The first class of ninth-grade students was officially welcomed to the halls of South Kitsap High School during an orientation Aug. 26.

Upperclassmen cheered and led the freshmen in welcoming activities to prep them for their first day of high school.

Students from Cedar Heights, now the district’s first middle school, were the first eighth graders to transition into high school mode. The district’s other junior highs will do the same in the next couple of years.