PITTSFIELD – Twenty-nine eighth-graders from Warsaw Junior High School graduated on July 24 from Maine Central Institute’s first Transitions Academy, a collaborative program created to help ease the transition from eighth to ninth grade. Students earned half of an elective credit on successful completion of the program.

Coordinated by Jason Judd, director of academic and career planning at MCI, and Anne Miller, curriculum specialist at SAD 53, the program was a result of recommendations made by the Transitions Committee from Warsaw and MCI.

Transitions Academy’s primary goal is to help students feel more comfortable in a larger campus environment with different academic expectations. Classes focused on these expectations as well as organization and time management.

In addition to attending classes, students met all the ninth-grade teachers, toured the campus, practiced the daily schedule, discussed courses and picked up their books.

For more information, contact Eileen Hornor, communications manager 487-5915, ext. 217, or e-mail her at ehornor@

mci-school.org.