Preparing Your Middle Schooler for the Upcoming Year: PCD’s Caletri LIVE

Preparing Your Middle Schooler for the Upcoming Year: PCD’s Caletri LIVE

Jennifer Caletri, who is the Head of Middle School at Providence Country Day, talked with GoLocal CEO Josh Fenton about preparing middles schoolers for the new school year — whatever that might look like. 

“In every new school year comes new teachers, new expectations, a new routine — and parents are trying to figure out will my child adjust to this, what do I need to do to prepare my child for all these new things?” said Caletri. 

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Getting Ready for New Year

“COVID aside, there are just new things with every new school year. It’s good to think about those things ahead of time so that you’re ready, your child is ready,” said Caletri. 

“It’s really important if schools have assigned summer reading or summer work for parents to monitor that and make sure that it’s completed for the start of the school year. These assignments are often great starting points for classes in the new year,” she said. 

“If a school has not assigned any work over the summer, it’s important to keep those kids reading. Parents, really help your child — help them select something that they will enjoy. When kids have a choice in what they read, they’ll be much more engaged and more focused, and that will really be key for building solid reading comprehension skills," said Caletri. 

Caletri talked about the importance of a good night’s sleep — “it’s recommended that [students get] eight and a half to nine and a half hours sleep per night” — so starting those new bedtime routines now will make it easier when school starts and they have to get up earlier. 

Discussing Current Events at Home

“As parents, we really have to help our kids navigate what they’re seeing and hearing in the media,” said Caletri. “We have to help them process that, we have to hope them find what’s truth from what’s not true — and have that conversation with your child at the level that is comfortable for them. “

“Those conversations can happen on all different levels, but if they go into school having some context about these issues, they will be much more likely to engage and participated in these discussions when they have an idea of what’s going on around them,” she added. 

This segment is part of an ongoing content partnership between The Providence Country Day School and GoLocal.