The journey continues for our Alpenglow graduates.  We heard from them about how they felt prior to starting school as well as after their first day, and today we hear from them on how their first week went....

​Alpenglow graduate A: "The first week was pretty smooth sailing. The teachers were really nice and welcomed me into the class. I felt immediately part of the class. 

A bit surprising that everything is on a computer. I feel it's weird that everyone has a computer in front of them, all the time. At lunch, there are a group of boys that all have their computers in front of them playing games. This is how they spend their recess. Gaming. I like to be away from my computer at lunch.  

We don't get outside much but on days that we don't have PE (physical education) we have DPA (daily physical activity) and we have gone to the park or do something else like outside free time or wall ball. That's more fun than sitting in the classroom. 

There are some really loud boys in the class that I find really annoying. They seem to be constantly yelling for no reason. It is distracting and our teacher has to deal with them. It is challenging to get books and schedules organized, I haven't had to do that before.  It's also hard that our lockers are in the multipurpose room so sometimes we don't have access to them, therefore we have to haul books around for our next class as well."

Alpenglow graduate B: "My first week was fun and stressfull I guess.  I was pretty surprised at what happens at lunch, its loud and busy. All of the grade 7s and 8s {over 150 kids} are there so a lot of kids. Its so fun thought there’s a ping pong table witch is awesome!! And there is a foosball table, AWESOME!

There weren’t any challenges so that was cool.  I think my first week was Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "
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​Parent of student A: "Overall, it was a very successful week. Again, she was just so happy to be with friends. It made the transition so much easier. I think it's challenging for her (and likely the other Alpenglow students) to have to switch classes so often. At this point, it is likely keeping her interested but I am a bit concerned that they can't go very deep into a subject area nor flex their time into other classes if they want to continue to explore an area. 
Another thought - it's not really clear how parents can get involved in the student learning - the google classroom isn't totally set up or readily shared with parents. Perhaps this will come but it's not very obvious right now."

Parent of student B: "Her fist week as really good I think.  She loves her teacher and the fact that her other Alpenglow friends are in her homeroom.  She got her schedule and has it pinned up in her locker and at home and  is excited to learn what her option choices will be next week.  I still hear that it is loud and she is frustrated they they aren't allowed on the playground (as it is for the younger kids only), however she is excited to be able to leave the school ground at lunch as of next week (as we have given her permission to do this).

Today, we continue with our two Alpenglow graduates as they transition into a their new school.  Last time we heard how they were feeling before school started (you can read it here if you missed it), and today we find out how their first day went....
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​Alpenglow graduate A: "It was a pretty good day. I came up to the school and there were so many people, everywhere. I was with my friends and we walked through the school doors and found our classroom. I was SO excited to be with my 2 friends from Alpenglow.  It was good to walk in with my friends but I was focusing on all the people, everywhere. There was a miniature sign that said room 111 and we had to look through all the lists. The writing was so tiny so it took a bit. Then we saw a friend that knew her way around and she took us to the room. We didn't organize that but it was helpful. Then we sat down and our new teacher told us about herself and we made name tags. It was really cool to hear her story. We played bingo as a get to know you game. I met a couple of the other girls in the class. At lunch, it was SO loud in the gathering area. This was a bit hard. At recess, we weren't allowed to play in the park so we just walked around in circles. We wanted to play grounders. We didn't have a playground at Alpenglow so we were excited to have some equipment. We'll have to find something else to do - maybe we could get some equipment or balls to play with. It would have helped if someone told us what we could do. We went to an assembly, it didn't seem that important. They welcomed everyone and introduced teachers but it would have been fun to do something. Lockers - it took me 5 tries before I could open it. When I got it a few times I put it on my locker. I haven't been locked out yet so I'm happy. I'm also happy that we got the colourful lockers! They should make all the lockers colourful.  Overall, I felt pretty good about the first day."

