Roughly 15.5 million students begin high school each year nationwide, and up to 30% struggle with the transition. Parker has programs in place to help assist with this transition. The Bridge, Retreat, and Orientation programs are ways for students to acclimate to the Upper School. These events are designed for both new and returning students. Throughout the course of these three events students are able to learn about the social and academic adjustments that come with entering high school.
The Bridge program happens year after year, improving over time. Bridge is designed specifically for new students. This year the ninth grade welcomed 28 new students who were able to embark on this experience. The week before the entire freshman class came together for the retreat and orientation, the new to Parker students had a chance to be introduced to Parker and make connections with one another during Bridge.
The program started off with icebreakers and other get-to-know-you activities in small groups led by the Community Committee Representatives.
“This was a great opportunity to form initial connections and was a great time to really get to know each other,” new ninth grader Aida Davis said. Then, the students had logistics like the schedule for the school year explained. In addition, they learned essential terminology for understanding the Parker culture, including MX, Civic Lab, Graderoom, and The Alcove.
Adjusting to the Parker culture was a theme which guided the Bridge program. The students were able to hear about what it means to attend a progressive school and the style of education that comes with it.
Over the program’s two-day span, students had many opportunities to connect with one another. A highlight that freshmen Uriel Castaneda and Davis shared was going to Flyover Chicago at Navy Pier. This was an immersive VR experience that replicates a birds eye view of Chicago.“I was screaming which showed a different more vulnerable side of me that helped me form new connections and bonds,” Castaneda said.
“It helped me show off my personality because it was a more unstructured and independent environment,” Davis said.
The Community Committee representatives played a role in helping the new students feel comfortable in, as Castaneda puts it,“ an overwhelming environment.” Multiple times throughout the two days there were times for students to ask Committee Heads questions on a panel, and they worked hard to form individual connections as well. Castaneda declared that “the Bridge program was helpful because I was able to form a friend group of all new students that I now feel comfortable with, within the larger community.” In addition Davis explained, “The Bridge program helped prepare me for what to expect when meeting the entire ninth grade. It was also helpful to meet everyone else who was going through the same experience that I was.”
The retreat is a milestone and jumping-off point for the freshman class. It is the first time when new and returning students are able to come together as a grade. This year a cell phone-free environment and assigned small groups for activities and meal times were put in place to help students form meaningful connections. In past years the freshman class retreated to Decatur, Michigan and did camp-like activities, staying in cabins as their form of community bonding. In recent years the retreat has moved locally.
Gradehead Tyler Heidtke explained the reason for the shift of location. “Because the retreat is the first time ninth grade class is brought together, being in town is a better utilization of time when taking into account the transportation to and from the remote area. In addition, when it is in town, everyone is more likely to experience the same thing, regardless if you are a new or returning student, which didn’t happen when we went away in the past. Also, some people are more well versed in the camp world, making them more comfortable in a camp environment creating a disadvantage for some students.”
Although the program has undergone a transformation, key traditions remained intact such as the community-building exercise of bringing in a cherished object to share with the grade. This is a time where each student is able to share an object that represents a unique part of their identity, and as returning ninth grader Christian Coward explained “find connections that we would not be able to see otherwise.”
“Sharing objects was definitely the most meaningful part of the orientation and helped me see more into people new and old,” said returning ninth grader Olivia Forbes. “I was able to find out something new about old classmates. I was able to have conversation starters with new peers based on their objects. When I was sharing it felt like a safe space to share a super personal part of me that some people might not know.”
The event included other team-building activities such as a scavenger hunt around Lincoln Park, a relay race, and bowling. These activities were additional ways to continue forming bonds with others. The retreat was a two-day-long time to be able to make new connections and as Coward explained, “We got to bond as an entire grade without the stress of school work.”
After the events which focused on the social aspect of high school, Orientation was a shift into academics. Freshman learned about academic honesty, the absence system, how to become technologically organized, and received another tour of the school. The purpose of this event was to articulate how big of a shift there is between middle school and high school regarding academics. The ninth grade went through multiple rotations to learn about these topics.
“The orientation was still during summer and could have been combined with the entire school orientation, closer to the start of school, as many of the topics were repeated. It was a lot of information thrown at us all at the same time,” Forbes said.
“I was able to learn about essential topics that are specific to the upper school. As well as some Parker academic rules and customs,” Castaneda said.
All three of these events prepare the ninth grade for the start of their upper school careers. The Bridge program helps the new to Parker students have a chance to get used to the school before meeting their entire new grade. The Retreat is the first time when the whole grade comes together. Finally, the Orientation is set in place to help academically ease students into the year and educate them on topics that are essential to success in the Upper School. These three events help students set up for a successful Parker Upper School experience.
