PINE BLUFF, Ark. — Dollarway High School students will officially be making the move over to Pine Bluff High this year.
In 2020, the Arkansas Department of Education approved the merger of the Dollarway School District into the Pine Bluff School District.
The decision came due to continue financial concerns that the district will only operate one middle school and high school at the start of the 2023-2024 school year.
“I've been here like since Pre-K. So, it's gonna be like hard adjusting. But, it's like nothing we can do about it. So, I'm just trying to make the best out of it," said Madison Jones, junior at Dollarway.
Jones has been a student at Dollarway for over a decade, but, when the fall rolls around, her first steps as a senior will be through the doors of Pine Bluff High School.
“I'm excited to go and experience new things such as the cheer team and like different other activities that we didn't have out here," Jones said.
The merger will move 42 rising seniors along with the other 100-plus underclassman from Dollarway High about four miles down the road.
“Our 11th graders that are at Dollarway High School this school year, they won't be a part of their own high school when they graduate and that's a shock. So, I'm trying to prepare them for the shock before next school year happens," Superintendent Jennifer Barbare explained.
Barbare has only led the district for five months now and has been using her time over the last few weeks to talk and prepare students for the big change.
“If you really do walk among kids and talk with kids, they want what's best for Pine Bluff School District as well. They just want to go to school and have fun and that's what we're trying to do with just different emotions in meetings," Barbare said.
Taking into consideration what students would like to see and have, Barbare added that they are considering suggestions.
For example, they have discussed putting Dollarway-Pine Bluff High on diplomas or possibly giving them a certain graduation chord to acknowledge students affected by the merge.
Although some are taking time to embrace the change, many are happy to welcome the Cardinals over.
“We're your home, we're your new home, you know, we're gonna treat you like family because we're all one now," said Chastity Reed, a senior at Pine Bluff High. "So just be comfortable and be open to new things, because we are seniors, and we're almost grownups.”
Students have been pushing one another to be positive, but also the community to be supportive.
“We need positivity. No negativity," Reed said.
Barbare added that during this transition she wants parents to know that they have the student's best interest.
“We're worried about academics, and we're worried about safety, we want to make sure we have the best thing for all of our students. At this time, we're looking to transition into a new high school, we need our community to support that our students deserve it,” she described.
While it’s important to embrace new environments, Dollarway students said they will never forget where they’ve come from.
“I will always be a Cardinal at heart," Jones said.
Students in seventh through ninth grade will also make a transition to one middle school.
Any student that will be in seventh, eighth, and ninth grade next school year within the Pine Bluff School District will go to Robert F. Moorhead. Additionally, Dollarway High Campus could also be utilized for space to house those students.
The superintendent said they will continue to have transitional meetings and activities all throughout the summer to get more than 1,400 students adjusted before the first day of school.