In a small school, it’s easy to notice a new face, and this year, the student body has an influx of new faces, with 18 transfer students who are adapting to the smaller school.
“The transfer students are starting to transition well into our school. A lot of them came from bigger school districts, and so being able to be part of a smaller environment has been helpful,” principal Stefanie Novotny said.
Transferring to a new school can sometimes be a long process that can take weeks or even months.
“So usually what happens is a family will reach out and they’ll come in for a tour,” Novotny said. “Once a family decides that they want to come to Yutan, they fill out option enrollment paperwork. Then we bring it over to our superintendent, Mr. Schwartz. He would have to approve that. Once it’s approved, we’ll work on getting students’ records and just making sure that we can get their schedules ready for them.”
There are many reasons that students decide to transfer schools. Students may have moved into the district or are seeking a better opportunity for sports and building relationships.
“A lot of the students are looking for more opportunities. I think we do a good job of providing opportunities for all different types of kids, whether it’s arts, one-act, sports, band, choir or academics. So I think we just give a lot of opportunities for kids to do things,” Novotny said.
The sports opportunities were a good reason for freshman Tatum Watts to transfer from Wahoo to Yutan.
“I feel like Yutan has a really good sports program. I went to that basketball camp, and the basketball coach was super nice, and so are all the girls I met there,” Watts said. “I really like the team; we have a lot of team bonding and get-togethers.”
With better opportunities, many students have found it easy to adjust to the new school. Being able to form relationships with their peers and teachers has made them feel like they belong to the school.
“I went to Mead, then I left and went to Virginia. When I moved back, I wanted to come here,” senior Taylar Shull said. “I like how there’s a lot less drama. I feel like the classes are more engaging and that people actually care, especially teachers, like they’re [actually] teaching. I just feel like it’s one of the best schools I’ve been to before.”
The teachers and staff at Yutan are hopeful that the new students will continue to share more good things about the school.
“I’m hoping that the new students are coming for just all the great things that are happening here in our school district, just changes that we’ve made to really help our students feel like they belong, but yet holding them accountable to high expectations,” Novotny said.
