You’ve got your notebooks, your back-to-school clothes, your shoes for gym class. Even if you’re ready to tackle a heavy classload or wow your basketball coach, it’s normal to feel nervous whether you’re starting seventh grade or cruising into your senior year: You want to fit in, and you want to make friends.

Harriet Shaffer, a counselor at Southwest Junior High School, says the city’s junior highs all have programs that can help ease worries about starting in a new school.

“We work on that in the spring. We visit schools to enroll students, and for a day in May, they come to Southwest to take a tour,” she said.

That helps students alleviate some of the big fears of starting a new school, she said, like opening lockers and finding classes.

High school is a bigger territory to stake out, and Joel Frederick, a counselor at Free State High School, says students are welcome to walk through the building before school starts.

“You can find your locker, find your classes,” he said. “Students are welcome to walk around.”

Both the junior high and high schools have a half-day just for incoming students, so students can make it from room to room and find their lockers without feeling self-conscious.

Frederick said a club fair at Free State and a barbecue that first day also gave students a chance to meet people.

“Find a niche right off the bat,” he said. “Get involved with a club.”

Shaffer said junior high activities like a scavenger hunt made it easier to feel comfortable when the regular school day begins.

“The best thing is for kids to come home saying, ‘this is fun, and I feel good about it,'” she said.

Beyond settling into a routine, you might come in hoping to expand your social circle — or perhaps change it. It might seem hard at first to break the ice, but Shaffer said it could be done.

“The best thing to do is to look friendly,” she said. “If you smile, people will smile at you. It’s hard sometimes to take the first step, but if you wait for somebody else to talk to you first, it might not happen.”

And walking into a room full of strange faces, while hard, can be turned into a lucky break.

“If you don’t know anyone in class, be patient,” Shaffer said. “Some classes are only a quarter, but seventh grade is an opportunity to keep old friends — but make new friends, too.

“Qualities I’d look for in a friend would be someone to have fun with, someone who makes you feel comfortable, and somebody who’s trustworthy,” Shaffer said.

She advised not to pay so much attention to concerns like what people were wearing.

“Fashion is important to kids, but it’s important to look beyond that. If kids participate in plays and extracurricular activities, that kind of thing, it becomes less important,” she said. “Or sports — that’s a good way to get involved at school.”

Frederick advised keeping an open mind about new people.

“You’ll see people you don’t know,” he said. “Don’t judge them on how they look or how they act. Everyone’s a little shy the first few days.”

Frederick suggested the more students get involved, the better.

“Get involved outside of class. That’s the most important thing,” he said. “Smile, be friendly — try not to be scared.”

In a building where hundred of other students have the same concerns, you’ll find it’s not so bad.

“Be a little brave and step forward,” Frederick said.