By Mike Deiner ’15
Staff Writer

The freshman and sophomore classes were each assigned a student dean to smooth the high school transition for students.

The underclassmen student deans’ role is to focus on students’ academic growth, said Associate Head of School Catherine Rodrigue, who has played a fundamental role in implementing the change. While each student has their own individual advisors, the new deans provide an extra set of eyes from faculty at Peddie.

The program will run under the supervision of math teacher Marc Buchner and English teacher Marc Onion. Buchner is the sophomore dean and Onion is the freshman dean.

The goal of the program is not to replace the students’ individual advisors, but to serve as an additional resource for students. Peddie recognizes that the jump from middle school to high school requires a period of adjustment. While some students are able to incorporate the adjustments with greater ease than others, some students need a little extra help to adjust to the new environment.

Accordingly, these deans have prepared a number of ways to assist the students in smoothly adjusting to Peddie. These deans have already had several private meetings with the students. In these meetings, the deans assess students’ time management skills, studying methods, and techniques for improvements. Furthermore, the deans collaborate with the students’ individual advisors to get a better picture of each student’s performance.

Buchner believes that the changes will aid students who are overwhelmed with the speed of Peddie classes.

“A lot of the kids are just trying to figure out what is going on [during their first or second year],” said Buchner. “Adults need to get into the process in order to help kids find the success of which they are capable.”