Tips for Parents

Transition to Middle School

Change is difficult for everyone. Gathering information and preparing for change can help alleviate anxiety. For adolescents, one of the most difficult changes is transitioning to a new school. This transition happens from elementary to middle school and then again quickly from middle to high school. Here are some facts and tips to help prepare students, parents, and teachers for this transition. 

Facts

•  The students and parents have mixed feelings of excitement, worry, anticipation, and resistance.

•  The students are going through puberty and changing physically and emotionally. 

• The school environment is larger and can be confusing at first.

• The students change classes for different subjects, exposing them to a larger variety of teachers, classes, and students.

• The students are allowed and expected to appropriately handle increased independence and display more self-motivation.

• The grading standards change to letter grades and students/families are expected to access grades, homework, and information through Google Classroom and Home Access Center.

•  Academic course curriculum moves faster and academic performance expectations are higher. 

• Students have more homework requirements.

• Middle school is well-equipped to help students handle all of these challenges!  The 6th grade is designed to teach your child how to be a middle school student.

Tips for Parents

• Give your student information and exposure to the next step gradually. Consider casual opportunities such as attending a concert or game at the middle school.

• Attend any events the school has coordinated for incoming students. Ex: 6th grade camp, locker practice, open house

• Practice opening a combination lock. Purchase a combination lock at the beginning of summer and have your child practice opening it. 

• Stay involved with your student. Ask them to open Google Classroom and show you their assignments.

• Set up gradebook alerts on Home Access Center to get notifications when grades are below a threshold.

• Students will have access to email starting in 6th grade. When students are absent or have questions about a grade, help them email their teachers themselves. Help them with self-advocacy and proper email skills. They can cc you on the email, you will not be able to reply to them but you will see the response from the teacher.