Last spring, the Middle School administration identified an opportunity to rethink the first two days of school. They challenged themselves with a few big questions: How could they be intentional about emphasizing, right from the start, our core values and expectations? How might they infuse fun and community-building activities to find joy and welcome our newest students? How could they ensure they prioritized students’ organizational strategies and executive functioning before the first assignment was due? 

The answer was a “soft start,” which is what they termed these first two modified days of school on Thursday, August 17, and Friday, August 18. During both days, Middle School students experienced a blend of classroom time with their new teachers, community-building with advisories, and activities designed to both engage and teach. 

Jessica Shoup was named Dean of Student Support in April 2023. In her new role, she worked tirelessly over the summer to design, plan, and execute this intentional schedule for students and faculty. “We needed to find the delicate balance of building trust, developing structure, and reinforcing our core values as a school and the expectations within the Middle School,” says Shoup. 

A sampling of the soft start schedule: 

• Julia Walthall-Eisman, Educational Technologist and science teacher, crafted a presentation designed to help students with their digital workflow, which included helpful reminders about organization and responsible technology use.
• Erica Moore, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, challenged students to be fearless in connecting and accepting people from all backgrounds, in addition to providing students with a shared vocabulary surrounding diversity.
• Middle School Counselor Sarah Kilby and Hawks Quest Facilitator Scott Moulton led activities that encouraged students to physically move beyond their comfort zones before explaining that some stress and anxiety can be productive. They also discussed the differences between healthy and unhealthy coping mechanisms in order to help students manage stress throughout the school year.
• Middle School leaders Jessica Shoup and Todd Ballaban met with students to reinforce the importance of our honor code and why acting with integrity is an expectation, not a desire of students. Specifically, they challenged 8th graders to lead by example, which often comes in the form of small behaviors like cleaning up after themselves in Founders’ Hall.
• Seventh grade students practiced leadership in action by pairing with a sixth grader and walking that student’s schedule to learn locations before the start of classes. 

The lessons learned in these early days will be reinforced throughout the 2023–24 school year, setting up Middle school students for success both inside and outside the classroom.