For newest middle schoolers

Here's some answers, some ideas, some thoughts and maybe also advice from last year's sixth graders:

• Backpacks: 
• you'll need one - but you are not allowed to carry it around in classes.  It will have to go in your locker so practice getting stuff in and out of it.
• School supplies:
• the list from your teachers - it's real - get the stuff. 
• Detention:   
• don't worry about it.  yes it exists, but you'll learn the rules and most people do NOT get detention!
• Lockers:
• the school provides you a lock IF YOU WANT one, for five dollars.  You can't use your own lock, it has to be one from the school.  Not all of us used a lock, sometimes we just closed our lockers. 
• you can decorate the inside of your locker as long as it's nothing permanent or with permanent stickers. 
• Teachers will help you find your lockers and teachers are almost always in the hallway between classes to help out or give directions.
• Eighth Graders:
• No, they don't shove you into lockers!  They are pretty cool most of them...  but we didn't see them a lot when we were in sixth grade because their classes are all in the other hallways and we don't have gym at the same time, or lunch at the same time as they do.  And we come in the front door of the school and leave by the front door, and they use the side doors. 
• Lunchtime!
• Lunch is fun because you can be with your friends, but it isn't very long.  Usually about twenty minutes or so.  Teachers also have lunch at the same time in the cafeteria too.  The cafeteria is huge but the cafeteria ladies are awesome and very helpful.  They tell you which line to be in, they help you with getting lunch - they help make it one of the highlights of the day.
• Gym
• Yes, you need to bring clothes to change for gym, but we don't shower.  We all change in the same locker room (boys and girls are in separate locker rooms) but those rooms also have stalls if you want to be private.  The phys ed teachers are very clear and we do fun stuff in gym and we have gym at least twice a week!
• Homework
• Yes, we do get a lot more homework than we used to in fifth grade, but usually we have a little more time to work on it.  Sometimes, like with big projects, we get a couple of weeks and teachers give us a page that tells us what part of the project is due and when it's due.  A "planner" is a real help in sixth grade. If you write assignments in it and use it each day you will be a LOT more organized and that will feel like a huge help to you! 
• Friendly Teachers
• People always ask us if the teachers are friendly or strict.  Sometimes they are both -- they are friendly, plus they are strict.  We like most of the teachers and once you get to know them, you will too. 
• Hard to make friends??
• No, it is not hard!!  That's one of the things that might be surprising.  Sixth graders come to this school from all over the City of Portland, and there's a lot of kids who don't know each other at first, and a lot who do.  The teachers mix it all up and you make friends pretty quickly here.
• Problems with school?
• There's lots of places we can get help if we are having trouble at school.  The teachers help a lot.  There's also special ed teachers who work in the same class sometimes and they help anyone who wants help.  If the problem is about other stuff, there's a counselor just for the sixth grade.  And as students, we can go to the principal or the assistant principal too if we need to tell them about some problem we notice. 
• Bullying
• Our school has done lots of big workshops about bullying and making sure it doesn't start, or stopping it right away if it does.  We learned that we can't stand by if we see someone bullied -- we need to tell someone.  We also learned that teachers and all the other adults here care about making the school a bully-free school.  A big group of sixth graders had a lot of leadership training last year to be mentors and helpers to the school and to new sixth graders.  This helps keep our school safe and fun.

 and finally, some random thoughts...

"Things I wish I had known before I started Middle School"

(as written by our 2005/2006 sixth graders)

"...that gym would be one of my favorite classes."

"...that the food was so good."

"...how big the school was."

"...how many kids are in a House."

"...if we had recess or not."

"...that we don't have a free class."

"...that I would have 8 new best friends."

"...that there are not a lot of mean people."

"...the teachers are nicer."

"...that I actually want to get to school earlier, to talk to my friends."

"...how long classes were."

"...that we barely have any time at our lockers."

"...that it is more fun than elementary school."

"...that we never get a flex time."

"...that there is no recess."

"...that they sell ice cream at lunch."

"...that the days are long."

"...more about the principal and vice principal."

"...that there was more than 30 kids in a gym class."

"...that it was easier than 5th grade."

"...that it was hard to open the lock on your locker."

"...that people say some things that are not true."

"...that I could get good grades."

"...that middle school would have a lot of homework."

"...that gym was more fun than Spanish."

"...that I need to really be organized."

"...my Math Facts."

"...how hard it is to get to a bottom locker."

"...that teachers are so nice."

"...how short lunch is."

"...my multiplication tables."

"...to get a bigger binder to hold my things."

"...that the lunch lines are sometimes like survival of the fittest."

"...that me and my old friend would become best friends again."

"...that it is fun this year."

"...that my friends were going to change."

"...why people are so noisy."

"...to get more pencils."

"...that sometimes you can lose friends easily."

"...that ice cream is addicting."

"...that it would change you in big ways."

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