Pamela Williams is the only senior at KHS to have transferred from Riverview Gardens or Normandy. She transferred from Normandy High School (NHS) for her senior year in hopes of finding a more positive and academically rigorous environment. “Kirkwood seemed like a   pretty good school. I was willing to come here and leave Normandy because I’ve been to different schools throughout high school, so it wasn’t that hard to do it again,” Pamela said.

Her freshman year, Pamela attended Confluence Preparatory Academy. She transferred to Hazelwood Central her sophomore year, then attended NHS her junior year.

“Normandy was kind of chaotic. Some of the students were just out of control. They played a lot. They were loud and disrespectful to the teachers. But the teachers were willing to teach whoever wanted to be taught. So if there was a kid acting up, they would send that student out to ISS,” Pamela said. “But there’s more drama at Normandy. Lots of ‘he said, she said’ stuff, and then Normandy is smaller than this school, so news will get around the school  much faster.”

Pamela doesn’t regret her decision. She was able to take more unique classes than Normandy provided, like Environmental Science, Fashion and African American Literature. She says KHS has a stricter environment. At NHS, if a student skipped school, there was often no consequence. But even though Pamela is glad she chose to come to KHS, she still sometimes wishes she could have had a friend group that lasted all of high school.

“I kind of think I missed out. I had to make friends every year I transferred,” Pamela said.

Even so, Pamela is glad she came here. She feels she had more opportunities here as a senior than if she’d had her senior year at Normandy.

“I think I would’ve wanted to start my freshman year off here. It’s better here than the other schools I’ve been to,” Pamela said. “The students and teachers are more positive and friendly, and nice to newcomers.”