Freshman Year: The Make or Break Year

Episode 9: Freshman, rookie, newbie. How can schools help students make the difficult transition to 9th grade, often leaving behind the smaller, more protected environments of middle school to navigate the larger high schools with different teachers and different classmates. In this episode, we hear from Emily Krone Phillips, author of The Make or Break Year: Solving the Dropout Crisis One 9th Grader at a Time. Phillips worked as the Communications Director for the Chicago Coalition on School Research. She currently works as the Communications Director for the Spencer Foundation. We’ll also hear from local 8th and 9th grade students who share their hopes, fears, and advice for handling this difficult transition.