Three times each year, groups of freshmen wander around the Upper School (US) in search of their sophomore guides and overflowing bags of candy. Encouraged by this sweet incentive, groups of 10 freshmen discuss their experiences at the US with two sophomore leaders, asking questions about their classes, teachers, clubs, and exams. This year’s 30 sophomore guides often spent meetings playing games with their groups or leading activities to introduce the freshmen to each other.
US Science Teacher Leah Cataldo founded the program during the 2000-2001 academic year along with former Math Teacher Peggy Payne and former Librarian Sandy Dow (See Vol 29, Issue 4: “Sophomores guide freshmen”). Unlike the current system, sophomore guides originally connected with their groups prior to the start of school and met five times per year.
While serving as the sophomore class dean, Dr. Cataldo and her colleagues designed the sophomore guides program to both offer sophomores a leadership position and integrate freshmen into the US community, she said.
“We wanted to add a program that was a leadership opportunity for sophomores since there were very few available at the time,” she said. “We also wanted to cultivate connections between the grades with kids who are closer in age and to help ease the transition to the Upper School for all freshmen. Transitioning to high school is tough with homework, classes, and free time, so we designed our program to help.”
Dr. Cataldo remembered some students not wanting to engage with the program 20 years ago. However, she believed that most students learned something important from the new meetings, she said.
“We hoped that for those who thought that the meetings were not useful, there were others who thought it was valuable. Adolescents are always going to think that something’s a waste of time if it’s not exactly what they want to be doing.”
US History Department Head and Sophomore Guides Head Susan Glazer said that while she believes the current program is effective, it could include more training sessions and meetings with the freshmen to have a greater impact.
“I think the meetings run pretty well,” she said. “I would love to have more opportunities for the guides and freshmen to mix. Sophomore guides is not a heavy lift, which I think is great, but there could be some more training. I don’t want it to become overwhelming, but the program could be beefier and have a little more to it.”
Planning ahead of time leads to more productive meetings, Ms. Glazer said. Ultimately, the sophomore guides can adapt to meet the needs of their groups.
“It can be daunting to go in with a group of students that doesn’t necessarily want to be there, and you’re only a year older,” she said. “That’s why we talk through a game plan, but there’s always flexibility. If the conversation goes in a direction or if there’s something that the freshmen really want to do, the guides have that flexibility.”
Sophomore Guide Marina Kluzak ’27, who led meetings with fellow guide Francisco Santos ’27, said freshmen may view attending sophomore guide meetings as a “chore,” but they’ll appreciate the lessons later in the year.
“I think they would totally rather have free time than the meetings because anyone would rather have free time at school,” Marina said.
Sophomore Guides Meredith Richardson and Kaeleigh Neil (both ’27) co-led their meetings. Meredith felt lucky to have a “pretty tight-knit” group of freshmen who valued their meetings, she said.
“You’re not guaranteed to land with a group with good chemistry, but our group works pretty well. Everyone’s pretty engaged, and I feel like they feel comfortable coming to us and asking questions. We feel like we’re there for a reason, and we’re not just an obligation they have to do during CAB.”
Sophomore Guide Amo Forman ’27 said his group hardly asked questions during their last meeting.
“I think we answered two questions last meeting,” he said. “We played hangman and wavelength together during the meeting, which made everyone seem more relaxed and less anxious. We had a chill CAB and let them out 10 minutes early so they could see their friends.”
Sophomore guide meetings often meet the minimum requirement but may fall short of engaging quiet groups of freshmen, Amo said.
“I wouldn’t call them the most successful meetings. Our group is pretty quiet, but we got what needed to be said across and had a chill time.”
Oliver Song ’28 said the peer counselors’ advisory programming felt significantly more structured. He would rather go to peer counselors than his sophomore guides if he had a personal concern, he said. Even though his sophomore guides tried hard to entertain his group, Oliver said their meetings sometimes felt unnecessary.
“If I’m completely honest, I think I could have not had any of those meetings and done just as well transitioning to the Upper School, but it is kind of nice to be able to come together with other freshmen and sophomores and talk through the transition.”
Ilsa Schrag ’28 said her sophomore guides often dismissed her group early. She doubts that her group will stay in touch with their sophomore guides, she said.
“We didn’t get super close … I feel like we were just sitting there asking questions, and they responded, but it wasn’t really a conversation between us.”
