High school open houses ease return

Freshmen might serve as the low end of the high school totem pole. But on one night before schools starts, some of Columbia County's ninth-graders are the kings and queens of the hallways.

All of the system's high schools will hold an open house Friday. But

Greenbrier, Lakeside and Evans will hold an open house just for freshmen Thursday.

"It's like a walk-through," Lakeside Principal Jeff Carney said. "We'll

meet in the gym, give them a little spiel for about 20 minutes, then we'll

release the students and parents to go the child's first period class. We'll

ring a bell every 10 minutes for them to go to the next class. They can meet the teachers and see what their schedule is going to flow like.

"Since they're ninth-graders, they won't get lost in the shuffle of open

house night."

Greenbrier Principal Sandra Carraway said she hopes the freshmen open house will put the nearly 500 freshmen entering her school at ease.

"They can learn the things they need to know heading into high school

without the pressure of all the other 1,400 students and parents in the

building," she said.

"(High school is) intimidating, especially for freshmen," Carraway added.

"They hear all these stories about upperclassmen, and this is a night that

they can come here and the place is theirs."

Lakeside's freshmen open house runs from 6 to 8 p.m., and Greenbrier will hold open house from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Evans High School will hold freshman orientation 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday.

Harlem High School held a spring orientation for rising freshmen.

Regular open house times for all the high schools is Friday from 7 to 9

p.m., according to the school system's Web site.

At least one middle school also will hold a special orientation for its

version of a freshmen class.

The middle schools' open houses will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday.

Riverside Middle School starts its open house at 5 p.m. just to host pupils entering the sixth grade.

"We really don't do anything much different from the regular open house," Riverside Middle Principal Don Putnam said. "We know that it gets real crowded and most of the time the sixth-graders will bring both of their parents. We just let them come here early and avoid the crowd."

The 989 pupils enrolled at Riverside make it the county's most populated

middle school, Putnam said. He said he expects 95 percent of his pupils and parents to attend the open house.

"It'll be wild," he said.

The extra hour prior to the regular open house time lets the nearly 320

entering sixth-graders locate their classrooms and meet their teachers

without fighting for elbow room, Putnam said.

Augusta Christian Schools will hold a student orientation on Aug. 6, and

school starts Aug. 9. The orientation will be held at 9 a.m. for the

elementary school and 11 a.m. for the middle and high schools.

Augusta Preparatory Day School's student orientation will be held Aug. 16 and classes start the next day.