Orientation Programs Welcome New Students

By HT Xue ‘26

The beginning of school is a hectic time for all, but for none is it more a time of excitement and apprehension than for new students—hailing from Milton’s middle school, Quincy, or even halfway across the world. As with most years, this year’s orientation program—the International Student Family Welcome (ISFW), Transitions Program (TP), and the broader New Student Orientation program (NSO)—embodied this excitement.

Upperclassmen student mentors selected by the DEIJ department arrived on campus throughout August 26 and the 27th. While boarding mentors moved into their dorms for the year, day student mentors moved into temporary assigned housing on campus. Over the next week, mentors were charged with staffing the orientation programs as well as leading groups of new students throughout the programming.

Shortly later, new international students, who hailed from nine different countries, began moving into dorms on the 27th. On the 28th, they, along with their families, underwent the ISFW program, where they met their new mentors and school administrators, such Dr. Callen and Dr. Lawlor; they also sat in at information sessions on life at Milton as an international student. From the 29th to the 31st, new international students and students of color participated in the Transitions Program, where they bonded with their new “home groups” and mentors. They received presentations on counseling, academic help, and DEIJ at Milton.

But perhaps the more memorable aspect was the opportunity for new students to bond with their peers through time in dorms, affinity spaces, and bonding activities. For mentor Leo Demissie ‘25, getting to “spend time with the new kids in Forbes” was a highlight of his experience. Gabriel Galvez-Diaz ‘28 enjoyed the “great community experience” that was the Transitions Beatnik, an open-mic night where “people got to showcase their talents.” Even those who didn’t perform had a great time. For mentor Rhia Patel, leading the SAMENA affinity space was “a lot of fun because [participants] got to know each other beyond just icebreakers and engaged with each other creatively.”

Adults involved in the program had different highlights. For DEIJ Program Manager Yann Kumin, witnessing “those first moments where a student both realizes and internalizes ‘I belong here; this is my space now too’” was “really cool." Kumin appreciated how the programming was “intentionally” tailored to students’ identities—an intentionality that he never experienced as a student. Spanish teacher Dr. Marisela Funes enjoyed “meeting the families” of new students, and she found the activity where students were prompted to creatively map their “journeys to Milton” to be a highlight.

After the TP, the NSO commenced on September 2nd. At NSO, all new students arrived on campus and underwent informational programming on resources at the school. Along with their new “family groups," which will double as their health classes for the rest of the year, new students cycled through ten “ready to go” stations, where students were briefed on the technology they would need throughout the year as well as resources like the Academic Skills Center.

The layered structure of this year’s orientation—where international students, domestic students of color, and then other new students arrive in the specified sequence—is identical to the structure of past years’ renditions of the program despite controversy over the years. Kumin explains the rationale: “back in my day [as a student of color at a prep school], there wasn’t any acknowledgement that new students of color were entering spaces that historically haven’t been for [them].” Kumin explains that such neglect often leads to impostor syndrome, a phenomenon that the TP helps alleviate with a sense of safety and belonging. “You realize its value as you get older,” says Kumin.

New beginnings are bound to be overwhelming; Patel, Demissie, and Fuñes all shared some form of the complaint that the program could have incorporated more downtime, which would have allowed mentors to rest and new students to bond organically. “That being said,” qualified Patel, “scheduling is hard, and the programmers did a great job,” a sentiment with which Fuñes agreed. Kumin explained that there is “no such thing as a perfect program,” which is why the DEIJ department is currently “collecting data" through feedback surveys on what could be improved. Lawlor proposed a new structure that would move some of the bonding programming into the first day of NSO, a move that would simultaneously “balance the timing of each program” and allow more free time to be built into the TP.

The apprehension of new beginnings and recognition of room for improvement are the hallmarks of the start to any school year—this year is no different.