Residents of Oak Park commonly refer to the city as the “bubble,” – surrounded by hills on every side, there is only one road in and out of Oak Park. This usually creates a positive feeling of community and belonging for its residents, along with a sense of safety.
As a result, many students living in Oak Park grow up around the same people their whole educational career, from elementary school to high school. Transferring to Oak Park Unified School District from out of district, however, may be challenging for students depending on when you are transitioning into Oak Park.
Students’ experiences transferring into Oak Park High School usually depend on two main factors: what grade they’re transferring into and what their previous school was like. Transferring can be difficult due to multiple factors, such as educational differences, social differences and even cultural differences.
Junior Kinza Khan transferred from Washington D.C. before her sophomore year. Khan recalled that her old school was much less academically rigorous, and the social life was different.
“At Oak Park, I felt pressure to fit in but in a good way… I was pressured to be more academically successful and care more about school,” Khan said.
Oak Park also had very different resources from her old school; technology like Q Connect, Google Classroom and Pear Deck were new to her. Kinza explained how learning to use these things and getting used to the rigorous curriculum took a toll on her and she experienced a learning curve. Khan thought transferring in was easier socially than academically.
“It was mostly easy to make friends. It took a little time for me to find a good group, but people are very sweet and easy to talk to,” Khan said. Now, she loves her life in Oak Park.
Transferring into a new school for anyone is usually hard, whether you have been in the same district your whole life or moved to a new one. However, freshman Eileen Dresel felt coming in as a ninth grader seemed to make the transition much smoother.
Dresel had previously attended a smaller Catholic school called Saint Mel Middle School, so being in a larger school made it easier to meet new people.
“It was very easy to make friends here, especially within the two sports I do… coming to a bigger school definitely allowed me to meet new people. I don’t feel much pressure to fit in at Oak Park,” Dresel said.
Dresel was thankful for a new opportunity to be a part of a community such as Oak Park.
“Transferring to Oak Park impacted me personally by giving me a needed new start,” said Dresel.
Lexi Pinkerton was a rising senior at La Reina before the school closed. As a result, Pinkerton chose to attend OPHS for her final year of high school. Instead of spending her senior year with her closest friends she had already spent the last three years with, she had to completely restart. What was supposed to be her best year became ten times more challenging.
“Going to Oak Park for my last year of high school was certainly a test of my resilience in a way that I have never been tested before,” Pinkerton said.
When transferring in, Pinkerton recalled that it was difficult to make friends at first because everyone had already found their friend groups, and as a senior transfer student, there was nearly nobody else in her grade with her situation.
“My old school was a small Catholic all girls school, which had a very individualized curriculum. Oak Park was teaching for the masses and that was pretty hard to adjust to,” Pinkerton said.
Something all transfer students have in common is that no matter how long their transition journey was, they eventually felt welcomed into the community that is Oak Park.
