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Transition to Middle School Workshops

In a city as economically and culturally diverse as Danbury, entering adolescence can have unique challenges. The children you meet at middle school may have families that come from across town—or from across the globe. And your best friend who lives next door may attend a middle school that is located completely across town from the one you attend.

United Way is working with Danbury Middle Schools and community partners to learn more about the challenges of transitioning to middle school. We wanted to hear directly from Danbury youth and parents about what issues were surfacing as they moved from elementary school to middle school, with the goal of finding ways to provide community support to address challenges faced by children, parents, teachers, and school administrators.

HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS

  • We talked with 25 Danbury parents and 18 current middle schoolers as well as collected 120 surveys from parents. We interviewed administrators and staff at all three middle schools.
  • In partnership with Broadview Middle School, we conducted four parent and child workshops focused on topics requested from parents and middle schoolers, such as social media, overall middle school transition, overall high school transition, and growth mindset.
  • We are continually surveying workshop attendees about what their concerns are and follow up with additional workshops.
  • We are sharing major learning points with all three middle schools.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

177 surveys collected from each workshop

 4 workshops conducted so far to help alleviate parents greatest concern for their kids

400+ plus attendees at workshops