Many area schools held school orientation sessions and “Meet the Teacher” days this week.

Not only will this help lessen anxiety for both parents and students, it will help new or transfer students ease into a new environment.

Schools were hoping that many parents would attend to see what school life will be like for their children and to encourage a home-school dialogue.

Rockwell Elementary held “Meet the Teacher” day on Tuesday, Aug. 7.

“I’m hoping this year will be a lot smoother because we did an end of year registration packet this time,” said Joy Farrell, a secretary at Rockwell Elementary. “This is our first year to do a home registration … so parents don’t have a lot of paperwork to fill out.”

Officials from Rockwell Elementary expected about close to 2,000 people to attend.

They have 750 students enrolled for this school year.

Spanish Fort School was expecting a lot of support from parents.

“We usually have a good turn out for that,” said receptionist Jenny DePuma.

Approximately 550 kids are expected for grades kindergarten through fifth.

“We have a lot of new teachers and have made a lot of changes. This number does not include 6th grade students who have already been to Meet the Teacher,” clerk Mari Mitchell said.

Freshman orientation was held in the Spanish Fort High School gym Monday night for a crowd of about 300 people.

“I think parents were pretty satisfied with what they heard,” Principal Mike Lucci said.

Tuesday’s session was held for older grades, and Lucci said he expected about 500 people.

Topics included how to manage children in portable classrooms, the public address system and safety issues, not an easy task given that there are 1,154 students.

“The main topic will be our plan for moving those children into the building in case of potentially bad weather,” Lucci said referring to the tornado that struck Enterprise.

Lucci further commented that on the mezzanine level there is a steel reinforced deck above the hallways and front of the gym.

This secure location is where children will be instructed to go.

He emphasized the importance of students showing maturity and acting respectfully when practicing safety drills.

This is the first year that the high school has used portables, and they will only use them for the duration of one year until the middle school opens, Lucci said.

Lucci said the most productive time of orientation is talking with parents and their children, even in the hallway.

He stressed that safety and good communication with parents are two key components that every school should stress.

SFHS has also added 20 new staff members and they have a total of 80 teachers.

The character development survey last year measured all schools in Baldwin County for the level of parental support and SFHS was at the top.

“It’s no surprise,” Lucci said.

He noted that the parents are willing to give their time, expertise and financial resources. In the first two years of the high school’s opening, brand new equipment and cash equaled close to $2,000 in contributions from the community.

The city of Spanish Fort provided $50,000 to purchase suites of information technology for each teacher. Each teacher can pick their own style of teaching supplies depending on what they teach.