Westinghouse H.S. Holds Welcome Event For Wilkinsburg Students

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - It's a time of transition for students at Wilkinsburg High School. Many of them will be going to a different district next year and today, they got a chance to familiarize themselves with their new school.

About 220 students from Wilkinsburg will transition to Westinghouse High School next year.

Today, a big celebration was held to welcome them.

From the moment the school buses full of Wilkinsburg students pulled up, it was a big hello from the Westinghouse Bulldogs.

"The drummers got it going and you know, it was pumped up," future Westinghouse student Jaylnn McClary said.

Today was the first step to integrate the two schools together. The ultimate goal is to make the transition a seamless one.

"I'm not going to lie, I had my doubts about it, like Wilkinsburg kids and Homewood kids, I don't know if they're going to get along, but they seem pretty nice so it might work out," Donyelle Aust said.

"A lot of people, I think they're doubting it, but I guess it will turn out okay. I mean, I'm not sure. Only time will tell," Khamille Andrews said.

Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Linda Lane said the merger was a year-long process. Due to low enrollment in the Wilkinsburg School District, it couldn't offer the required academics to secondary education.

That's when Pittsburgh Public Schools stepped up.

"We thought is there a way that we can make this not only a better Westinghouse, but also serve the students of Wilkinsburg well? So, adults and kids have been working like crazy," Dr. Lane said.

"You can choose to look at it as a negative, which some people apparently are. We choose to look at it as an opportunity with more kids, you have more opportunities. We can offer more courses, we can improve our sports teams, so there's a lot of good things that come along with having more kids in the school," Westinghouse High School Principal Louann Zwieryznski said.

In addition to today's orientation, at the beginning of next school year, they'll have a week-long process where they really get to know the high school.

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