Students Get Preview of the Mysteries of Middle School

Seventh grade is not sixth grade. It is one step closer to the big time: high school.

To ease their middle-school jitters, incoming seventh-grade District 58 students are involved this week in a three-day program called Sneak Preview.

The goals of Sneak Preview are to prepare students for the first day of school, meet their teachers, develop connections with new classmates, and reduce the anxiety associated with the transition from grade school to middle school.

Sneak Preview gives students an opportunity to go through schedules and the routines of the day, practice opening their lockers, and a variety of other activities. Since 2007, the program is free to all students and is sponsored by the District 58 Education Foundation.

Attendance has grown annually, from just over 100 students at each school participating in 2004 to nearly 90 percent of the incoming seventh-graders participating at each of the middle schools last year.

This year’s program runs through Thursday. Three sessions are offered each day.