Ralston Middle School staff explained campus routines, orientation events and communication channels during a virtual orientation for incoming sixth-graders.

These operational details matter because they help families plan arrivals, school-day routines and summer orientation attendance.

Administrators described lunch and campus movement. Students may start in a designated sixth-grade area in the U Building courtyard but can move freely across most of the back campus; the field opens after the first 10 minutes and the library and courts are available, officials said. "There will be 1,100 students out at lunch at the same time, but it gives you a lot of freedom," an administrator said.

The school also outlined the summer orientation schedule. A check-in/registration and activities session runs roughly from 8:30 a.m. to noon on the assigned orientation day; pizza is provided and students go home around 12:30 p.m. The Monday before school the school hosts a sixth-grade family barbecue that administrators said typically draws 800'900 attendees; a second night is scheduled for seventh and eighth-grade families.

Administrators encouraged families to read the weekly Ralston Reporter digital newsletter, distributed via ParentSquare, which contains event calendars, lunch menus, community notices and photo highlights; principal coffee sessions are also announced there.

Staff urged families with unanswered questions to contact administrators by email or phone, and to attend feeder-school visits where Ralston staff will present and answer questions.