By TATUM MAPES

As the new school year starts at Redlands East Valley High School, hundreds of students make the big leap from the top of the food chain in middle school back to the bottom as freshmen in high school. Needless to say, the class of 2021 is forced to adapt in order to survive in a new school.

One of the biggest changes freshmen have to get used to is the new bell schedule. At Moore, Cope, Clement, or Beattie Middle School, the last period of the day becomes the first period of the next day. Meanwhile, the high school schedule does not rotate.

“The campus is huge so you get lost. There are longer passing periods, and the block schedule is weird. I like it better because it stays the same and doesn’t rotate, so we always know what to do and where to go.” 

Stephanie Tejeda, freshman, who attended Moore Middle School, said,  “The campus is huge so you get lost. There are longer passing periods, and the block schedule is weird. I like it better because it stays the same and doesn’t rotate, so we always know what to do and where to go.” While school starts at the same time every day for middle schoolers, high school students get a break from their early mornings with a late start on Tuesdays, providing students with a much-needed extra hour of sleep.

Moore and Clement are the main middle schools that feed into Redlands East Valley High School. However, many students that come from Cope, Beattie, or private school have to make the big switch without the support of friends from their old schools. One example is Emma Maxson, a student from Beattie Middle School. When asked about her adjustment to her freshman year, she explained, “When I was a freshman, I was terrified. Everyone in my family went to Yucaipa High School, and my best friends were at Citrus Valley and Redlands High School.”

Sidney Boursaw, one of the few students coming from Cope Middle School, shares similar beliefs, “Freshman year so far has been kind of hard, especially with leaving all my friends at my old school, but it gets a lot easier when you find and make new friends…and I know that it will benefit me in the long run.”

While the class of 2021 has a lot of adapting to do, it is willing and ready to take on the challenges that high school provides.