We moved to a new area when our son was in Grade Five. Before we moved, we took him to spend half a day at his new school. There he saw his new classmates and teachers. He enjoyed the visit. During the almost 150-kilometre drive home, he told us that he had told some of the students the dace when we would move there. And he had also invited them to visit us. The moving day, a Saturday, was a busy day. We arrived at our new house at noon. About an hour later, kids began to come and soon one of them invited our son to his house to play for the afternoon. By the time he returned, he knew where most of the kids lived and the histories of their families. On Monday morning, the doorbell rang just before the time he would leave for school. Then it rang again and again. By the time he was ready, we had eight young boys waiting to walk to school with him on his first day. They all live near us. I asked them if their parents had sent them. The answers surprised and pleased me, "No, we just came so that he would have someone to walk with." and "It is the right thing to do." The friendships were formed  from that day. We have lived here for nearly six years and the same group of kids still play together, go to parties on weekends together, and surfing the Internet together. I am still thinking how welcoming and kind those kids are. And how lucky my son is to have them as friends. Before the family moved to the new area, the son was taken to his new school to   _  .
invite the teachers to visit them get to know it see if the school was far play with his classmates