Three and a half weeks before the official start of school, twenty-one new-to-Parker freshmen sat in a circle, iPads in hand, setting up the Parker usernames and emails that they will use for the next four years.

The Bridge Program, currently a two-week-long orientation, is a time to “familiarize new students with the building and philosophy, get a sense of academic experience, and get to know fellow ninth graders, some upperclass students and some faculty,” according to Upper School guidance counselor and Bridge leader, Binita Donohue.

In the past, Bridge has ranged from a two-week program to a two-day program. For the 2017-2018 school year, the bridge program ran for two full days, from 9am to 3pm. This year, it ran for ten half days, from noon to 3 p.m. each day.

Sophomore Alex Schapiro, who participated in Bridge last school year, found the two day curriculum to be fulfilling and helpful. “I did find them beneficial, as it was a nice way to get oriented with the school and a nice way to meet people both in my grade and older than me,” Schapiro said. “I think two days is enough, and I feel bad for the people that have to go to orientations for two weeks.”
With help from various Parker upperclassmen, Donohue has led Bridge for five years and changes bits of it each time.

After receiving input from students and teachers, Donohue decided to extend bridge once again. “The main reason we changed the duration of the program was because we are trying to give students a chance to bond with each other the way rising 8th graders are bonded,” Donohue said. “Plus, at Parker, we experiment and try different things.”

As part of the program, upperclassmen are invited to help out and teach the incoming freshman from a more relatable perspective. Most of these upperclassmen are students that were new to Parker in ninth grade, as they are able to speak from experience.

Junior Micah Derringer was one the student leaders this year. “I think it is definitely helpful to have student leaders because the freshmen bond more with us and have a lot more in common with us than the teachers,” Derringer said. “Also, it gives them familiar faces in the hallways when school starts.”

With a longer program this year, Donohue also decided to include returning ninth graders in an all-grade orientation during the final two days of the program — a new addition. The goal of having all freshmen participate was to introduce them to new students and to help make the transition even easier. “This year returning Parker students are participating in two days of Bridge to help them onboard to the expectations of high school, how to take notes, what the schedule is like, what are the clubs and activities, etc,” Donohue said. According to Donohue, this part of the program was designed “for equity.”

Senior and bridge mentor Annette Njei believes that including the entire grade in the program is beneficial to everyone. “Another benefit of the program this year is that the new kids are being integrated with the entire grade prior to the freshmen retreat as opposed to only meeting them on the day of, like it used to be,” Njei said.

The main goal of this year’s Bridge Program was to introduce new students to each other and to Parker. Throughout the program, the group not only learned about essential Parker details, but they also had outings to the Lincoln Park Zoo and to Whirlyball. The mix of activities allows the students to have fun and learn different things about their new school.

Derringer believes that Bridge helped him at the beginning of his freshman year, and that is why he wanted to help the incoming freshman. “Bridge is very beneficial because the new freshmen have no idea what to expect when they come to Parker, and this two-week long program is basically a crash course with everything they need to know to succeed at Parker.”