Fostering a Sense of Community as Students Make the Transition from Middle School to High School
Moving from middle school to high school can be exciting, intimidating and scary at the same time. Students leave behind a comfortable and familiar place and step into new surroundings with older teenagers and a focus on preparing for college and career.
At Da Vinci Schools, the vast majority of our incoming 9th grade students are introduced to Da Vinci many months before the first day of school in August through in-person info sessions, tours, community-building orientation events, and more. To help students seamlessly join the Da Vinci community, school leaders, teachers and staff provide a warm welcome as caring adults with a ‘you can ask me anything, we’re here to help you’ attitude.
Incoming students attend one of Da Vinci’s five small high schools (Da Vinci Communications, Da Vinci Connect, Da Vinci Design, Da Vinci RISE, or Da Vinci Science). More than 40 years of research data has borne out the findings that small schools are safer, provide more personalization, result in higher academic achievement, and provide opportunities for closer relationships with peers and staff. Da Vinci students enjoy the best of both worlds with small learning communities coupled with big-school resources such as high-end facilities, CIF sports, performing arts, and more.
“Our whole school is invested in welcoming our 9th grade class,” said Erin D’Souza, principal of Da Vinci Communications. “We’re always excited to give our new students – both our incoming 9th graders and our transfer students – a very warm welcome to Da Vinci. Everyone adopts a ‘you can ask me anything, we’re here to help you in this transition, we’re here to make this smooth.’ Getting to know people from the principals, to the teachers, to the 11th and 12th grade students is really helpful to make Da Vinci feel not like a scary place, but a welcoming place,” she continued.
For incoming students and families, Da Vinci offers multiple orientation events (they vary somewhat from school to school) to learn everything students need to succeed and transition smoothly into high school:
Info Meetings & Tours: Incoming students and families have numerous opportunities to visit and tour Da Vinci high schools through enrollment information meetings and tours as well as student-led Community Tours. During January/February of each year, all 8th grade students at Wiseburn Middle School and Da Vinci Connect are able to visit Da Vinci high schools when schools are in session. These tours are conducted by student ambassadors and are a great introduction to Da Vinci’s project-based learning curriculum, career pathways, extracurricular activities, and more.
New Families Welcome Webinars: The school principals at Da Vinci Communications, Da Vinci Connect, Da Vinci Design and Da Vinci Science all hosted New Families Welcome Webinars in June to share detailed information about drop-off and pick-up, day-to-day schedules, classes, extracurricular activities, clubs, lunch, and more. Incoming families were invited to submit questions in advance.
Wolf Pack Days: Da Vinci Communications, Da Vinci Design, and Da Vinci Science all hosted Wolf Pack Days in June that give incoming 9th grade students another opportunity to tour campus, connect with peers, and take Math, English and/or Spanish assessments. Led by upperclassmen, these half-day orientation events are a mix of community building, fun activities (such as scavenger hunts) to get to know their school, and an academic component. Da Vinci Connect High hosted orientation events for new incoming students in all grades 9-12.
Summer Bridge: This summer, Da Vinci hosted an optional Summer Bridge program of four half-days, providing incoming 9th grade students an opportunity to brush up on their study skills and basic fundamental skills in Math and English.
Back to School Welcome Events: Incoming 9th Grade Student & Parent Orientations in August are designed for students and parents to tour their school (if they haven’t already), get all their questions answered, and hear important school updates. All high schools also host Back to School Nights in September for all grade levels. Da Vinci RISE also hosts orientation sessions on the specifics of its hybrid learning model, welcome community circles to foster connections and collaborations among students, and orientation events with its co-location partners, A Place Called Home and Richstone Family Center.
9th Grade Overnighter: Da Vinci Communications, Da Vinci Design and Da Vinci Science each host an Overnighter trip to set the tone and culture of their school. The Overnighter is often cited as a highlight of students’ high school experience. Held a couple of weeks after school begins, students spend one night on an overnighter trip in Running Springs with their peers, Wolf Pack leaders, school leaders, and the 9th grade teaching team. A “no electronic devices” rule means that students plug into real life face-to-face with each other. The goals of the Overnighter experience are to build a positive school culture that is extremely inclusive and welcoming to all people, free of bullying and cliques; to play, have fun, make at least one new friend, and leave the experience with a sense of belonging and connectedness that will last throughout their time in high school. With activities such as swimming, a giant swing, circle time, soccer, cabin time, and more, the Overnighter trip is free for students and a wonderful way for freshmen to start their high school experience.
We can’t wait to see our new incoming 9th grade students, the Class of 2028, on our campuses in August! We warmly welcome all new and returning students to the 2024-25 school year!
