Bridge to CRLS 2024: Cambridge Community and Schools Come Together to Welcome New 9th Graders

In the final days of August, just before the labor day trips and new school jitters, 350 new ninth graders lined up (many with their parents) for the third annual Bridge to CRLS day, a project coordinated by the Agenda for Children OST and Cambridge Public Schools and designed to give new 9th graders a more significant introduction to the giant, looming school building before them: Cambridge Rindge and Latin (CRLS). On Tuesday, Sept 3rd, all 2000+ high schoolers would converge on CRLS for the first day of school. But for today, it was just the school’s staff, the new ninth graders, and a robust collection of community partners, all there to ease their transition to the school. ​

The project, now in its 3rd year, originated in community meetings of the Middle School Network (a network of OST programs and school folks working with middle schoolers) about how many young people and families struggle in this ‘transition year,’ particularly the huge transition from middle (“upper”) school and high school. (Want more info on the process of how we got here? Check out this post). Community members highlighted young people’s concerns about the school building and the massive social and emotional changes that come with shifting from a school of 350 to a school of 2,000 students. While many of these changes were seen as normal developmental milestones, a survey of all the transition supports provided by schools showed a necessary focus on the technical aspects of high school transition (signing up for classes, understanding credits). Many community members (in addition to school staff) felt that the wealth of information held by alums and current upperclassmen could be leveraged to help students preview and manage the more personal aspects of the massive transition. 

This year, the content on the social & emotional transition to high school was split between two experiences: 

• a day of workshops for 8th graders employed by the Mayor’s Program in mid-August 
• an event (called Welcome Day) for all 9th graders in late August, the Thursday before the first day of school

Bridge to CRLS Event #1

Mayor’s Program Workshop Day in mid-August: 
Facilitated by recent CRLS alums, Mayor’s Program staff, and providers who work with high school students through RAY (Reaching All Youth) Network, this was an in-depth community building day focused on transitioning from 8th grade to 9th grade  55 teens attended, adding this day to their 6 weeks of their job placement for the summer, and they were split into community building groups and rotated through three strands of content. 

• Tours of the building given by recent CRLS alums (‘This is my CRLS’ was the theme, focused on personal stories) 
• Workshops on peer relationship scenarios (friends feeling left out, skipping class, friends dealing with difficult family situations), facilitated by teens and adults from Mental Health Access and Greg Green from the Agenda for Children OST & Cambridge Public Schools
• Workshops on habits of success, created by MSYEP Liaisons (recent alums) based on AVID curriculum and their own reflections about the student they wanted to be and how to get there

After the rotations, all teens met at the Field House for celebratory games, food, and raffle prizes. MSYEP liaisons led games of basketball, volleyball, giant-sized games, and beading. SHADE brought snow cones, popcorn, and cotton candy machines.  Teens won/earned raffle tickets during the workshops. Raffle prizes included notebooks, pens, art supplies, candy, aquarium passes, kayaking and ice-skating tickets (the candy prizes received the most raffle tickets). In total, 15 teens won prizes.

​Post evaluation from students was very positive, and there was great energy throughout the event. Some comments from students include: 

What is one take-away from this event? 

• the raffle 

• that ik a lot more ppl in Cambridge then I thought 

• The tour 

• good habits 

• Made new friends  

• Be good in highschool 

• cope with ur problems safely 

• Always get better  

• Manager feelings good 

• i made new friends 

• To work hard 

• I know how the building looks 

• There are many ways for me to improve my work habits 

• To get ready for high school  

• Food 

• I made a new friend 

• i got to make friends  

• Listen 

• Hard work  

• Hard work pays off 

• How to build healthy habits 

• Friendship 

• I feel like i know more abt the school more  

• To work hard to get to my goals in life and in school 

• friends 

• figured out that time management is key 

• to talk to new people 

• ready for high school 

• gamble 

• uhm it was fun and nice 

• There are always adults I can go to when needed. 

• The workshops 

• Don't be afraid to ask 

• getting candy 

• How to get around 

• the tour 

• success 

• I love it 

• mayors cool 

• learned a lot about CRLS 

• It's good for high school 

• I won colored pencils 

• the food

Bridge to CRLS Event #2

Welcome Day for all rising 9th Graders 
This event, open and advertised to all rising 9th graders, is a partnership between the staff at CRLS (particularly the Deans of Students), Cambridge Public Schools/Agenda for Children OST staff and community partners. In keeping with the original goals of the project, the event was designed to help students check off a few of the technical aspects (getting student IDs and chromebooks, for instance) that often take up most of the orientation time on the actual first day of school. In addition to getting these things done, the planning team focused on giving students a facilitated tour experience in a group of their peers, hearing from upperclassmen, and meeting new adults they did not know.

What happened at the event?: Due to the large number of students (about 500 rising 9th graders) the day was split into two waves of students, starting with students from Learning Communities C & R. As soon as we approached 10am, students were lined up for registration, making nametags and started off their day listening to a panel of 12-15 Peer Mentors in the auditorium. The panel included a wide range of upperclassmen, representing all parts of CRLS, who answered questions students had submitted on their RSVP forms, from technical issues (how do you not get lost?) to common concerns (how do you make friends in your lunch block?). 

