Photo credit: Shae Killam

Sixth graders eat lunch in the courtyard, on a bright sunny day. Four sixth grade students said they feel both nervous and excited for their first year at Archer.

The first week of school is a time to reconnect with friends, greet past teachers and refamiliarize yourself with the Archer campus. This what most Archer students experience however, one grade enters with completely fresh eyes.

Sixth grade is most students’ first year at Archer, and the only year where the class is made up of entirely new students. The sixth grade year holds many firsts for the students including Halloween, Fall Outing and Spirit Week. The year culminates with the traditional Maypole dance in which sixth graders weave colorful ribbons together during a celebratory chant on Moving Up Day.

Because students start the year not knowing anyone, Archer creates many opportunities for them to connect over the first few weeks of school.

Sixth grader Paris Prepetitl is currently participating in an arts rotation that includes studio art, theater, vocal music and orchestra. Prepetitl collaborated with her studio art classmates on project related to the start of the new school year. Students chose images to represent the emotions they felt going into a new school enviroment.

“We’re working on a collage about how we feel about sixth grade.” Prepetitl said. “We’re planning on adding a little bit of fear and a little bit of joy.” 

Claire Sheehan (’31) and Sophia Martinez (’31) met on the first day of school while taking their class picture. Since then, the two have eaten lunch together daily. Both students said that they much prefer the all-girls environment after having previous negative experiences with boys at their old schools. Sheehan said boys at her old school often excluded her from participating in activities.

Martinez said she appreciates Archer’s culture, as well as campus, after she attended a schools with less outdoor space.

“Archer is very pretty, it’s like a house with balconies, and it just feels like another home,” Martinez said. “My goal here is basically to eat almost everything that there is in the Servery.”

When asked about her first thoughts of Archer, Martinez shared how she felt when she saw the dogs at Archer for the first time. 

“[I felt] happiness, pure joy,” Martinez said. “Because the only time I see dogs is when I go to the park, but now, I can see dogs almost whenever, and they’re almost everywhere here.”

One event Archer held to promote grade bonding was Fall Outing, which was a chance for sixth graders to build friendships threw off-campus activities. This year sixth graders went to Brandeis Camp in Simi Valley where they engaged in archery, team games, art projects and water activities.

Many students find people with shared interests by participating in extracurriculars. Extracurricular activities often occur after-school and include sports, clubs and performing arts.

“I chose choir because I like to sing. I’m also doing Study With Me because this is where you can just study and tap in [to homework]. I chose chess because I want to work on my chess skills and I love playing it,” Lloyd said. “I chose Speech and Debate because it just seemed fun, and I did it at my old school.”

Overall, all four students expressed joy about the upcoming school year and excited to become more involved in the Archer community. Although this is a new chapter for them, Lloyd said she is ready to start her path as an Archer girl. 

“I was just a fifth grader, the oldest on a different campus.” Lloyd said. “Now I’m one of the little kids and everyone’s super tall. I have to find my way here.”