First Day Full of Transitions for Braintree Students

Outside Hollis Elementary School, parents stood in a half-circle around the front doors. Some cried, others beamed with pride and also excitement at the return to their school-year schedule.

"It's refreshing," said Anthony Federico, whose son William entered the second grade this year.

"You don't have to be a juggler anymore, you can get back into your routine."

Staff at Hollis ease the first-day transition by efficiently separating grades, and by not allowing parents inside. There are some tears, Principal Timothy MacDonald said, but the students are quick to adapt.

"Once they get inside the building, they are really OK," he said.

The biggest change for younger students is going from a half-day kindergarten program to full-day in first grade. However, with the advent of full-day kindergarten in Braintree, students are increasingly experiencing a regular school schedule earlier. This fall, 24 students entering first grade at Hollis went to FDK last year.

Throughout the Braintree school system, especially as students move into middle and high school, the first day is full of new experiences and fresh challenges. On Wednesday morning, Braintree Patch followed Superintendent Dr. Maureen Murray as she visited Braintree High School, East Middle School and Hollis.

Dr. Murray took over as superintendent from Dr. Peter Kurzberg this summer. She and Dr. Kurzberg had split up visiting the schools on the first day – Dr. Murray served previously as Assistant Superintendent – but Wednesday was her first time at the helm.

"We want to wish everybody well," Dr. Murray said. "It's exciting for me to remind me why I got into this job in the first place."

At BHS, Headmaster James Lee stood with School Resource Officer Lisa Fahey in the back of the lobby. Freshmen milled around, looking at their schedules taped to the windows, occasionally asking Lee to guide them to homeroom.

Starting Wednesday with grade nine only allows freshmen to acclimate without the anxiety that older students can introduce just with their presence, Lee said. 

"This is an imposing building. Sixteen hundred kids is an imposing environment to walk into," he said.

Many freshmen will turn quiet on Thursday when 10th, 11th and 12th graders return, but that too is part of the transition.

"Tomorrow it's about finding where you're at in this broad school environment," Lee said.

Entering high school means learning to become an independent thinker, figuring out your own home work requirements, your schedule, how to self-advocate if you need help, Lee said. "All the sudden these are skills that become very important."

Braintree students really begin their path toward independence, in high school and beyond, when they enter sixth grade. At that age, students at East Middle School get their first locking locker, learn a complicated schedule and line up for lunch by themselves.

"They're starting to get a little bit more freedom and responsibility," said Principal John Sheehan as he directed cars Wednesday morning on the lower level of the newly-paved East parking lot.

Sheehan said his goal is also to ease the transition for students. Grade six gets to lunch 15 minutes early to learn the policies, and the first half of the day is filled with primers on lockers, schedules and more. Teachers are flexible with punctuality as students battle with their new locker combinations.

"Within a week they've got it down," Sheehan said.

Back at Hollis, first grade teacher Kerri Waite has decorated her classroom anew for this school year. It is bright and colorful, nearly every inch of wall covered in posters and educational games. 

To bring fun to her lessons, Waite turned to Monsters Inc. as a theme, coinciding with the sequel Monsters University being a big hit at the movies this summer.

"You just want them to be excited and happy," she said.