The document discusses strategies to help support incoming 9th grade students through the transition to high school. It suggests creating a Freshmen Academy that isolates 9th graders into their own classes and program to ease the adjustment. Research shows transition programs can lower dropout rates from 24% to 8%. Ninth graders report less structure and support from teachers compared to middle school. The Freshmen Academy proposed would provide consistency across core classes, teach students organizational skills, clearly communicate agendas and objectives, assign and check homework regularly, and provide a clear syllabus and formative assessments. This is aimed to better support 9th graders through the pivotal first year of high school.

1. How we can help our incoming 9th graders
THE FRESHMEN ACADEMY

2. According to betterhighschools.org, “the first year of
high school is pivotal, but the transition into high
school is often characterized as a time when students
experience a decline in grades and attendance (Barone,
Aguirre-Deandreis, & Trickett, 1991), [and] school
systems must support first year high school students to
improve their chances of success.”
THE RESEARCH

3. • One strategy to address the challenges facing freshmen is the creation of
ninth grade academies that are apart from the rest of the high school or
the creation of separate standalone schools (Reents, 2002).
• In schools in which transition programs are fully operational, researchers
saw a dropout rate of 8%, while schools without transition programs
averaged 24% (Reents, 2002).
• Student self-reports indicate that more transition support would ease their
transition to high school and could help. Compared to their perceptions
reported the previous year, ninth graders perceive less support and
monitoring from teachers and principals and generally like school less than
they did in middle school. On average, ninth graders report being less
involved in school activities and perceive the need for more school
organization. They also indicate lower self-esteem and higher rates of
depression than middle school students (Barber & Olsen, 2004).
STATISTICS

4. • Plymouth South and Plymouth North
• Norwood
• Beverly
• Fall River
• Brockton
• Lowell
• Salem
• Randolph
• Revere
• Fitchburg
OTHER DISTRICTS WHO HAVE
FRESHMEN ACADEMIES

5. The Freshmen Academy will make the transition for 9th graders a
little easier by creating consistency among the core subjects.
Students will know what to expect when they walk into all their
classrooms.
• Binder
• Agenda
• Homework
• Essential Questions
• Bell Work and Exit Slips
• Syllabus
HOW WE CAN HELP

6. Organization is a skill, and if we expect our students to be
organized, we owe it to them to teach organization.
• Sections of the binder
• Binder checks
• Hole-punched handouts
• Accountability
THE BINDER

7. It is important for our students to understand both
what they are doing, and why they are doing it.
• Post a daily agenda
• Review the agenda, objectives, and expectations
• Post essential questions and link those questions to
each unit
AGENDA AND ESSENTIAL
QUESTIONS

8. • Homework will be assigned regularly.
• Homework will be checked every day that it’s due.
HOMEWORK

9. We need to show students not only what we expect of them, but
what they can expect from us.
• A course syllabus for each quarter or semester that outlines the
curriculum, assignments, and grading policies.
• Bell work will be done at the beginning of every class every day.
• Exit slips or tickets to leave will be done at the end of every
class, and can also serve as a formative assessment.
SYLLABUS, BELL WORK, AND EXIT
SLIPS