One by one, nearly 60 students from the troubled Riverview Gardens School District went through the first-day-of-school routine of getting schedules and finding home rooms, but at Oakville High School in the Mehlville district.
Some had been up since 4:30 a.m. today to catch buses an hour or more later.
That was OK to Brianna Taylor, a freshman transferring under a recent state Supreme Court ruling, who said she felt anxious entering Oakville High. She know no one at the school except a friend who attended Westview Middle School with her last year.
鈥淚 wanted to do this,鈥 Brianna said of her new school. 鈥淚t seems like they learn more.鈥 In Riverview, 鈥渨e learned, but it was more playing.鈥
The transfer students at Oakville are among about 250 from Riverview Gardens who are now enrolling in various Mehlville schools, more than 20 miles away. The students boarded buses as early at 5:30 a.m. and arrived on time, with no reported snafus.
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Shortly before the welcome assembly began in the Oakville High School gym, Mehlville Superintendent Eric Knost held up his cellphone that showed no texts or calls. 鈥淎ll is good,鈥 he said.
Oakville students helped show new students from Riverview to their home rooms. Veronica Lewis, a senior, was one of the guides. She predicted it will take time for the Riverview students to adjust to new schools in a community so far from their homes.
Since sixth grade, Veronica has been taking a one-hour bus ride to Mehlville schools from 最新杏吧原创 as part of the voluntary desegregation program.
鈥淎 lot of them are scared that we're going to hate them or judge them,鈥 she said of the transfer students. 鈥淭hat's not the case.鈥
At the welcome assembly, the transfer students were dispersed among the 1,700 student body population, indistinguishable from their new classmates.
鈥淎ll of you are on a journey this year,鈥 Principal Jan Kellerman said over the loudspeaker. 鈥淲e have a lot of students new to the house. They come from different districts, parochial schools, sister schools. If you're a new student, stand up!鈥
Brianna and the other students from Riverview stood. And so did freshmen and dozens of other students new to the district. The rest of the school cheered.
