Buddy Program

When you visit the St. Anne’s campus, there is a feeling of comfort and belonging- a sense of family.  This feeling of family is consciously nurtured through many activities and among students through a buddy program where middle school students are paired with lower school students by class.  During the year the students get together with their teachers and advisors and participate in many activities.  Throughout the year buddies exchange cards and crafts they have made for each other.  The annual Halloween parade finds older buddies walking with their younger charges.   Pre-school students share time with their fourth grade buddies reading stories, and playing.  Kindergarten and third grade hold a formal tea on Founder’s Day.  First graders tie-dye t-shirts one of the first weeks of school.  Their sixth grade buddies help them and if time allows, tie-dye a t-shirt or socks for themselves.  Second graders get to know their seventh grade buddies by interviewing them at the beginning of the year.   Plans are underway for eighth grade and fifth grade students to become buddies.  They would meet several times during the year to talk about the transition from lower school into middle school. 

As with any family, the activities vary with the seasons and schedules, but all groups spend time reading and talking with each other.  As one walks across the campus you will hear small voices shouting across campus to their “large” buddies.  The older students seemed pleased with the opportunity to reconnect with lower school teachers and to be a big brother or sister during the school day.