When students enter Creek as freshmen, many come from the school’s two main feeder schools, Campus and West Middle Schools.
These schools are where the majority of Creek students end up after elementary school, but people who don’t go to those mainstream schools instead go to Challenge School, which serves K-8.
Schools such as Challenge, which has a smaller graduating class and has different curriculums including more focus on advanced learning and critical thinking, differ vastly from Creek’s typical feeder schools. The transition from middle school into high school can be challenging, but even more so for students coming from a non-feeder school student.
“I’d say it was pretty stressful, but it was fun seeing everyone and making new friends,” freshman and former Challenge student Kate Farbish said. “I feel like I would have more friends if I came from a bigger school like [Campus or West].”
When coming from feeder schools you might not already have friends they can count on. Students coming into Creek from West and Campus already have established friendships where as people from Challenge might not have that.
“I feel more popular, I have more friends, and I’ve been socializing more,” freshman and former Campus student Vicky Yu said.
For students coming from smaller schools, entering Creek can be a more isolating experience because they don’t have as many friends on a brand-new campus. In contrast, most feeder students come into Creek with a large friend group, and often know the campus layout.
“I can tell when people aren’t from Campus, because I kind of knew everyone there,” freshman and former Campus student Sela Kahn said.
Although students like Kahn were initially intimidated, it was a good and positive start to the school year due to the original friend groups made.
“It was kind of a hard week, but it wasn’t the worst,” Kahn said.
The key difference between coming from Challenge and non-feeder schools is that people from feeder schools know people and already have friend groups from the previous years. While, people from smaller schools like Challenge may only be familiar with 5-10 people coming to Creek.
“Some people seemed like they just didn’t want anything to do with me,” Farbish said.
Separation from groups of people on campus can often lead to a more anxious experience for new students, and many feel that the isolation might lead to further image and mental health problems.
“It was a lot more awkward and I was more self-conscious about what people thought,” Farbish said.Freshman and former Challenge student
Kate McKinnon felt incredibly nervous coming into high school not knowing people or the campus, but once she found a good friend group she started to settle In.
“There have been a lot of friend groups that you’ve seen coming from the middle schools who are so close and have stayed close, and it doesn’t seem like they’re willing to branch out to other kids,” McKinnon said.
This transition can be difficult for any student, but it’s even harder when there’s a smaller pool of people you do know. But despite this, non-feeder students do eventually adjust.
“Coming from Challenge was hard, but it all turned out great in the end,” junior and former Challenge student Simar Singh said.
