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Schools

North Branford High School Welcomes Freshmen at Orientation

It's onward and upward for the new kids at North Branford High School.

Yes, it’s that time again….

Freshman Orientation for North Branford High School started yesterday and right now the freshmen are at Deer Lake.

Principal Todd Stoeffler and Assistant Principal Carter Welch led the orientation and though they did not yet have a final count of those attending, Stoeffler stated that typically about 85 percent of the incoming freshmen attend. This year’s freshman class consists of 170 students. 

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“Generally, if kids get to the first day [of orientation], they have a really positive experience here and, unless they have some sort of scheduling conflict, they always go on the second day," said Stoeffler.

The second day’s activities take place at Deer Lake. Today, Aug. 23, students are focusing on problem-solving by participating in tasks like how to cross a river with the tools on hand. 

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It is intended, he says, to be less competitive and more about “leadership and initiative activities so it takes a lot of communication, leadership, team-building; it’s all about unity.”

On Aug. 22, the students were introduced to the administrative team of the high school and then watched a DVD, which was actually produced by the upperclassmen, “A Day in the Life of a Freshman.”

Stoeffler says this serves to introduce freshmen to the school schedule as well as giving them “key pieces of advice from graduates of last year and current faculty about getting off to a good start. The two big themes that come through in the DVD is getting off to a good start academically and making decisions with friends, with staff; and also being involved.”

Following the DVD, the students heard remarks from Superintendent Scott Schoonmaker and then Mark Mainella, a motivational speaker, addressed the themes of character development and having a positive outlook.

After the presentations, the new freshmen were shown around the school by upper-class volunteers, who are National Honor Society and  Student Council students who first provide pointers in a classroom and then take small batches of the freshmen on guided tours of the facility.

One of those upperclassmen was senior Shannon Anderson.

"It's just to get them excited about high school and not really to be scared because I know it can be intimidating coming into a new school with a lot of new people and being the youngest kids there; it’s a little scary at times," Anderson said. "We’re asking them about what they’re afraid of and a lot of them are afraid of getting lost, so that’s what the tour is for.”

One of her charges for the tour is John Acker. When asked about starting high school, he says he is "a little nervous, I guess, more excited, though; new experiences, new group of people. So far the upperclassmen don’t seem so scary, I suppose.” 

There did, in fact, seem to be an excellent rapport between the upperclassmen and their wards, nicely facilitating the familiarization process (see photos and video).

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