One of Skyline’s new 9th-grade students is Amy Zheng (‘28) from Forsythe Middle School. She shared the experiences, nervousness, and excitement of the first few weeks with The Post.
Zheng says that coming to Skyline has been a massive change for her due to the sheer size of the building and the new learning environment in general.
“The first week … has been a huge adjustment [for me],” says Zheng, “but coming from a middle school where everyone primarily goes to Skyline has really helped. I already know a lot of people which makes it a lot easier to talk to, and to ask for help without it being really awkward. [This makes me] feel a lot more comfortable at my new school.”
Many new students are often confused about how to navigate the building. “Skyline is a much larger school than Forsythe, so I got a little lost at first,” says Zheng. “One time when I was trying to look for my class, I got so lost that I was on the wrong floor and in the wrong wing.”
Zheng was also surprised by the Skyline schedule. “I was a bit confused [that] we only have five classes, because at Forsythe we had six,” she says. “I thought that it was interesting that we [have] 71-minute classes instead of 56-minute classes. Not knowing what time class ends, especially on Skytime days, kind of threw me off.”
To help with the students’ transition to high school, Skyline offers many activities for students to get to know their new classmates and environment such as Link Crew, where a group of upperclassmen help freshmen become oriented with the new environment during both the orientation and the first weeks of school.
“Skyline helped me by [having] a freshmen orientation and giving times to visit Skyline before school started in August,” says Zheng. “I thought that Link Crew was helpful for meeting people in my Skytime group that I had not met before.”
Zheng credits joining extracurricular activities, such as the Skyline Crew team, for helping her become involved in Skyline’s community. “Crew helped me meet a lot of new people, and it’s really nice to get to know people in your [grade level],” says Zheng. “It just helps you bond and make connections [which] you never thought you would make. I’m starting to feel a lot more comfortable in school and I’m enjoying it!”
