Getting Ready for Middle School

“Welcome to Crofton Middle School, home of the Eagles soaring to success,”  boomed over the loud speaker at CMS in rooms packed with nervous students and their parents.

The school recently held an orientation night for next year’s new sixth-grade students.

CMS vice-principal Chasity Ludd said the night provided an excellent opportunity to help students make a smooth transition to middle school.

Parents and students listened to a brief presentation for each subject of study and had an opportunity to ask questions in each classroom. 

Student ambassadors were on hand to escort the fifth-graders around the building. 

“CMS is so big compared to Crofton Elementary school," said fifth-grader Caroline Pollak. "I’m going to need a map just to be able to get to my locker. The good news about getting lost is that I will get lost with my friends.”

Caroline said she is excited about the opportunity to take dance class, which was not available in elementary school.   

For many parents and students, the event provided a first opportunity to hear descriptions of unique classes such as Box Scores -- a class described in the middle school program of study guide as an exploration of historical and mathematic origins of a variety of sports statistics and analysis. 

Other new experiences for the students will be mandatory classes in family sciences. Sixth-graders will learn to prepare a menu, cook and taste their work. 

The middle school also offers hands-on technology education classes that teach students how to design, build, test realistic problems and develop skills while working on engineering teams to take projects from an idea to a finished solution. One project the students make in the class is an air car as part of a transportation design challenge.  

The event also explained how middle school differs from elementary school:

• More students - CMS currently has over 1,170 students

• Bigger classes - most class sizes range from 30-35 students

• More homework - most evenings, students have an hour and half of homework

• Independence - students move independently in the hallways between classes

To learn more, visit www.aacps.org/aacps/croftms