Why do they call it middle school if it's so big? Why do they call it middle school if it's so big? (September 02, 2005)

Students and parents adjust to a phase of life
by Rebecca Guyon

"It's disconcerting that my baby is going into junior high school," said Emily Knaggs, the mother of Erik Knaggs, a new sixth grade student at Harvest Park Middle School. Many parents feel the same way Emily does when their child moves on from the safe little pond that is elementary school and jumps into middle school's deeper waters. With a larger campus, more students and rotating class schedule, the entire middle school structure is completely different from what students know in elementary school. For students, not only are they getting ready for a new school, they are also embarking on life as a teenager, and that isn't always easy.

Emily and Erik, along with father Trevor Knaggs, have been preparing for the move by going to parent and student orientations organized by the school and visiting the campus. For Erik, the campus isn't that foreign because Trevor is a Spanish teacher at Harvest Park and Emily works at the new speech therapy preschool located on campus. While he may be more familiar with the campus than most incoming sixth graders, he still has a whole other set of worries.

"It will be kind of strange because I'll be known as Mr. Knaggs' son," said Erik, who was a little reserved in expressing his thoughts on the change. But where he lacked the words, Emily was candid about what the family was going through.

"I just worry that he won't have anyone to have lunch with on the first day," she said.

Emily's fears are not entirely unfounded. While most students come with their elementary school friends in tow, there are still many students in the district that request transfers to go out of their attendance area. Such is the case for Erik who went to Vintage Hills Elementary School and would have attended Pleasanton Middle School. His family requested the switch because it made sense logistically with both parents working at Harvest Park.

Leaving old elementary school friends may make the switch a little harder, but the question of making new friends is something all sixth graders go through. The school tries to help students by holding an afternoon orientation a few weeks before school starts where they can meet their new classmates and having eighth grade students call the new sixth graders.

Fortunately, Erik is not entirely alone at Harvest Park. Family friend Sophie Lair also started her sixth grade year there through a switch from PMS, and for the same reasons as Erik. Her mom, Denise Lair, works with Emily at the preschool.

"I'm just nervous about how big the school is and where all my classes are going to be," Sophie said.

Sophie and Erik also know other students at the school through various extracurricular activities they've done in Pleasanton. When they went down to the school the week before classes started, the two were eager to run-off and compare schedules with their friends, leaving their moms to wade through the paperwork and, most importantly, sign many, many checks.

"I think I've spent more than $400 in the last two days," Denise said.

Prior to starting school, the sixth graders and their parents are asked to go to the school to turn in their forms, pick up their schedules and buy yearbooks, gym clothes, PTA memberships and lunch plans.

"Walking into this gym, I feel very overwhelmed," Emily said. "I just stood here and said, 'What line do I go get in?'" referring to the 10 different lines and stations that each student and parent must pass through before finally completing the day. "But Erik knew right where to go," she added - showing, once again, how the process may be slightly more troubling for parents then students. "Erik has been amazingly relaxed," Emily admitted.

But the move to middle school and the prospects of growing up, although overwhelming at times, also bring about many new and exciting opportunities that both students and their parents were looking forward to.

"He's a very artistic boy, and the art program at the elementary school level wasn't that fabulous, so I'm really hoping that he'll have more opportunities for his art," Emily said.

Middle school not only offers the chance to spend more time on additional topics, but also find new perspectives on old ones.

"To go from elementary school with one teacher, it is great for him to come to middle school where there are so many teaching styles and subjects," Trevor said.

Now that Erik and Sophie have completed their first week of sixth grade, they and their parents may begin to get settled into the routine. But of course, once they get use to middle school, they'll have to adjust again when it comes time for the next big leap: high school.

"This is easier than the high school jump," Emily said. "I have former students who come back from high school," Trevor added. "And they say it is much, much harder."

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