The change from elementary to middle school is a rite of passage every student has experienced - remembering locker combinations, wearing different clothing, feeling more like an adult.

Besides being a change for students, it’s a change for their parents, too, and the Troup County school system is initiating them into the fold as well.

For the first time, the school system is holding fifth-grade parent orientation meetings. Parents of students making the change from elementary to middle schools will learn the ins and outs of what to look for with their students - physically, academically and emotionally.

What started with “On to High School” for students moving from middle school is now shifting to their younger brethren.

Both orientations will support the school system’s push to increase the graduation rate. And older students will continue to sign pledges for graduation and receive T-shirts with their graduation class year written on them.

But changes don’t just happen in the transition from middle to high school.

“There are a lot of changes that occur when kids go from elementary to middle school,” West Side Magnet School counselor Samantha Thomaston said.

Although not quite the same as moving to a completely different school, students at West Side will make that transition in the same building. The increased responsibility on the students and parents will still be plentiful, but there will be a lot of familiar faces around.

The changes, however, are all the same. Parents will need to remind their students to use their planners to learn organizational skills, help them to learn their locker combinations and sign loads of permission slips. But parents don’t need to expect a call or an e-mail from teachers if their student talks out once or twice.

“We are trying to teach the children how to interact with the teachers and kind of start solving their own problems without mom or dad having to step in for them,” said science and social studies teacher Amy Grantham. “I don’t feel like it’s this age group that we have to get parents involved because a child talked in class. We pull parents in when it’s an ongoing situation.”

Even though they went through the changes themselves, the handful of parents in West Side’s media center Tuesday likely had no idea what their parents went through when they made the transition.

They listened as the teachers talked about future projects the students will take part in and overnight class trips they’ll go on. They discussed summer reading the students will need to do and how their 11- and 12-year-olds likely will start looking more like adults.

Dress codes will change with growing bodies; tardiness will become more of an issue, and students will need to be more responsible with things like pens and pencils.

It was an orientation that got the parents ready to make the transition right along with their children.

“And moms with girls, get ready for the girl drama,” Thomaston said with a laugh.

Trey Wood can be reached at twood @ lagrangenews. com or (706) 884-7311, Ext. 228.