As the new school year gets underway, we're learning more about what that looks like in the classroom.

Metcalf County is a small rural area in south central Kentucky.

Enrollment at its high school is about 460 students.

Laura Rogers has more on how they're helping the new freshman class make the move to high school.

And tackling areas of concern.

I was a freshman once and I was so scared to come into high school.

Addison Morgan is now going into her junior year.

It's definitely a big jump in like maturity level.

As a student ambassador, she's helping the new freshmen class prepare for the high school experience.

They're more comfortable with kids closer to their age.

They feel like they can relate more, and they're not as nervous to ask a question.

Starting high school often brings in Zyrtec for teenagers.

There's still always a little bit of that fear.

You know, it's something new being here.

We have a lot of students who struggle from social anxiety just being in the classroom.

Guidance counselor Brandi Morgan believes the pandemic had something to do with that, and it's been hard for some teens to get re accustomed to the classroom setting.

We have a mental health counselor in our building as well.

We are able to, you know, meet with students who are anxious, whether it's anxious just coming into the building or maybe they have some things going on at home.

Social media and too much screen time may also be to blame for teens struggling with mental health.

I do feel like it's too much.

If you follow a teenager around most of the day, they've got their phone and it's right there, you know, whether they're on Snapchat or Instagram.

Morgan says it's important for parents to keep the lines of communication open, talking to their teens about what's going on in their lives.

Yes, they're not little anymore, but they're not grown either.

And they need some guidance along the way and just checking in to make sure that they're okay and having those conversations.

And that's going.

To be our goal here.

Metcalf County High School is to prepare them for life after they leave here.

They're doing that by offering dual credit courses from college and career classes to vocational school.

They're graduating with a year, year and a half of college credit.

I want them to be ready for whatever they are going to go into after they leave here.

And it all begins here as freshmen laying the foundation for the next three years and the opportunities that arise.

Freshman year, making them aware of all those things that are available is very vital and helping them with decisions for later on.

Another key factor in their success good attendance, chronic absenteeism is shown to be on the rise in Kentucky.

We have a student who's missed several days in a row.

We're going to make phone calls home to check to see if there's, you know, are they sick?

Is there something going on?

She and the administration make it a team effort to learn what barriers are keeping that student from school and what can be done to relieve those issues.

It's a short four years, really.

And to get the most out of it, you've got to put a lot into it.

For Kentucky Edition, I'm Laura Rogers.

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Metcalf County's first day of school is next Monday, August 26th.

Opening day for staff will be this Thursday.