Before the school year even started, everyone knew that there would be a handful of students transferring in from other schools. The great migration of the Normandy and Riverview students had been all over the local news since August. In the end, U. City received 34 students from the two failing districts and 51 students from other schools.
One of those students is senior Alisha Sonnier, who transferred from Cardinal Ritter and had heard bad things about U. City. However, that didn’t stop her from becoming a part of the U. City family.
“My first day was nerve-racking but welcoming,” said Sonnier.
Sonnier decided to graduate from U. City because it was close to her house and required no tuition. It may have taken time, but now she feels right at home.
“U. City is very accepting and has more freedom than my old school,” said Sonnier.

As if going into high school isn’t hard enough, try transferring from a rival school district. That is exactly what freshman Raven Johnson had to do. While this might seem frightening, the transition came naturally to Johnson. She went to Confluence, Ferguson and Normandy school districts before arriving at U. City. After moving from school to school, she never felt nervous about transferring, but now she’s happy to be here.

“U. City is just like any other school,” Johnson says.

Some transfer students are new to U. City, but others are just returning faces. Kendal Harris, senior, left from Pershing in third grade but held on to a dream to graduate from U. City.

“I knew I was going to graduate from U. City,” said Harris.

After spending two years at McCluer, she was eager to come back to her U. City family.

“Nothing changed when I transferred,” Harris said, “McCluer students are the same as U. City students.”

Another addition to the U. City pride is ninth grader, Anthony Washington, who left Normandy with plans to transfer to Ritenour. That changed, however, and Washington chose U. City instead because it was closer in proximity. Washington’s friend and fellow freshman, Zeryn Wiggins, also transferred from Normandy. Wiggins and their trio’s third member, freshman Marcus Weaver, who came from KIPP, chose U. City for its accreditation. Even though they miss their friends, the three freshmen are happy at U. City.

“U. City feels the same; nothing is different from Normandy,” said Wiggins.