POTTSTOWN — The first day of class at Pottstown Middle School was a little different this year.
Looking to address concerns about fifth-graders being housed there, the staff came up with a way to try to smooth the transition from elementary school.
Using a template called WEB, which stands for Where Everybody Belongs, the district decided to bring the 260 fifth-graders in alone in the morning, allowing the sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders to sleep in and not report to school until nearly 11 a.m.
During the morning session with the fifth-graders, they met a cadre of eighth-graders who had volunteer to become mentors to the younger students throughout the year, even giving up two days of their summer vacation to come in for training.