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In the summer of 2003, Emilio Urioste, principal of John Burroughs High School in Burbank, California was preparing to move his faculty and students back into their newly renovated building. Having done a lot of reading on the importance of ninth graders' often difficult transition to high school, Urioste decided to begin with their surroundings and dedicated the building’s second floor to ninth grade classes. That entire floor is now where ninth graders take 95 percent of their classes. This way, starting out with the comforting sense of being together with others “in the same boat,” ninth graders are able to integrate slowly into the whole school, making easier the often intimidating process of adjusting to the new and unfamiliar. They have some contact with the upper grade students, but it is minimal for the first-year.
The goal is to make the ninth grade experience nurturing and have students take ownership of their own space. The halls of the second floor are lined with display cases for student work and announcements. The ninth grade teachers stand at the stairwells and in the hallways during passing period, to interact with students and enforce behavior expectations. In addition to nurturing the new students, this physical change has helped the ninth grade teachers come together more also. They have now established common behavior and homework expectations, down to such particulars as a common heading format on all papers.
Since this change began, there have been fewer attendance and discipline issues for ninth grade students. There has been no vandalism or graffiti to the second floor of the new building. As Urioste mentions, this change did not take any extra money, just a change in focus. “We worked with what we had,” says Urioste, “and it’s paying off in a smoother transition.”
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