Helping Your Child Transition to Brown

Support for Transfer Families

The Brown International Academy community welcomes you to our school! We hope that you’re as excited as we are for next fall. It will be a wonderful time as we get to know and engage with so many new families like yours.

While it’s an exciting time for us, we understand that families transferring from other schools or learning or home environments may be feeling a bit anxious about the transition. You may be wondering how quickly your child will adjust, make new friends and generally fit in. We have every confidence that he or she will. To help your child and you through the adjustment period, we have implemented a new learner buddy system and compiled a few helpful tips.

Learner Buddy System

Since we know that the largest school transition issue most children face is a sea full of unfamiliar faces, we will assign your child a buddy for his or her first two weeks of school. Your child’s buddy will be a “seasoned student” who welcomes your student the first day (and hopefully every day after that), introduces your child to other students, plays with him or her on the playground, and helps your child quickly learn the ropes -- such as lunchroom procedures, restroom locations, etc.

This buddy support for your child not only makes the change process a smoother one for your child, but it also provides an opportunity for current learners to practice the IB attitudes of empathy and acceptance. At Brown, we believe these attitudes are as important to learn and practice as knowledge and inquiry.

Helpful Transition Tips

To help parents/guardians through the transition process, we have also compiled some new school transition tips. These were gleaned from Web sites by an incoming Brown parent, and include kids’ suggestions as well. Feel free to practice them as you see fit.

Over the Summer

• When discussing the transition, avoid creating anxiety in your child – and instead remain calm and cheerful. If you are anxious, your child’s anxiety may be increased too.
• Acknowledge any feelings of nervousness your child may have. Try saying “It’s only natural to feel nervous,” rather than “Don’t be silly, there’s nothing to worry about.” Feelings of fear and anxiety are normal emotional reactions for a child experiencing a change.

When School Starts

• Encourage your child to help other students and teachers with activities and tasks in
  the classroom and on the playground.
• Encourage your child to smile at and play with the other children, relax and be him or herself.
• Encourage your child to focus initially on building a friendship with one or two children,
  especially his or her Brown buddy.
• Encourage your child to talk to you about the transition, especially during the first few weeks of school. Conversation with you will allow your child to process feelings and reduce anxiety.

Finally, please feel free to meet with your child’s teacher if your child is expressing difficulty in making the adjustment. The teacher will work diligently to support your child’s transition into the Brown community next fall.

So again, welcome to Brown! Please let us know if there is anything else we can do to enable your family’s smooth transition to our school. Aside from school resources in the form of staff who care about the well being of your child, there is a great, collaborative network of parents who are also available to help. See you soon!