Editor’s note: This is part two of a five-part series about how school reassignment affects students.

MONROE - Before school started last month, six students affected by school reassignment in Union County shared their expectations and offered their hesitations about transferring to a new school.

Some were excited, others nervous. A couple claimed they were anxious because of rumors they heard about their new schools.

The main concern for all students was leaving friends behind. (Second in line for those entering middle school was remembering locker combinations.)

A few students were involved in their old schools, but a couple said they aren’t the drama or sports types.

Words they used to describe themselves ranged from “shy” to “outgoing.” All six anticipated harder classes.

Two students attend year-round school Monroe Middle; they are not on the same schedule as traditional schools.

Ashley Dixon

6th grade, reassigned from Rocky River Elementary and the Sun Valley school cluster to Monroe Middle

Q: How did the first few weeks of school go?

A: “It was good. Nothing really bad happened. They gave a good first impression. ... It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.” Dixon said she heard rumors that the students at Monroe Middle were rough, but “I realized it wasn’t that bad.”

Q: How is the new school different from your old one?

A: “Instead of having one class or two classes, I have, like, 10. It’s a little more confusing. ... You have to get to class on time, change of classes and all, and going to lockers. ... Just the other day, I went the wrong way to class and walked into a class that wasn’t even my class. ... Some of the work is more challenging. ... The teachers, it’s kind of hard remembering their names ‘cause there’s so many.”

Q: How is it the same?

A: “The teachers are all nice, just like at Rocky River. The PTA and all the events are kind of the same.” Dixon said both Rocky River and Monroe Middle will have a fall festival.

Q: Has the transfer gone the way you expected?

A: “Yeah. Not exactly, ‘cause I was expecting to go to Sun Valley, but (Monroe Middle) is a good school and I like it now.”

Q: Are you spending more time with new friends or your old ones?

A: “More with new friends since most of my old friends went to Sun Valley. ... There’s some of my old friends at the new school, but not many.”

Q: How involved are you at this new school?

A: Dixon is trying out for a Halloween play. “I’m trying to get into band, too.” She’s also taking Chinese as an elective. “It’s a lot different than having Spanish or art or dance.”

Q: What’s your favorite part about the new school?

A: “All the new people, all the new teachers. There’s a lot more freedom than elementary school. We were always walking in lines and stuff. ... It’s a lot better than my old school ‘cause there’s a lot more freedom.”

Q: Least favorite?

A: “Mainly just, like, my old friends. ... And the lunch is almost worse than my old school because they put weird stuff together like lettuce and peaches and cheese and sour cream. ... It’s not gone at the end of lunch.”

Teal Brooks

6th grade, reassigned from the Piedmont cluster to Porter Ridge Middle

Note: Teal lives closer to Hemby Bridge Elementary, but attended Fairview Elementary due to a previous reassignment. Fairview is a split feeder to Porter Ridge and Piedmont middle schools. Teal will go to Porter Ridge Middle, which is closer to where he lives and the school that most of his neighborhood’s students attend.

Q: How did the first few weeks of school go?

A: “Good. ... I’m getting (the locker) open fine.”

Q: How is the new school different from your old one?

A: “It’s bigger than my old school and there’s more kids and I finally get to use a locker and they give us a little bit more freedom out of class.”

Q: How is it the same?

A: “The food is kind of the same.” Brooks said he buys lunch and it’s both good and bad.

Q: Has the transfer gone the way you expected?

A: “Yeah. ... I thought (classes) were going to be kind of hard, but now that I went there, it’s kind of in the middle.”

Q: Are you spending more time with new friends or your old ones?

A: “My old friends.” Brooks said he has made new friends, too.

Q: How involved are you at this new school?

A: Brooks is going to try out for baseball, “and if I don’t make that, I’m going to try out for the golf team.”

Q: What’s your favorite part about the new school?

A: “The teachers are really nice.”

Q: Least favorite?

A: “The food is kind of the same.” He said pizza is the worst. “It kind of tastes like cardboard.”

Jessica Sheehan

6th grade, reassigned from Sun Valley Middle to Monroe Middle

Q: How did the first few weeks of school go?

A: “It was actually really, really fun. The work was easy.”

Q: How is the new school different from your old one?

A: “They have more class periods. Sun Valley only had six and Monroe has nine. ... The school is smaller than Sun Valley.”

Q: How is it the same?

A: “They both have the same size of classes.”

Q: Has the transfer gone the way you expected?

