7th-Graders Have Things Own Way

Summer vacation ended early for some seventh-graders in the Saddleback Valley Unified School District as they traded in their boogie boards for backpacks on the first day of school Wednesday--a day earlier than the eighth-graders.

The goal of the orientation program, being tested in the district for the first time, is to give seventh-graders an opportunity to explore their new schools, make friends and find their classrooms without fear of pressure or intimidation by older students.

“It’s way better without the eighth-graders,” said Carolina Mladineo, 12, of Rancho Santa Margarita. “They don’t bug you, and you get to know the school better without them.”

By going back to school a day early, seventh-graders also get individual attention from teachers and have a chance to find their way around campuses that are much larger than the elementary schools they left behind.

Bob McQueen, Rancho Santa Margarita Intermediate School’s acting principal, said district officials had debated the idea for quite a while. His school, Los Alisos and La Paz intermediate schools are trying it out this year, and Serrano Intermediate may follow in 1997.

“The transition between sixth and seventh grade is traumatic enough,” McQueen said. “This way, the seventh-graders get undivided attention.”

At Rancho Santa Margarita, more than 650 seventh-graders in new shoes and back-to-school clothes were greeted by welcoming signs as they met their teachers and toured the school, learning their way to classrooms, restrooms, the gymnasium and theater.

Later, at a barbecue lunch, students danced the popular Macarena and chatted with teachers, administrative staff members and classmates. The orientation day, students said, helped to put them at ease.

Scott Wilger, 12, said he is ready now for the new school year and not a bit nervous. “It’s cool just being on campus and seeing old friends,” he said.