Students, staff learning to adjust
November 14, 1989
By Cari Gilkison, Special to the Globe
Each new year, new students enter Shelby Classrooms and face adjustments to a foreign environment.
School officials can help students ease into their new surroundings.
Judith Day, Shelby pupil services secretary, started the orientation process with 84 students this year. Once parents contact Day regarding a new student, she will either arrange bus transportation or advise parents where to youth will have to walk to school.
Day also advises parents to contact the principal of the student’s new school.
Russell Elementary School principal Steve Peebles has welcomed many new students to the Whitney Avenue building.
“I give a short, guided tour and introduce them to their teachers as well as classmates,” Peebles states regarding students who start mid-year.
New students generally have no trouble adjusting according to Peebles. He says that he often can act as a counselor if a student has minor troubles, but for those experiencing larger problems there is always the school counselor.
For elementary grades, the teacher takes responsibility for further orientation.
“There is no scheduled routine for helping new students adjust,” states Charles Dietrich, a sixth grade teacher at Russell Elementary School. Dietrich added that the adjustment process usually falls into place.
“The younger children seem to get along easier than the older ones, so the second grade students don’t cause much of a problem,” explains Betty Smith, a second grade teacher at Russell Elementary School.
Niki Lieruance, a new student as Russell Elementary moved from Willard to Shelby. “I was scared at first. I eased down after meeting everyone…Now when think about it, it seems like 20 years ago,” Lieruance admits. She says she likes her new school, “better than my old school.”
Long time students like sixth grader Benny Cassidy says he treats new students the same as other classmates, but “nicer at first.”
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