Why would a freshman campus be beneficial? What’s the point? These are all questions that come to mind when thinking about the changes for the upcoming school year as East Campus transitions to a freshman center, allowing all upperclassmen to attend West. With so much uncertainty this school year, it might be confusing why there would be such a drastic change. However, it might not be such a bad idea.

Next year, with the extension at West Campus complete, all the current upperclassmen from East will come to West. The new extension will have science labs and rooms for new courses that will be available—and enough space to accommodate a lot more students. Starting with the class of 2025,  freshmen will attend classes at East, which will become the freshman center.

Creating a freshmen center could help a lot with the school’s budget in the transportation area. Since many of these new courses won’t be available to freshman anyways, it’ll cut back on buses having to take students between the two schools. The funds normally spent on transportation will go towards the expansion and set of new courses at West. It will also make it easier for the students so they can stay on one campus and not have to worry about missing a bus and their class.

The new center might also help the freshman transition better into high school. Multiple middle schools will join together in high school. During their freshman year, they can meet each other before meeting everyone else at West. Think of their whole freshman year as freshman pride camp, just in school. This will give the students a chance to connect more and get to know everyone in their graduating class first.

Some may argue that it will be difficult for the kids to learn the freshman campus and then West again. However, it may be helpful to learn the smaller campus first with these new academic standards they’ll have. According to Info About Kids, “A student’s performance in ninth grade has been shown to predict both, their likelihood of dropping out of high school, as well as their likelihood of attending college.” Especially for students with an anxiety disorder, this may help decrease the stress slightly.

A freshman center may cause a better experience for both the upperclassman, as well as the freshman. With the new courses, transportation ease, and gradually letting freshmen in,  this could be a great thing for MCHS.