Orientation helps transfer students ease into Cranbury School
By: Madeleine Johnson
Some of them approach the sign-in table outside of the Cranbury School’s large assembly room a little shyly, not quite willing to scurry away from mom’s familiarity just yet. Others fly right into the room, eager to dash into the new environment and willing to embrace the thrills of being the new kid.
Apprehensive or not, they’re all about five minutes away from becoming eggs, dinosaurs and other beings in an ice-breaker activity that will have Cranbury’s new students erupting into one very loud gaggle of silliness.
Cranbury School’s new student orientation was held Tuesday, a day before the first day of school. It was designed to help kids who are new to the school, either because they recently moved into town or transferred from a private school, ease into their new surroundings.
Travis Janeic is a sixth-grade Cranbury resident who is switching to the Cranbury School after spending a few years as a student at St. Paul’s in Princeton. His down-to-earth perspective and calm demeanor suggest that Travis doesn’t feel that transferring is something to be anxious or nervous about.
"I’m not sure what to feel," Travis said. "I don’t think it’s going to be much different. It’s a bigger school, and now we get lockers."
While Travis is not quite sure what to expect from his new school, his mother, Karen, has high hopes for the upcoming academic year.
"I think that he’s going to have a great experience," Ms. Janeic said. "We’re both looking forward to meeting new people."
And if leaving his St. Paul’s friends was a concern, Travis’ athletic activities keep him in touch with the pals he won’t be able to see at recess every day.
"My best friend is on my ice hockey team," he said.
Friends are a huge part of any kids’ life, which is a driving force behind Cranbury School’s new student orientation. According to Joann Charwin, the school’s guidance counselor, this is where the program’s Welcoming Guide Program, a buddy system that pairs a new student with a Cranbury School veteran, comes into play.
"Every year for as long as I’ve been here, the new students coming in have a buddy assigned to them," Ms. Charwin said. "In grades one through five, the new student and their buddy are in the same class. In sixth, seventh and eighth grades, they’re usually in the same homeroom. This way, the new students have already made a friend by the first day of school."
This is Ms. Charwin’s tenth year, and every year she’s seen the success of the new students’ orientation and buddy system.
"It’s successful socially and emotionally," she said. "We check up on (the new students). We keep tabs on them. Parents come back and say, ‘We’re so glad our child had the Welcoming Guide Program.’"
The children selected to act as the program’s welcoming guides and eighth-grade peer leaders also see the value in helping the new students feel like they belong in Cranbury School. James Lindberg, a seventh-grader, has even come back to volunteer as a welcoming guide in the program for a second time.
"I’ve done this once before," James said. "I think it’s really good to have this program so new kids aren’t left out and have new friends."
Sean Babar, one of the eighth-grade peer leaders, enjoyed the opportunity to help out Cranbury School’s new kids.
"It’s pretty fun just seeing what new kids there are," Sean said. "I learned about their interests today."
After each pair of buddies took part in a one-on-one activity to get to know each other a little better, the new students, the welcoming buddies and Ms. Charwin sat in a circle and went over Cranbury School’s policies, social events and extracurricular activities. Ms. Charwin encouraged the new students to get involved in all that the school has to offer.
Ms. Charwin also made sure that new students knew where to go for any kind of help they’d need, and explained that the welcoming guides are here to help their buddies for much of the first semester, not just that day.
At the end of the orientation, the new students toured their new school. Marisa Giglio, a sixth-grader who moved to Cranbury from Lancaster, Pa., stood with Jenna Reilly before they embarked on their tour of the Cranbury School .
"I think the orientation went well," Marisa said. "I’m still a little nervous about meeting new people."
A new school is a chance to try new things and Marisa said that she’s planning on doing just that by trying out for the track and field team. While taking part in Cranbury School’s athletics will give her a chance to meet even more people, she and Jenna, a seventh-grader who moved to Cranbury from West Windsor, seemed to have forged a fast friendship.
While Jenna said that she misses her friends and her old school, which starts classes a day after Cranbury School does, she did find something that made the new student orientation especially enjoyable.
"I met her!" Jenna said, pointing at Marisa as she smiled broadly.