Alpenglow graduate B: "​Today was my first day. When we got to the school we went inside and went to the gathering area. We found our class list and classroom number posted up on a bulletin board we went to our class and sat down, we then met our teacher.  We did attendance and we played a round of 'know your classmates bingo' witch was really fun. Then we read through the student hand book and got our lockers. We went out for snack and hung around outside until the warning bell rang so we went inside.Then we got somewhat logged into google classroom on our computers after everyone had somewhat figured out what it was we went outside and played ga ga boll until lunch.
After lunch we played a round of school charades witch was pretty awesome then we went to the welcome back assembly and that lasted until the end of the day.
 
So over all I think that it was a pretty great way to start a school year!!!!!!!!!"
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​Parent of graduate A: "I didn't attend the first day so I wasn't able to see the reactions to the new school, first hand. What I heard was that, overall, it went quite smoothly. She was happy with how nice her teacher was and that she was with her friends. I think the biggest impact on the day going well was that she didn't feel alone. There seemed to be a resounding emphasis on how many people are at the school and how loud it is, because of the volume of people. A fact that can't really be helped "

Parent of graduate B: "She loved it.  She really liked her teacher and her colourful locker.  She said it was loud, very loud and busy, and that people are on their computers all the time at recess and lunch.  She felt really relieved that her friends from Alpenglow were in her class and so she didn't feel alone."

With the many questions surrounding the transition from Alpenglow to Grade 7 in another school, we decided to ask some Alpenglow graduates and their parents a series of questions to give you a glimpse of how the students and parents were feeling in hopes that you will be better informed with how your child will transition.

Today we will share with you how the families are feeling before their first day at their new school....
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Alpenglow Graduate A: "I'm feeling nervous because I'm not totally sure what to expect. its a much bigger school and that makes me nervous because at Alpenglow I could name every kid. I'll miss getting to see all my 'little' buddies at recess and lunch. Before this weekend (when we learned which class we would be in) I was worried about not being with my Alpenglow friends. I've been with them for so long and I don't know very many other people. I really wanted a friend in my class. I'm excited about the options we'll get to have this year. This is fun because I get to try new things. I've heard the teachers are really nice. I think it's really unfortunate that I'm going to school with a broken wrist - that's different from last year. This makes me worried because I was really excited to play school sports. Hopefully, I'll heal quickly. I'm kind of worried I'm going to lock myself out of my locker because I don't really know how to do those kinds of locks. Last year I knew which class I was going to be in and I knew how everything worked. That made me feel comfortable and excited. Even though I came to school after it had already started (2 months into the year) I was excited to see my friends and my teacher. I loved the projects that we did at Alpenglow, I'm worried that the learning might not be as fun. I really liked being outside a lot as well and I think I'll miss that. There's a gym though - I'm excited about that."

Alpenglow Graduate B: "I feel nervous going into a new school but its good to have other friends going into it with me. It will definitely be very different"
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​Parent of Graduate A: "I didn't feel completely informed for the transition but I missed the info night offered in the spring...so that was chiefly my fault. So, unfortunately, I can't speak to whether that was helpful, I imagine it would have been. I did notice that the Alpenglow parents weren't added to the school mail out lists until the end of August. I felt ill-prepared in that respect - another family forwarded the Grade 7 supply list to me (as well as the other Alpenglow kids). An unfortunate miss. I wasn't able to access the parent portal to see what class my child was in so that added stress leading up to school. This is one small detail that could have been checked on with the Al[penglow parents as there was no real reason to access the system in the Alpenglow program.

There was definitely additional worry and anxiety with the transition (for my child), way more than in year's past. This is to be expected and we were able to talk through it, however, the transition seems to be greater than for other students in the division as they are largely moving with their entire cohort. I know time is a premium for admin and teachers during prep days before day 1 but if there was an hour for new students to see the school and ask questions that would be great."

Parent of Graduate B: "Information isn't very forthcoming..  This past week I had run in to a parent who has a child in the school already and found out they had received an information email already.  I contacted the school and it sounds like the contact emails for transitioning students might not have been passed onto the Admin Assistant - which I understand could be just a hiccup, but for new families, it's important to feel well informed and I don't.  I definitely have been grilling parents I know who have students in the school how the first day works and any other information I can get from them.  

​My daughter is nervous... she is nervous about her locker, carrying her books, finding classrooms and her computer and not really knowing how to use it.  We have definitely had more conversations surrounding 'back to school' than in the past few years."
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