By Marie Saba and Tyra Carter

Staff Writers

The first marking period is at an end and 31 new students have settled in to a new school year. Jamesville-Dewitt High School welcomes all the new students and hopes they have a great year.

A set of siblings that have joined J-DHS are junior Kyle and freshman Lindsey Weir. The two are from Central Square, NY, which is about 30 minutes north of J-DHS, so the transition wasn’t much of a shock for them. At first Lindsey didn’t like the school, but now she is “really starting like it.”

Other new students had a similar opinion about moving. Senior Taylor Kreung’s transition from South Carolina to J-DHS was good because she felt accepted and could relate to other students. Freshman Jack Underhill also thought his transition from Colorado was good, which was “helped” beacause he was on the soccer team, which helped him meet and get to know some people. Junior Katelyn Knox from Altmar-Parish also didn’t mind moving here because she made new friends. “I love JD,” said Knox, “It’s more fast pace and people work harder.”

However, the new students have realized there is a major academic difference between J-DHS and their old schools. Most noticed the good things that J-DHS had to offer. “The academics are better,” said Janna Stephens, a sophomore from Oswego. The Weir siblings both agreed that the curriculum is much more difficult.    

Most students like Kreung love the environment and their peers. However, some took more time to settle in. “Slowly I adjusted to everything and it was nice,” said Sabri Hafizuddin from Canada. Some students feel that they didn’t adapt as well because they find the students at J-DHS “are very cliquey,” said Stephens. Junior Sidrat Rahmas from Montreal, Canada, agrees; ”The students stay in their group and it’s very difficult to feel welcome.” Other students aren’t used to the transition just yet. “It’s alright,” said Rahmas, “I’m a city girl so I miss the city.” One other difference that Rahmas noticed was that the schedule was different when it came to passing time. Rahmas said that in her old school there was more time in between classes than there is at J-DHS.  

Principal Paul Gasparini advises all new students to get involved and utilize what J-DHS has to offer and create new experiences and memories.