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Article: For Starters, Decipher Lunch; Transition Time in Montgomery Schools
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- September 1, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2009 The Washington Post. This material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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One of the first things any newly minted ninth-grader has to
decide is where to sit for lunch.
As students returned to school Monday in Montgomery County, about
460 freshmen at James Hubert Blake High School in Silver Spring were
given an extra five minutes to make the critical choice of where
they would fit into the high school firmament.
How would they handle what an assistant principal called the
"chaotic ballet" of the cafeteria? Sit with friends from middle
school? With kids they had just met? Alone? Wander in circles until
invited to sit down?
Amid the din of older students catching up on a summer's worth of
chatter, many of the freshmen were hesitant, standing near chairs
but afraid ...