As the school year starts, we welcome hundreds of new freshmen to a new beginning. Here at Ballard, we are making sure that these new students feel comfortable. We surveyed 25 different freshmen about their experience so far. The consensus we gathered showed that most of the freshmen shared the same answers. The survey we asked consisted of eight questions and 25 students.
The first question we asked was, “How are you adjusting to high school?” To which the freshmen admitted to having an easy adjustment period. Some of them gave feedback and said that they had a hard time finding classes, but that now they have found routes that work. Another piece of feedback we got was that the students enjoyed having more freedom and teachers being more laid back than in middle school. For the second question, we asked the 25 students if Ballard is what they expected it to be like. This question is the one that has the most variety of answers.
A few people mentioned that it was additional stress and more than they saw coming. Molly McFarland says that the amount of homework was more than expected. Although she has been adjusting to other aspects well. A few others were admitting how they thought it would be different socially. For example, Lucy Strobel told us how she “expected people to be more mean and judgmental”. However she is adjusting comfortably and settling in better than she expected.
When students were asked if they felt that the Ballard community was welcoming, we received a pleasant response. The majority of the students said that they felt very welcomed at Ballard. A lot of the freshmen spoke about how they made new friends in the first few weeks of school.
For the 4th question, we had asked, “what are some ways that we can improve as a school?” This response was also very similar among the group. Some mentioned cleaner bathrooms, cleaner school in general, better and longer lunches, and to get more time for transitions. Though many of these things are not changeable, we will always listen to criticism and feedback!
When we asked the freshmen, “what are your goals for high school”, we heard a lot of hope for academic success. Most people spoke about getting good grades & maintaining their GPA as high as they can. We also had some responses stating they want to make new friends and socialize more with unfamiliar peers.
Another question asked was about what they were nervous about for high school, which came with parallels to the previous question. Most students were nervous about getting bad grades, taking the SAT and KSA tests, and maintaining friendships and sports on top of school.
To get further data on the freshmen at Ballard this year, they were asked about sports and clubs they were involved in, or plan to be involved in. Out of the 25 interviewed, 21 play/are going to play sports, and three more are involved in/going to be involved in clubs at Ballard.
The final question that we had asked them was “do you believe that your teachers are giving you the support that you need?”. We had an astonishing amount of freshmen that confidently admitted their teachers did in fact give them the support that they needed. Many students explained that their teachers are willing to answer questions and provide extra help. For a lot of students, that support made the high school transition much less overwhelming.
Overall, the freshmen experience is a mix of challenges and growth, but most students agreed that they are adjusting to high school in their own way.
We wish the best of luck and hope the students take in every moment of their first year of high school!