During the last weeks of summer, freshmen who are new to Parker go through the Bridge Program, in which they are given the opportunity to familiarize themselves with Parker before they begin school. But some have found the program lacking, and according to head of the Bridge Program and upper school counselor, Binita Donohue, many Bridge alumni have said they felt their transition into Parker was not easy.

“I wouldn’t say that this year was successful,” ninth grade head and Upper School english teacher Cory Zeller said, “and now we are all trying to re-strategize.” According to freshman Caroline Viravec, a former Bridge student, there was too much emphasis on getting to know the people in Bridge and not enough about the school and the people already at the school.

Viravec said, “It would have been more helpful for me when I first came to get to know the school better rather than just a small group of people.”

New possibilities for the program were brainstormed by a team made up of Donohue, teachers from the 8th through 12th grades, prior Bridge students, and members of the Parents Association. Donohue said, “We receive input from teachers, old and current Bridge students, highjump, other schools, the parents association, and from parents themselves.”

Student Government Inclusion Coordinator Priscilla Roman criticized the program. “As a freshman I came to Parker and did the Bridge Program,” Roman said. “It was two weeks, which I thought was too long and felt boring at some points.” The duration of Bridge was reduced to one week from August 15 through August 24 in order to increase the attentiveness of students.

Those involved in running the Bridge Program are working on making sure returning students are welcoming to the new ones. Donohue said, “One big change we want to do is focus a little bit more on getting the ninth graders who are not new to Parker to reach out.”

According to Donohue, during the freshman retreat in September 2015 many new students felt it was hard to connect with their new peers. Donohue said, “Hopefully I will have something planned to get the eighth grade to become more prepared and motivated to the new students.”

Meetings are being set up with Middle School teachers in order to help encourage these eighth graders, the riding ninth graders, to create a more inclusive environment for new students.  

Zeller said, “One of the things I’m trying is to go and talk to the eighth graders this year with my freshman A block class to tell them about the upcoming transition and how to be good hosts.”

According to Donohue, complaints are made  year after year by new students saying they don’t feel welcomed by their peers. “We need to do more,” Donohue said, “and we have tried and just need to keeping pressing through on that stuff.”

There are three main goals that the Bridge Program tries to achieve. The first is to familiarize new students to the building, people, and culture of Parker. “We try to teach Bridge students the ‘lingo’ of Parker,” Zeller said, “so they understand what people mean when they talk about MX or where the cat boxes are.”

The second goal is to familiarize new students with the way classes are run at Parker. “Some students come from schools where they do a lot of worksheets or where it is discouraged to speak up,” Donohue said. “Because we are progressive philosophically, we try to help them understand what that really means and how to thrive in this environment.”

The third goal is to help new students socially connect with their peers. In efforts to do so, former Bridge students are chosen to mentor the current ones. “I felt like only a few mentors really wanted to help out, while others were less engaged,” freshman Bella Evan-Cook said. “But overall they were helpful.” This year they plan to do a better job interviewing mentors, Roman notes.

“As a progressive school we are always looking to change things,” Donohue said, “as certain issues become more relevant to students.”