Entering first assembly

WHAT'S A FRESHMAN INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM (FIT)?
One of the things freshmen most often say they love about EHS is the opportunity to know so many of their classmates by the end of their first year; FIT plays a large part in making this happen. EHS draws its freshman class from more than 40 public and private middle schools every year. This creates a need and an opportunity to build a program to assist students in the social and academic transition to Edgewood. FIT is designed to help freshmen develop a sense of belonging at Edgewood. Here's how it works:

• What is FIT Anyway?
  The basis of FIT is that freshman are divided into two groups, named for Edgewood's school colors, Maroon and Gold. For each of these two groups, there is a different set of teachers for the 6 subjects that all freshman take - Biology, Computer Literacy, English, Guidance, Religious Studies and U.S. History.
  
• Maroon or Gold?
  Students are then further divided into groups of around ten, and assigned a letter of the alphabet (i.e. Gold B). They attend FIT classes with their color/letter group throughout a semester, and with a different group of ten during 2nd semester. Then, each group of ten is paired each month with a different group of ten (i.e. Gold B attends FIT classes with Gold L for one month). After that month, the letter pairings switch (Gold B now attends FIT classes with Gold J for the next month). By the end of the year each freshman has been in class with at least half of the freshmen through the FIT progam. Color and letter designations apply only to the portion of the school day when students are in FIT classes.
  
• How Do Maroon Freshman Meet Gold Freshman, and Vice Versa?
  Freshmen have many opportunities to meet students in the opposite color group during the portion of the day outside of the FIT schedule -- homeroom, lunch, Math, Phy. Ed., Foreign Language, other electives -- and in many sports and co-curricular activities.

THE MANY BENEFITS OF FIT
Along with the social benefit of getting to know many of their classmates, freshmen experience many other benefits from the FIT program:

• FIT Provides the Opportunity for Frequent Communication About Students' Needs: The features of FIT allow for more communication among teachers, counselors, students and their parents. Teachers meet first mod every morning to discuss how their freshmen are doing. This close contact allows parents to be notified as soon as possible if their freshman needs help, and allows students to get a good, solid start in high school.
• FIT Achieves Interdisciplinary Learning: FIT provides a common educational experience for all freshmen by incorporating themes--community, diversity, change, challenges, choices and balance--across the six FIT courses. The FIT schedule allows for flexibility in class length. Teachers of all FIT subjects work together to team-teach important themes and projects. Research, grammar, logic, interpretation, critical analysis, essay writing, and debates are the tools used to help freshman acquire skills useful to their academic careers and throughout life.
• FIT Builds Technology Skills: FIT integrates technology across the curriculum. By using Internet sources and various software programs in their classes and on team-taught projects and papers, students become familiar with computers as a means of gathering, manipulating and presenting information.
• FIT Builds Library & Resource Skills: In their FIT classes, students learn ways to access resources and information through the use of online library databases. Our school librarian instructs them how to critically evaluate information and choose appropriate resources for personal and research needs. These skills will enable them to be life-long learners.
• FIT Builds Cohesiveness: Group activities that mean a lot to the kids and help to cement the bonds among class members include orientation, scavenger hunt, freshman retreat, guest speakers, Secret Santas, Olympic Games and field trips.

More about FIT academic specifics at this link