Students head back to school in Groton
Editor's note: this version corrects the number of students enrolled in Groton schools.
Groton — Alysson Schuyler, 11, was afraid she'd get lost in the hall at Carl C. Cutler Middle School.
Then she realized "at orientation the school wasn't as big as I thought," she said. "The hallways weren't as big. I knew where I was."
Students in grades 1-12 headed back to school on Thursday in Groton, with children in kindergarten, prekindergarten and preschool starting Monday. The district enrolls nearly 5,000 students.
At Cutler Middle School, Principal Peter Bass tried something new this year to ease the transition from elementary to middle school.
He brought the future sixth-grade students to the school for an "expo" in February and March.
The band played, the chorus sang, the kids looked around and the school offered information about extracurricular activities.
Then Bass brought the parents in. He told them, "Your son or daughter would not be 'stuffed in a locker,' because we know kids love to say that," Bass said. "Have you seen our lockers? They're so narrow, it may be physically impossible."
"We do realize this is one of the toughest transitions they will ever make in their educations," he said. "They're going from being the big fish, the top dogs, and now everything has changed." Students have to get from one classroom to another; they'd don't walk down the hall, single file, behind the teacher; they see new faces. The students also get lockers.
Chad Parks, a guidance counselor at Cutler, said, "The biggest issue is the parents are nervous, and it trickles down to the students."
This summer he called all the parents to reassure them about expectations. Cutler had an attendance of 504 students Thursday — 188 were sixth-graders.
"They're coming out of the woodwork this year," Bass said.
By late morning, all was still well. No one in the nurse's office, no one with a stomach ache and no one in tears.
"This year, it's been pretty mellow," Parks said.
In Room 10, the "Wonderful World of Social Studies," Mary Penfold moved from desk to desk as students practiced opening combination locks.
"So watch me," she said to Carter Montgomery, 12, turning the dial. "To the right ... pass zero ..." She clicked the lock open.
"I know," she said, returning the boy's surprise with a smile. "It's amazing when I do it."
Within minutes, he had it. "I've never really had a locker, you know?" he said. "Your own privacy, you know?"
Tyler Bergendahl, 11, looked forward to some freedom in the hall. "Like you don't have somebody walking you down in a line or anything," he said.
Alysson thought about how she'd sum up the first day. "I'll say it was really fun," she said. "My favorite part was doing the locks."
d.straszheim@theday.com
Twitter: @DStraszheim
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