Gallery • 10 Photos

Curtis Conyears

Students arrive to walk the red carpet into their first day of school

After not having a real first day of school last year due to virtual learning, students were able to walk the red carpet into the building on August 23, the first day of the 2021-2022 school year. The event included music, a performance from the cheerleaders, and stakeholders standing along the red carpet welcoming the students. This year’s red carpet welcome was an extra special occasion, as this was the first time that most of the sophomores and freshmen had attended school in the building.

“I was so excited to be in the building because I’ve never been [before] and I was excited to be out [of] the house to meet teachers and friends,” Tori Wilson, sophomore, said. “It was a good experience, I loved meeting all my teachers and new classmates. I honestly loved it and loved being out [of] the house. I feel confident about this upcoming school year, way better than I felt during virtual [learning].”

Seniors are the only class who have actually spent an entire year on site at U. City due to the pandemic forcing everyone out in March 2020 through most of all of last year. Less than 100 students returned to school in March 2021 while the rest of the student body stayed in distance learning.

“Being back in school again lets me feel like things are finally getting back to normal,” Shawn Coleman, sophomore, said. “In the hubs, being confined to one area and not being able to have that full freshmen experience produced a feeling of anxiety and panic in a sense.”