How to Embrace the New Year at a New School
byElizabeth Preston
6 min to read
With a new year comes new and exciting changes! For some students, it also comes with starting a new school. While changing schools midyear can feel intimidating and uncomfortable for students, this article will provide some tips to dispel their worries and make their midyear school transfer a smooth and positive experience.
Focus on the Benefits
One way to frame changing schools midyear in a positive light for your student is to focus on the benefits that it can bring them. Does the new school offer fun or interesting opportunities that their old school did not? Remind your student that changing schools midyear provides a chance to start fresh by keeping what works for them—like their goals for the second semester—and leaving behind what doesn’t—like school bullies.
Get Them Familiar with Their New Environment
Visit the school with your student in the days before classes begin, ideally when no other students are around, in order to help them become familiar with their new surroundings and routines.
Being prepared is also important for students in a hybrid school program those who are starting online school, and those who are taking AP®* classes or dual enrolled in college courses. Any change in routine can be a difficult adjustment and taking time beforehand to make sure your student knows where to go, what to bring, and how to navigate their new space can help alleviate some of those first-day nerves.
Meet with an Academic Advisor
Meet with an academic advisor to ensure that your student’s credits transfer and to ask if there are any requirements needed for moving on to the next grade or for graduation that you and your student may need to address.
Further, ask to review the new school’s curriculum and be open and honest about where your student may fit into that curriculum. This will ensure that there is no undue academic stress on your student and will help you access additional support services, such as tutors, if necessary.
Additionally, ask the academic advisor if there is a program or school counselors that could help support your student’s mental health during this time of change.
Meet with the Teacher
If possible, meet with your student’s teacher(s) before school starts so that you can introduce your student to the instructor. Ask what procedures are in place for acclimating your student to the new class, what supplies (such as pens, calculators, etc.) are necessary, and if there is any academic work that needs to be caught up on.
The fewer surprises that you can have for your student when school starts, the better. This is because changing schools in the middle of the year can place the student in the role of an “outsider,” which can be stressful. So, the more you can help your student be “in the know,” the less stress for your student.
Continue to meet with your student’s teachers throughout the term to stay informed on how your student is doing academically and socially and to address anything that they may see developing that could impact your student’s education.
Find Clubs and Extracurricular Activities
As stated, the more your student feels like an outsider, the more stress and discomfort they are likely to experience when they transfer midyear. So, one of the best ways to help them feel less like the new kid is to get them involved with a club or extracurricular activity. This will help your student build connections with others who share similar interests with them and can be a great way to make new friends.
This is also a good way to put a positive spin on your student changing schools midyear if the new school offers a club or activity that your student enjoys doing or is interested in trying.
Stay Connected with Old Friends
Another reason why changing schools in the middle of the year can be stressful is because everything is new, and humans naturally view the unfamiliar as potentially negative. So by staying connected with old friends, your student will have something familiar to help them acclimate to a new environment.
Encourage your student to keep up with their old friends via social media, texts, phone calls, and video chats. If possible, schedule times for your student and their friends to visit with one another in person.
If it is not possible for your student to keep in touch with their past friends, then try to offer them something else that is familiar to them, such as a routine. For example, if you used to cook your student pancakes the morning of a big test before they changed schools, then keep that tradition and give them a sense of familiarity in some aspect of their life.
Have an Open Dialogue with Your Student
Talking with your student and having open and honest dialogue with them about their goals for the second semester can help ease their worries when changing schools midyear. Talking with them allows you to understand what they are anxious about and helps both of you create a plan and come up with solutions to any potential issues from a realistic, practical, and problem-solving mindset.
This also gives you the chance to emphasize what they can be excited about at their new school, explore what they want to do differently, learn what their hopes and goals are, and figure out where they may need additional support (such as tutoring or counseling).
During these open-dialogue sessions, allow your student to explore their feelings while remaining empathetic, patient, realistic, and encouraging towards them.
Consider Online School
If changing schools in the middle of the year from one brick-and-mortar school to another becomes too harmful to your student’s mental health, academic progress, or if the new school is just not working out, then consider transferring to an online school like Connections Academy®. Here, you, as your child’s Learning Coach, can take an active role in their education and create a learning plan with teachers and academic advisors that would best fit your student’s needs and goals for the second semester of school.
*AP® and Advanced Placement® are registered trademarks of the College Board. Used with permission.
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