Elkhorn North High School opened their doors to the first-ever freshmen, sophomore, and junior classes on Tuesday, August 18, 2020. There can be some bittersweet moments when opening up a brand new school. For example, athletes get to set the benchmark for their sport but may face a few challenging years ahead of them. Students get to make new memories in a new school, but leave behind the memories they made in their previous school. Overall, a brand new school brings some mixed emotions for most people. 

“It was really hard to leave my friends because I had gone to school with most of them since kindergarten, and I’ve known my best friend since I was one. It was even harder to tell them we weren’t going to be going to the same school but I knew if they were really my friends they would support me and that’s exactly what happened,” Freshman Sydney Stodden said. 

For Stodden, she went to Elkhorn Valley View Middle School, which meant that she was supposed to go to Elkhorn South High School. Stodden had initially planned on going to Elkhorn South, but when she found out that her favorite club basketball coach was going to be the head coach of this year’s girls basketball team and her aunt was going to be one of the track coaches, Stodden and her father moved and she now goes to Elkhorn North. She says transitioning to Elkhorn North was a lot easier to her, thanks to sports. 

When asked about the school split, Junior Corinne Mead said, “At first, I was really mad because I was going to be a junior and they were going to take me away from my friends for the year, but once I saw the school and how nice it was and the sports team, it wasn’t really that bad.” 

Even though Mead says that the school split did not really affect her, she says competing with her friends from Elkhorn High was a different experience than before. 

“It’s a little weird before the (Cross Country) race starts but once we start competing, it’s almost like- because you’re always kind of having a rivalry with everyone and you’re still trying to win and PR-  it kinda goes away when you’re racing,” says Mead. 

Stepping aside from sports and students, long time teacher at Elkhorn High School, AP Biology and Biology teacher Mr. Daryle LaFleur had a different perspective on the school split. 

“I like it (the school split) because last year was way too busy, way too many people in the halls,” Mr. LaFleur said. 

On the other hand, when asked about what he will miss about Elkhorn High, Mr. LaFleur said, “Well, I worked with teachers there for 17 years so I’ll miss them for sure. I’d say that’s the biggest thing. I’ll miss my friends that I have worked with for years.” 

Opening up a brand new school may have some challenges, especially during times like these where students and teachers can’t be close to each other; or when no one can see each other’s full face. Despite the challenges, Elkhorn North High School will set the standards for the following years to come.