Oceanside schools prepare for another year

As Oceanside students line up to watch the summer blockbusters or relax at the beach, they remain blissfully unaware of the work that goes into preparing for the coming school year.

The high school building, which appears empty and silent to the untrained eye, is actually quite busy during the so-called offseason. “It’s a beehive of activity, even in the summer,” said Principal Mark Secaur. “We have summer school, but we also have people behind the scenes working on getting ready for the upcoming school year.”

Running a school, Secaur explained, is a year-round job. The custodians work hard at cleaning the building after the 10 or so months of classes, and moving furniture in and out of rooms to maximize space.

The staff also has to perform a balancing act when it comes to classes. “The supervisors of each discipline are working on the integrity of the master schedule so we can have balanced classes,” Secaur said, explaining that those supervisors need to make sure that one class won’t have far more students than another. “It’s an art more than a science. We set our teachers up for the best possible chance of success.”

The constant preparation is in part due to the high turnover that the school sees each year. As the seniors say their farewells and move on, the high school must be ready to welcome in a new class of freshman. “We pay careful attention to that,” Secaur said. “We try to ease their transition as much as possible.”

One of the ways the administration does that is by making the freshmen feel comfortable. The students attend a mandatory two-day orientation in which they learn about the high school, which helps them acclimate. “I joke with them, saying everything is bigger at the high school, even the principal,” said Secaur, who is 6 feet 5.

There is also a focus on students’ transition at the Oceanside Middle School. According to Principal Dr. Allison Glickman-Rogers, incoming seventh-graders also attend an orientation, during which they are given the opportunity to find their classes, memorize their locker combinations and meet their classmates and teachers.