They came in last Tuesday bright-eyed and excited, full of nervous enthusiasm. They learned about their schedule and met all their teachers. We disappointed them by waiting until the next day to give them their lockers, the mark of maturity they’d dreamed about for week.
Then reality hit.
There was a lot of “stuff” to fit into their locker.
Five minutes of passing time suddenly seemed really short.
The A/B day schedule was confusing.
They forgot to bring things they needed and carried things they didn’t.
But slowly, oh so slowly…
Things began to fit in the locker.
They made it to class on time.
They made it to the right place at the right time.
They made new friends.
We are still working out some kinks, but our sixth graders are growing, stepping up to challenges, and taking root.
booksandbassets 
Out Middle School starts with 5th grade so our fifth graders came from a self-contained fourth grade elementary setting to departmental fifth grade in the Middle School complete with hallway lockers. It took them about a week to get into the swing of things. Watching them grow and become old pros was always exciting.
Sixth grade rocks! We have grades 5-8 in our middle school, but those lockers are a problem every year! Glad to hear you’re off to a wonderful start!