Some new students could be seen walking the hallways during the first few weeks of school, and they were not just those freshmen coming in from Hoech and Ritenour Middle.

Some of the students who arrived are from the Normandy and Riverview Gardens School Districts. Last year, those districts lost their state accreditation, and students could use Missouri Statute 167.131, which allowed them to transfer to neighboring school districts. Many of those students chose to come to Ritenour.

In addition to these students, Ritenour received transfer students from other cities, states and countries. This is not uncommon, as Ritenour traditionally receives transfers all throughout the year.

In total, 146 students transferred into Ritenour High School this year. Among the new faces are 54 freshmen, 51 sophomores, 24 juniors and 17 seniors.

These students come from 21 other St. Louis area public school districts, area private schools, specialized education centers, homeschooling, other states, and foreign countries.

While this change may just seem like the hallways are more packed, it can have an effect on activities.

Sophomore Princess Shelton is one of the students that transferred from Normandy. Shelton acknowledged that the stereotypes that people might have formed from the news reports about Normandy are not always true.

“It is not my fault, it is the other people, the “gangster kids” that are in Normandy, and there are smart ones.” Shelton stated

Other kids from many other schools came to Ritenour as well. This includes all of the freshmen, who have already started to bond with the general population.

Freshman Karissa Lael has been warmly welcomed to school by her peers.

“They are great students and very nice,” Lael said.

Freshman Deja Lucas feels like the students here are no different than her other school.

“It does not feel any different to me, they are cool, and I talk to them,” Lucas said.

Ritenour welcomed the new students with open arms and the district administrators were excited to have them here.

“Ritenour constantly embraces new students as they enroll in the district throughout the year,” Ritenour Director of Communications Doug Bray said.

The new students have had some time to get used to the new schedules and peers, but Shelton is still not used to the size of the school.

“It is kind of big,” Shelton said.

Shelton also noted that there are some issues of crowding that are happening around the school.

“The only bad thing is that the hallways are bunched trying to get to class. I have to get used to the fact that the buildings are connected,” Shelton said.

While there might be some extra crowding in the hallways during passing periods, the transfer students and freshmen have integrated with the other students without disruption.

“Everything is cool,” Lucas said.