Every year the new freshman class walks into Walpole High looking scared and intimidated by the upperclassmen. This year, the parents of the 305 freshman will have an advantage that no one else has ever had before-Freshman-Parent Orientation Night. This will be held at six o’clock on September 22nd in the auditorium right before the annual back-to-school night. The Guidance Department is welcoming any parent of a member of the Class of 2015 to attend.
The students already received their overview of high school during the annual Freshman Orientation, where they got a tour of the school and even got the chance to meet their teachers. Now it’s the parents turn. The purpose of this new orientation is to provide parents with a general overview of Walpole High School. According to Jen Dolan, Head of the Guidance Department, this meeting is “basically to go over important things they should expect.” There are many differences between Middle School and High School, and the orientation will hopefully make those differences easier to comprehend and take on. Parent-Orientation will let parents know what to expect now that they have children in high school. They will get a look into all services offered by the guidance department and will also get the chance to meet all the members of the administration and each guidance counselor individually.
Other student expectations will be announced to the parents at this time. Mrs. Dolan also said that they “will be going over standardized testing and when the students will be taking them.” Along with the Math, English, and Biology MCAS the freshman will be taking in high school, the SAT’s and ACT’s are new to them. Orientation will inform the parents of these tests so they are more familiar with them. Mrs. Dolan says, “the new attendance policy is a huge change” so it will be another topic of discussion. This year the attendance policy is based upon the number of absences from each class, no longer on school day attendance. Parents will be told that if their child exceeds the number of unauthorized absences permitted per class each semester they will receive no credit for that class for that semester. Parent-Orientation will tell parents that their children need to start becoming “self-advocates” and take responsibility for their actions during the next four years at Walpole High School.
The focus is always on the freshman students as they begin their high school journey, sometimes the parents are overlooked and they can be just as nervous as the students-if not more. Freshman-Parent Orientation night will teach them how to help their kids navigate their way through high school and will make the transition less overwhelming for the adults. After the information-packed hour, the parents of the Class of 2015 will be dismissed to join all the other parents for back-to –school night.
