The aroma of excitement, mixed with ice cream and pizza, was in the air at Saxe Middle School Friday night, June 3, as Saxe fifth-graders showed the ropes to next year’s class of fifth-graders. Fourth-graders and their parents were welcomed to Saxe by a host of student tour guides and volunteers to give current fifth-graders a “chance to show off their school and for the fourth graders to feel welcomed in,” Fifth-grade Principal Dr. Steven Clapp said.
There are approximately 340 incoming fifth graders among East, South, and West elementary schools, which is 10 students more than the current Saxe fifth grade class, according to parent and event coordinator Janet Fonss.
“For many, this will be their first exposure to New Canaan’s only public middle school, which can appear to be daunting at first,” Fonss told the Advertiser. “We wanted to make this a fun night for both parents and the kids.”
“The purpose of the night is for the incoming 5th graders and their parents to become familiar with the middle school in a fun and relaxed atmosphere,” Fonss said.
Tours included a walk around Saxe halls highlighting the cafeteria, classrooms, gyms, and lockers, among other stops along the way. The tours were confined to two of the hallways where fifth graders spend a majority of their time at Saxe.
“It’s intimidating, so we try to keep it simple to make sure the parents and the kids, mostly, don’t feel overwhelmed by it,” Clapp said.
Students seemed to enjoy the event as they loaded up on pizza and sugar before heading to the gym to dance and play games with other students. During the tour, one student said, “This place is huge,” while another said, “I can’t wait to start here.”
Clapp said over 100 fifth-grade volunteers were trained how to treat the fourth graders and give tours and had to miss recess Friday to prepare for the event. “We went through the process and the talking points we wanted them to have and then we walked them through the tour,” Clapp said.
“They just want to be a part of the process,” said Fonss. “They wanted to have ownership of being able to talk to people.”
According to Fonss, students did a lot of the work including decorating and setting up the school for the event and running pizza back and forth at the event.
“Who has more expertise in coming into fifth grade than a fifth grader who just came in,” said Clapp, “They have this new sense of confidence. A year ago they were like ‘I don’t know’ and now they are the experts.”
Next for the 4th graders, as they approach their four years of middle school, is a day at Saxe. All the classes will spend at least a couple hours at the middle school to spend time with fifth graders and learn the ropes from another angle. The students will also be assigned a homeroom, according to Clapp.
The 4th graders’ day visit this week “will be a little bit more thorough and they’ll get to know what teachers and classrooms are like,” Clapp said.
Local sponsors Pinocchio’s Pizza provided pizza, while Baskin Robbins provided ice cream and prizes. MacKenzie’s and Crewcuts also donated prizes for the event.
Saxe 5th graders, red shirts, showing 4th graders the ins and outs of lockers. — Rich Durazzo, Jr. photo
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