POULSBO — Poulsbo Junior High Principal Matt Vandeleur is opening his doors up to one and all at 7 p.m. Jan. 16, for a no-questions-barred conversation with current fifth and sixth grade parents.

Discussion topics will range from PJH’s school format and climate to the district’s grade level transition to maybe even his favorite color.

Perhaps that final item may be too facetious for the evening, but Vandeleur said he will entertain any questions that upcoming Panther parents may have on Tuesday. He routinely welcomes parents to set up appointments for conversations during the school day, however, in an attempt to cater to even more people, he’s hosting a “Chat with Matt” after hours.

“I wanted to make it possible to pull more people in,” Vandeleur said. “The turnout has been anywhere from four to seven parents during the day, but this one should be a lot bigger.”

The intent of the evening is to quell any anxieties which elementary parents may be experiencing with their students’ journey into secondary education.

Following years of planning, the North Kitsap School District will be converting from a K-6 (elementary), 7-9 (junior high), 10-12 (high school) grade format to K-5 (elementary), 6-8 (middle school), 9-12 (high school) in September.

Along with that grade level transition, which will move this year’s fifth and sixth graders into middle school at the end of the year, Kingston High School will be opening. Additionally, district-wide school attendance boundaries will be changed.

The new boundaries and a transition timeline are posted on the NKSD Web site — www.nksd.wednet.edu.

During the next five months, Poulsbo and Kingston junior high schools — soon to be middle schools — will be hosting awareness and orientation meetings for current parents of fifth and sixth graders. The Chat with Matt at PJH will be the first formal forum.

“It’s going to look big … it seems like such a long walk (from class to class) but after the first couple of days they’ve got it wired,” Vandeluer said of incoming students’ experiences. “In my experience, the No. 1 thing (for incoming students) has been getting their locker open.”

PJH usually gives new students several opportunities to see their classrooms and figure out their lockers, he said. So, with that matter under control, Vandeluer is set to discuss the many other facets of attending a new school.