As summer came to its annual end, households of freshmen students were waking up to new routines, policies, and opportunities. A week and a half ago the freshmen students were welcomed with their own special transition day.

On Aug. 16, freshmen were welcomed and brought to Kruger for a ‘good morning’ pep rally. Along with the class of 2026, the band, admins, counselors, principals, teachers, and volunteers were in attendance. Many freshmen, like Liam Alonzo, found it entertaining, while others were very much still asleep.

Afterwards, the students were released to run through a shorted bell schedule. From freshmen there was an overwhelming agreement the school was much bigger than their previous.

“It’s like walking a marathon,” freshman Arrie Slade said. A similar response came from Ariel Tran, “I’m out of breath every passing period,” Tran said.

Luckily students were able to spot room numbers or get help from teachers. “I found my classes easily by following the numbers on the walls,” Nathan Locke said. Other students like Kennedy Brown asked teachers in the hall.

After all seven 15 minute class periods, the large class reconciled in the commons for lunch. Although the freshmen class size is 50 students larger than last year, it wasn’t as troublesome as one would imagine. “It was easy finding my friends and less crowded [than middle school],” freshman Keeling Monk said.

The next half of the day was reserved for stations. Each station offered information on the new routines freshmen would be part of at their new school. To organize the many students, groups were assigned by last name alphabetically, just as counselors are assigned. The groups were divided among the four stations and rotated every 30 minutes.

One of the four was freshman bonding led by the softball team. Here students participated in minute-to-win-it games with each other. Students like Omar Mastouri found it funny and exciting winning together, but also losing, especially when it was an Oreo falling on the floor.

A club tour was also being held in the small gym as a second station. Throughout the space different clubs set up tables and encouraged new sign-ups.

“It was crowded but I learned a lot,” freshman James Ellis said. Many other club attendees noted the heat and busy gym, however clubs like Asian Culture Club still had a long list of successful sign-ups.

On the other end of Main Street, two other stations were being held. In Krueger Field House, the alphabetical groups were met by their assigned counselor and Assistant Principal. Here, both administrators presented the standards, expectations, and policies of high school.

A short walk over, in the PAC, the emotional support counselors, Mrs. Propp and Ms. Ligons, were giving out important advice about mental health maintenance and adjustment to a new school. “We wanted to orientate our new students and let them know what kind of support services that we have on campus,”Mrs. Propp said.

Joining the counselors were three sophomores, Maggie Lin, Emily Dong, and Jason Sha. After Mrs. Propp and Ms. Liggon’s presentation, Lin, Dang, and Sha had the floor to answer questions asked by the freshmen audience.

Once again, the new school year started with a successful welcome to the freshmen fish. However, it would not have been possible without the staff and volunteers who dedicated much of their time to making this an easy sailing day for the new students.