A: “Yeah, most likely, ... (but) the people at Monroe are more snobby and the people at Sun Valley, they’re more nice.”

Q: Are you spending more time with new friends or your old ones?

A: “My new ones.”

Q: How involved are you at this new school?

A: “I might join cheerleading.”

Q: What’s your favorite part about the new school?

A: “Gym. We go outside and play soccer.”

Q: Least favorite?

A: “I would say writing.”

Lamar Patton

9th grade, reassigned from the Sun Valley cluster to Monroe High

Q: How did the first few weeks of school go?

A: “It went fine. I like it. I like high school now, I guess. ... My grades are good, I think that’s why, and I guess I’m just learning about high school and it’s going not how I expected it to go.”

Q: How is the new school different from your old one?

A: “I feel more at home at Monroe and I guess the teachers help you out better. ... They pay more attention to you and assist you more if you need help.”

Q: How is it the same?

A: “The rules. Not the classroom rules, but the rules in general, like how we have to tuck in our shirts if our shirts are too long.”

Q: Has the transfer gone the way you expected?

A: “I thought I was gonna miss Sun Valley and want to go back, but I haven’t missed it yet.”

Q: Are you spending more time with new friends or your old ones?

A: “Kind of both, ‘cause there’s some of my old friends that came from Sun Valley and go to Monroe and I have new friends, so I kind of hang out with them at the same time.”

Q: How involved are you at this new school?

A: Patton plays junior varsity football. “I’m going to try out for the baseall team, and next year, if I’m still there, I’m going to run for student council.”

Q: What’s your favorite part about the new school?

A: “The people there, ‘cause it feels like I’m around a lot of family when I’m at Monroe. ... When I’m at football, the other day we were on the bus, ... it felt like I was just around a bunch of my brothers.”

Q: Least favorite?

A: “Tucking in the shirts, ‘cause some of my shirts are long, but I can’t wear them to school ‘cause I would have to tuck them in.”

Kayla Taylor

9th grade, reassigned from Marvin Ridge cluster to Cuthbertson High

Q: How did the first few weeks of school go?

A: “Pretty good. I wasn’t used to the people that I was with, but I made friends. I like it there so far.”

Q: How is the new school different from your old one?

A: “The people’s faces are different and the personalities are different, ,,, but they’re nice, most of them. ... The teachers are really nice and they’re doing a good job so far.”

Q: How is it the same?

A: “The building looks just like Marvin Ridge would look like. ... Being a freshman, it’s my first year in high school, so I’m not sure what other high schools are like.”

Q: Has the transfer gone the way you expected?

A: “So far, yes. Hopefully it doesn’t change any because I don’t mind being where I’m at — obviously, I’d like to be with the same people, but I’m making new friends by the day. ... It’s a good mix of different people.”

Q: Are you spending more time with new friends or your old ones?

A: “I haven’t had really any time to spend time with any of my friends. I’ve had two projects, so I’ve been trying to focus on that and volleyball.” Taylor said she met up with some of her Marvin Ridge friends at a recent Cuthbertson football game against Marvin Ridge.

Q: How involved are you at this new school?

A: “We just had club sign-ups and I signed up for BETA club. ... Maybe down the road I might try to get in other clubs.” Taylor also plays volleyball for the school.

Q: What’s your favorite part about the new school?

A: “Being with some of the people I was in elementary school with. Today (Thursday), I saw somebody I went ... to first and second grade with. ... It’s really nice to see people I haven’t seen in three years.”

Q: Least favorite?

A: “Not being with the friends I made in middle school.”

Amanda Sica

11th grade, reassigned from Weddington High to Cuthbertson High

Q: How did the first few weeks of school go?

A: “It went really well. More of my friends were there than I thought.”

Q: How is the new school different from your old one?

A: “The building is pretty much the same. ... There’s actually more people in my classes. It’s really different not seeing the same people that I’m used to.”

Q: How is it the same?

A: “The layout of the school is basically identical. School is kind of just, like, school.”

Q: Has the transfer gone the way you expected?

A: “No, it was better than I thought. I wasn’t expecting to make as many new friends as fast as I did, and I did within the first couple days.”

Q: Are you spending more time with new friends or your old ones?

A: “My new friends.”

Q: How involved are you at this new school?

A: Sica joined the Key Club. “I think I’m going to sign up for photography club and maybe DECA club. I’m going to run winter track and then I’m going to play softball.”

Q: What’s your favorite part about the new school?

A: “Everything is new and a fresh start.”

Q: Least favorite?

A: “I don’t really have any.”