Before moving to their new school this fall, third-grade students at Mill Ridge Primary School became pen pals with students at King Street Intermediate. On Friday, they met their pen pals for the first time.
Mill Ridge Primary is for kindergarten through third grade, so students will enter fourth grade at the King Street Intermediate School in September.
This spring, students from King Street wrote letters to the Mill Ridge students – using pen and paper – to introduce themselves and welcome them to the school. Students connected on subjects as such sports and favorite colors.
Mill Ridge student Aaron Martino became pen pals with King Street’s Emily Torres. He knows her birthday and that she likes the color purple. Before having a connection to his new school, Aaron said he was a little scared about going somewhere new.
“It felt better to talk to the people here,” Aaron said. “I think she’s going to be my friend, and I’m not scared now because she wrote me that letter.”
“He likes the Mets like I do, and I was excited to meet him,” Emily said. “He wrote to me and the letter was very nice.”
King Street third-grader Samantha Ruffles was also excited to meet her pen pal, Steven. She told him that her grandmother has chickens and that the teachers at King Street are really nice.
King Street assistant principal Gwen Gallagher said that a survey from students who participated in the pen pal program – started by teacher Amy Escamilla – last year indicated that it was a big success.
“It was a great way to integrate the schools together,” said Gallagher.
There are about 100 students in the third-grade class at King Street and 90 more from Mill Ridge will join them in the fall.
Tomorrow night, parents will have an opportunity to visit the school with the children for “transition night.” The evening will include a scavenger hunt for parents and kids.