “What is different for many students are the expectations with regard to the amount of homework, responsibilities of being a self-advocate, and the freedom and flexibility of managing one’s time productively,” said Mrs. Robitaille. She continued that the first quarter is often challenging for students because they may not understand how to manage their time in a manner that will effectively allow them to meet the expectations put before them.
In spite of the challenges facing the freshmen, they are doing well so far. “The students feel comfortable asking their teachers for help outside of class. These positive interactions between faculty and students [are] what makes the Upper School experience so important for many students,” said Mrs. Robitaille.
Some of the freshmen agreed that talking to teachers has been very helpful and that the year is going well so far, even if they are experiencing something totally foreign. “The transition [into the Upper School] has been weird,” Frederick said. Still, she has found support. “The teachers have been really helpful in class and I know from the past that they’re always there to help me when I need them to,” she said.
Bardach agreed that the teachers have made a significant difference in the transition by simply being helpful and preventing lost freshmen from roaming the halls.
In addition to surviving the first week of school, Frederick and Bardach have begun to enjoy the Upper School. Although Bardach was surprised by how much freedom she received after expecting high school to be more structured, the freedom is one of the things that she likes best about the Upper School. Frederick agreed. “High school has been pretty fun actually… It seems like a place that will be okay to spend the next four years,” she said.
In addition to the many admirable qualities she already sees in them, Mrs. Robitaille said of the class of 2014, “as their time in the Upper School continues, I expect to see more strengths and talents unfold.”
Photo by Ilana Habib ’11, Photo Editor
