Paly administrators, teachers and parents are gearing up for a slightly modified Back to School Night, which will take place Thursday, Sept. 16 at 7 p.m.
According to Assistant Principal Kimberly Diorio, the administration made a few minor changes to this year’s Back to School Night schedule. Zero period is now incorporated into the event’s schedule.
“We put in an official zero period on the schedule because we have more kids in zero period classes this year,” Diorio said. “We have more P.E. sessions, and athletic conditioning was moved to zero period. The jazz ensemble also meets during zero period.”
Additionally, the administration hopes to alleviate parking lot congestion by moving advisory to the end of Back to School Night.
“We moved the advisory period, which took place last year after the principal’s welcome, to the end of the evening,” Diorio said. “Since the advisory period is only for freshmen and sophomores, parents not participating in advisory don’t have to wait around. Half of the school will be done at 8:40 p.m. and the other half will be done at 8:55 p.m.; that will be good in terms of getting folks out of the parking lots.”
Paly will also host another New Families Welcome Session at the beginning of Back to School Night, aimed at familiarizing new families with the Paly community.
“We are having a very special New Families Welcome that starts at 6 p.m. in the Haymarket Theater,” Diorio said. “They’ll have a chance to meet key people on campus: administrators, guidance staff, ASB [Associated Student Body] and some Link Crew students will be there. We’re just trying to find ways to connect people new to Paly to the Paly community and let them know about the great things that take place here and how they can get involved.”
By sending out information to parents beforehand, Diorio hopes that navigating around around a modified campus won’t be as much of a hassle.
“We’re sending home information over the weekend, including the new campus map,” Diorio said. “We’re sending out [the new campus map] as a PDF to everybody and asking parents to print it out ahead of time.”
Link Crew members will be stationed around campus, and additional lighting will also be set up to better facilitate the event.
“We have a very sizable number of Link Crew students who are volunteering,” Diorio said. “We’re going to position them all around campus and have them pointing people in the right direction. We are also hoping to have some additional lighting outside, as there are some areas around the campus that can get pretty dark at night.”
Despite all the planning and preparation required for Back to School night, Diorio remains optimistic about a successful night.
“It’s exciting,” Diorio said. “It’s always a great event and it’s just something to really look forward to.”