Coyote Connect establishes a personal relationship between each freshman and an adult faculty member [as well as a returning student from the Peer Support organization].  Freshmen report to CHS at 7:40 a.m. on the first day of classes while the remainder of the student body arrives for a later opening. Coyote Connect teachers meet the new students in their classrooms. The average size of each section is approximately 20 students to 1 adult and 1 peer counselor.  Opening day activities include a general introduction, an overview of the campus using maps to locate classes, restrooms, the location of each student's locker, as well as a discussion about life at Calabasas.  Future contacts continue to develop the level of comfort that each new student feels.

The second need to be addressed is the early identification of each freshman who encounters academic difficulties, and the formulation of a plan to help them overcome those difficulties. Calabasas High School already offers a variety of tutoring and teaching options for students. The difficulty has been to identify students-in-need as early as possible. Coyote Connect utilizes the five-week progress reports, discipline and attendance records, and classroom teacher observations as an early indicator of a potential problem, and then the Connect teachers, counselors and administrators work to move the students towards help as quickly as they can.