Freshmen respond to school challenges

By Heba Karroud, Veritas Staff

10/15/26

ROCKLAND-  It's been almost two months since freshmen were stumbling through the halls and desperately searching for classes as the bell rang out its not-so-calming shriek.

The freshmen in Rockland have slowly adjusted, transitioning to a new building, schedule, and structure of academic and extracurricular life.

Ms. Amanda McDonough, an English teacher who teaches freshmen, said she has been helping get students acclimated since the start of the year.  

“If someone doesn't know where their lunch is or they don't know where their class is, I'm probably more likely to be asked than a strange teacher they have never met before.”

Freshmen students have thoughts to share about the academic experience so far this year. 

Gemma Petrosevich said "I'm in a majority of honor classes, and it's definitely not too much or too hard.” 

Freshmen got used to the new building, and the fear of a new place eventually went away.  Many had come beforehand to an assembly at the high school to learn about schedules, see the classrooms, and hear about the Vision of the Graduate.

Megan Sahn said, “I really enjoy freshman year and there's a lot of activities and things you can do, it's fun.” 

Homework is given in many high school classes, and students are getting adjusted to that expectation as well. 

Petrosevich said, “I feel like most of the time we have homework we have in class opportunities to finish it, and if we don't then it can be a bit difficult.”

Many teachers and students themselves stand by this point in agreeing it's a helpful resource even if it can be tiring or exhausting. Such as writing an essay or answering a set of questions. 

Some students disagree in stating that homework is too challenging. In schools another important aspect is behavior and reputations. 

Having a bad reputation and bad behavior can drag students down a bad path in which many try to uplift the drowning ones out. 

Ms. McDonough said behavior management is important in freshmen classes.

"In a large, lively freshman class, some students, especially in September and October, act more like eighth graders than freshmen."

Even with a welcoming atmosphere, time and effort takes a while to show its effects in terms of work ethic, responsibility, and behavior. 

Ms. McDonough added, “Communicate. Communicate. Communicate. We [all] teachers use Google classroom to share what's going on each day. We use email to communicate. Students should do the same.” 

At Rogers Middle School, email wasn’t always a large part of communicating with teachers. It was introduced then, but not needed as much as now. 

Rockland High teachers and administrators want students to be informed, communicate, and work to the best of their ability. While it may seem far to students, this is the first year along the student journey to college and workforce.