What I Learned About MHS At Freshman Orientation

Montclair High School held its annual Freshman Orientation this week during which a packed auditorium of parents and students were told the ins and outs of what high school life will be like for incoming ninth graders this fall.

Here are 11 things (below) this Montclair Patch editor learned (as a somewhat nervous parent of a new freshman).

If you have anything to add, please do so in the comments section below.

1) Twenty seniors in the class of 2012 are expected to attend Ivy League colleges this fall compared with 14 seniors in the class of 2011.

2) Traffic around the high school is brutal between 7:50 a.m. and 8 a.m. so try to drop your child off by 7:45 a.m. each morning.

3) Students are not allowed to wear hats, caps, or sunglasses. And they can bring cell phones to school although they are not allowed to turn them on during the school day.

4) MHS offers six World Languages including French, Spanish, Italian, Latin, German, and Chinese.

5) MHS offers high-level math courses including third semester college calculus.

6) MHS offers a total of 45 Advanced Placement/Honors courses.

7) Every student has to take a half-year of financial literacy courses.

8) Lunch is 45 minutes long—or a heck of a lot longer than at the middle schools.

9) Clubs include everything from the Gay/Straight Alliance to the National Organization for Women to Christians Meet at the Pole to the Ukulele Club to Robotics to the Vegetarian/Vegan Club—to a whole lot more!!!

10) There will be about 500 ninth graders joining MHS in the fall and the school has a total of about 2,000 students.

11) The first football game is coming up Sept. 8—and the MHS cheerleaders are a spirited bunch!