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After the panel, 9th graders were split into tour groups, each group led by Peer Mentors, and went for a tour of CRLS (using this Bridge to CRLS Tour Highlights route) including a stop to get their ID Photos taken and a stop to pick up their chromebook. Pro-Tips about certain spaces were set up around the building, and Peer Mentors shared the basic in addition to personal stories. All tours ended out front of the high school, where the Welcome Day celebration (aka ‘fun stuff’ was waiting).

While the first wave of students started out doing the ‘fun stuff,’ the second wave of students (LC-L and LC-S) arrived and registration began again over by the arts building. Peer Mentors started the second panel and split into tour groups with the second wave of students. Tours ended out front for that group around 1:30, and all the celebration tables were open until 2:30. 
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At the celebration, students could play games, get popcorn, sno-cones and ice cream, earn raffle tickets by talk to community resources tables (or another adults) and use those tickets to enter a raffle for candy and gift cards to the CRLS school store. They also had the option to airbrush-paint their own “Class of 2028” t-shirt, using a stencil designed specifically for the events by the Community Arts Center. ​

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How many students came to join in? In total, 365 students attended the event, about 71% of the freshman class. Outreach efforts had been focused on getting the word out to young people & their families, particularly eighth graders designated as ‘priority’ for the 9th grade transition by their Upper Schools through a holistic process considering multiple factors and voices. 51% of those ‘priority’ students attended the event, an increase from years prior and considered a success by event organizers.

What did students think?: 
The exit survey taken by students (226 responses) asked very simple questions that showed the goals in clear, simple terms: 

• I learned something new 
  • 81.4% said  “very true” or  “mostly true”
• I feel more comfortable walking into CRLS  
  • 84.5% said  “very true” or  “mostly true”
• I got to know a new incoming 9th grader that I didn’t know before  
  • 59.3% said “very true” or “mostly true” 
  • most split (21.2% said ‘not at all true”)
• I had a positive conversation with an adult I did not know 
  • 69% said “very true” or “mostly true” 
• I feel more prepared to navigate challenges 
  • 81.4% said “very true” or “mostly true” 
• I got a few technical items out of the way 
  • 93.4% got IDs
  • 56.6% got chromebooks
• Bonus: I enjoyed my time at this event
  • 90.3% said “very true” or “mostly true” 

As always, organizers appreciated hearing students open response answers to the big question: “What’s one takeaway from this event?” Responses below are sorted into popular categories with examples, but it was clear that students appreciated the time to get familiar in the building and meet (and hear from) upperclassmen: 

• A fourth (26%) of the comments were related to navigating the space at CRLS - things like
  •  “how to read classroom codes”
  • “This is a very big school”
  • “I know the building better”
  • “ the zones”
  • “Mediation center”
    
    
• A third (32%) of the comments seemed to be knowledge from peer mentors or positive comments about meeting people: 
  • This school is hard to navigate, but people are nice and will help you
  • It was cool to meet seniors
  • There are lots of people who you can ask for help.
  • Try new things
  • I will get lost a lot
  • Don't be afraid to talk to people you don't know
  • That just be you and have fun and join clubs.
  • It isn't as scary as I thought
  • Get to know the adults
  • I should step outside of my comfort area
  • take risk this year
  • try everything
  • the student body is overall friendly especially the older students
  • Don't shove people
  • Make sure to advocate for yourself
  • Upperclassmen are very important to better understand the school.
  • I now know more older students
  • That I have to be willing to talk to others in order to make new relationships that will benefit me
  • There are lots of people who you can ask for help.
  • It was cool to meet seniors
  • Gotta advocate for myself
  • Take a lot of clubs freshman year
  • I made a new friend
  • Everything will take getting used too
    
    
• Some comments were specific to the event:
  • I learned really helpful tips for this year
  • Literal computer
  • I’m getting the MBTA pass on Tuesday
  • this event is cool
  • Bracelets
  • It was fun 
    
    
• And a bunch were positive overall impressions: 
  • CRLS is a welcoming community
  • The school is big lots of people are happy to help
  • I'm ready
  • That everyone is nice and helpful
  • This school is hard to navigate, but people are nice and will help you
  • High school is gonna be great
  • It isn't as scary as I thought
    
    

Appreciations: 
Annie and the CPS & Agenda for Children OST team would especially like to thank the following folks who had a significant impact on the planning, execution and realization of Bridge to CRLS events: 

• Nadia Davila, George Hinds, Rayana Ferej, Nina Nolan and the team at Office of Workforce Development 
• Mayor’s Program liaisons and staff 
• Sharon Lozada, Jacqui Cesario and the many, many upperclassmen and Peer Mentors who made the event focused on youth perspectives 
• CRLS Staff, particularly Deans of Students Susie Espinosa, Susie VanBlaricum, Jamalh Prince and Isabelle Reid
• Robbie Cataldo and the CRLS Custodial staff 
• Nicole Gittens, Michelle Madera, Debbie Bonilla, Maggie Rabidou, Claudia Cossio Lopez, Mia Ferej and the many other champions and helpers in CPS Administration 
• Jack O’Hearn and the Community Arts Center
• Kyrk Morris, GG Marazzo and SHADE teens 
• Capryce Brown and the ACCESS program at Cambridge Community Center
• ​And many more!