Stressed, scared, and shy: all emotions the incoming freshmen were feeling on the first day of school.

Freshman Lindsey Himes was very excited to be out of middle school. “High school is way more straightforward. The middle school has a ton of rules and I didn’t even understand half of them,” Himes said.

Other reactions were more nervous than excited. Bella Quirino said, “I was super nervous for the first day of school – high school is so big.” 

When it came to calming her freshmen nerves about starting at a new school, Quirino has an older sibling, Abby Quirino ‘19, who gave her some advice. “My sister told me to keep all of my morning class binders in my bookbag and then switch them out at lunch, and that helped a lot,” she said.

Other freshmen don’t have the benefit of having older siblings to turn to for advice, and instead find themselves the first ones of their siblings to hit 9th grade. Rossalyn Buck is the first sibling in her family to get to high school. Some advice Buck would give her younger siblings includes, “Listen to the advice that their older siblings give them because we have most likely been in the same situation as them!”

On top of starting at a new school, some freshmen added the transition to varsity sports to their plates. “I was also really looking forward to high school sports because they seem super fun and more competitive and challenging,” said Himes. “I’m always up for some good competition.”  Himes was one of two freshmen to make the girls varsity soccer team. “I worked super hard all summer to run every day and practice a ton. My goal since sixth grade was to get the 12 varsity sports awards by the end of my senior track season and now that is possible.” 

While Quirino, Himes, and Buck all have transitioned to PIHS from PIMS and know a lot of familiar faces already, Raya Theriault moved from New York and started at PIHS as a total newcomer. “When I walked into PIHS I was thinking of how different it would be from my other school,” she said. In Theriault’s old school, there were over 800 students in the high school. “I like this school a lot! The teachers are very nice and happy to help anytime,” said Theriault. “I also like that it’s smaller than my old school in New York.”

Malachi Cummings not only started a new school, but he also has a parent who is part of the high school faculty. “I like having a parent in the school system because it makes it more convenient,” said Cummings.