Students adjust to life in new schools

The first day of school for any student can be stressful.

Learning where lockers are, what hallways house which classrooms, and just trying to keep up with a new schedule are tough enough. But those first-day jitters are sometimes compounded when you're also a new student in the school.

Many Cape Girardeau students will seem a little lost this year as they learn their way around new buildings. The public school district has shifted some grades to new buildings at the same time a new high school opens. Classes begin Sept. 3.

But being a new student won't be too hard for Danielle Pritchett, 14.

She already knows some former classmates from Nell Holcomb. Since the Nell Holcomb district is in rural Cape Girardeau County, students can choose between high schools in Cape or Jackson.

Even though she knows friends from Nell Holcomb and from her church, "it's still scary," she said.

Pritchett and her mother, Marilyn, spent two hours at the high school Thursday for orientation.

WHICH HIGH SCHOOL? CAPE?

It helped knowing where her classes would be, but "I have lunch by myself," Danielle said.

The toughest part of high school will be adjusting to much bigger class sizes. "It's probably going to be tough going from a school of 300 to this," she said. "I knew everyone in my class."

Regardless of where you're attending school, it's helpful to remember that almost everyone there was once a new student themselves.

At Jackson High School, the entire sophomore class is new to the building and still trying to learn where things are. "I tell the new students that all the sophomores are new and once they realize that there are 430 other new students who have never been at this school either, it's better," said Melanie Duncan, a counselor.

It takes some adjustment for students to feel comfortable in their new surroundings, counselors say. And that's perfectly normal; most children and youth tend to adapt to new situations better than adults.

For Josh and Jimmy White, changing schools has been a fairly routine part of their lives. The boys have attended about nine different schools, though some were in the same community.

Last year they were new students at Central High School after moving to the city from Hampton, Va.

"It's not really that hard," Josh White said of attending a new school. "Everybody's nice and it was easy to enroll."

But "people just don't know who you are," Jimmy White said.

Now that they've had a year to adjust, the teens say some moves have been easier than others.

"If you're a freshman, everybody's looking for friends," Jimmy said.

Josh had two freshman-like experiences. He completed his freshman year in Hampton at a school with freshmen and upperclassmen. Then he came to Central, where his high school classmates were sophomores, juniors and seniors. "It was like doing it twice," Josh said.

But sports and clubs helped the two find new friends. Jimmy joined the wrestling team and Josh ran on the track team.

"You get to meet a lot of people outside of class," Jimmy said.

Both agree that this year might be a little like being a new student, except that they have a school full of peers feeling just as lost. "As long as you know where your locker and first period class is, you're all right," Josh said. "You can just ask."

ljohnston@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126