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Center Eases Freshman Transition They Have Their Own Building on Campus, Share Facilities and Events With Main High School.

Posted on: Monday, 15 August 2005, 18:00 CDT

KINGSLAND -- Like many students attending the first day of classes Tuesday at Camden County High School's Ninth Grade Center, Taylor Dixon felt a small degree of uncertainty and lots of excitement.

Taylor, 14, said her first-day jitters are simple to explain. It's the first day of high school and everything she does the next four years could determine her success as an adult.

"My stomach's in knots trying to find my way around school," she said. "But I'm excited about being in high school."

The transition to high school is a little easier in Camden County because of the Ninth Grade Center. The free-standing building on the Camden High campus allows freshmen to share all of the facilities and participate in many of the events, while giving ninth-graders the time to ease into high school life.

"I'm more comfortable in the Ninth Grade Center," Taylor said.

Annamay Dorsey, 14, said she likes the added responsibility of being a high school student, but it may take a while before she feels comfortable.

"It's kind of nerve-racking," Annamay said.

An open house held Friday, where students toured the school and met their teachers, was a big help in preparing for the coming year, Annamay said.

"When I was at the open house, I was really excited," she said. "I felt pretty confident."

Even with the open house, which as many as 75 percent of incoming freshmen attended, students arriving to school still needed help from faculty members.

Once faculty members directed freshmen to their homerooms, students spent most of the morning reviewing school rules and the importance of earning good grades and getting their new lockers.

Lead Assistant Principal John Tucker, chief administrator at the Ninth Grade Center, said more than 900 freshmen will attend classes there this year. By the end of the week, Tucker said, most students will settle into a routine and be more comfortable attending classes.

"This is your school," Tucker said. "Keep it safe and let us know if anyone has something they shouldn't have."

Charles Higdon, a health and physical education teacher, explained to students in his homeroom class that each of them is entering high school with a clean slate, regardless of what they've done in the past.

"You guys have a great opportunity," he said. "We don't know you. We don't know if you got in trouble. You can choose to be successful."

The students who work hard will succeed, regardless of their aptitude, he said.

"The habits you establish now are the ones you will take with you the rest of your life," he said.

By January, students at the Ninth Grade Center will have another major change when construction of a new wing is completed, Tucker said.

The new wing will add more classrooms and labs, and will probably affect teachers as much as students, Tucker said.

While there will be some students who struggle to find their classrooms once the new wing opens, some teachers, like Higdon, will finally have a classroom they can call their own.

Tucker said some teachers "float" between as many as three different classrooms because there currently aren't enough for every teacher.

Edwin Davis, assistant superintendent for the Camden school district, said teachers without permanent classrooms understand they have to wait for the new facility to be completed.

"Any time you are crowded, you have certain numbers of teachers who float," he said. "Every single teacher, they want their own classroom."

The Ninth Grade Center isn't the only big change that will impact Camden County schools this year. Construction of the new St. Marys Middle School should be completed in time to open sometime after the Christmas holidays, Davis said.

Once the new middle school opens, Davis said school administrators will decide the fate of the existing St. Marys Middle School.

"We're not about to board it up and close it," he said.

Instead, the school building will be used for conference and office space. And the school could be used for classroom space if the Pentagon closes New London Naval Submarine Base and relocates roughly 3,200 sailors and civilian employees to nearby Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base.

"We feel like we're going to be prepared either way," Davis said.

Other school districts in Southeast Georgia will have their first day of classes soon, including Lowndes County today; Wayne County on Thursday; Charlton, McIntosh and Coffee counties on Friday; Ware, Brantley and Pierce counties, as well as Valdosta city schools on Monday; and Glynn County on Wednesday, Aug. 10. gordon.jackson@jacksonville.com, (912) 729-3672

Source: Florida Times Union

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