The start of a new year for the Pasco School District will find about 300 students at new buildings due to the latest West Pasco rezoning.

One of them is Nicolas Ramirez, 15.

• School board approved new boundaries earlier this y ear
• About 100 Mitchell students will move to River Ridge
• Principals hope families will give new schools a chance

"It's like starting from ninth grade all over," Ramirez, an incoming sophomore, said of the transition from J.W. Mitchell High School to River Ridge High School.

"I was happy with Nicolas going to the other school. I tried to apply for school choice," said Ramirez's mother, Olga Quintana.

Superintendent Kurt Browning previously said the district was going to be very strict when it came to granting school choice to rezoned students. Ramirez was not among those allowed to stay at Mitchell.

The school board approved new boundaries earlier this year that will see some Seven Springs Middle School and Mitchell students moved to River Ridge Middle School and its high school. Some students have also been rezoned from Anclote High to Gulf High.

River Ridge Principal Toni Zetzsche said about 100 Mitchell students will be enrolled at River Ridge this year.

"As an administrative team and as an instructional staff, our goal is to make kids feel like this is their home. So, we've worked really hard to encourage kids to be a part of activities, get to know them,” Zetzsche said.

This is the second time the River Ridge schools have gone through rezoning recently. A similar set of new boundaries was overturned when a judge ruled there were Sunshine Law violations during their development.

"This time, it was a little more difficult because the community over at Mitchell feels very tied to their school," Zetzsche said. "It was really hard to see families and kids not want to come here."

The rezoning was meant as a way to ease overcrowding in West Pasco schools. Zetzsche said the extra students aren’t expected to lead to a strain on resources at RRHS.

"I don’t feel like we're in a place where it's hurting us. I think our classrooms are going to be happily full," she said.

Zetzsche also asks that families give their new schools a chance. It's something Ramirez and his family are already doing.

"We said, 'OK, let's try it. It's a new opportunity,'" said Quintana. "I asked about River Ridge, and I heard very good things about the school."

"I'm OK with it," said Ramirez. "I might lose my friends because I've been there for one year already from middle school, but it's OK. It's a fresh experience."