Lincoln’s Standing Bear High School opens doors for the first time

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The brand-new Standing Bear High School opened its doors for the first day of school on Monday with a pep rally for the class of 2027.

That will be the first class to spend all four years there.

This year, the school at 70th Street and Saltillo Road will teach freshmen and sophomores. Not enough juniors were interested this year, school administrators said.

SEE ALSO: Lincoln’s Standing Bear High School will open without juniors and seniors

The freshmen are excited to get started and create the school culture from scratch.

“I feel like being able to create your own culture and leave your mark for everyone to be able to use that is kind of amazing,” Renton Laholt said.

Typically, students who move to a new school feel alone and nervous because they don’t know anybody.

But with this situation, those nerves are shared by everyone.

“It’s everyone’s, like, fresh start, and everyone’s starting over,” freshman Jane Balck said. “So I’m not the only one that’s nervous or trying to, like, fit in or whatever.”

The high school building may be a carbon copy of Lincoln Northwest, but there are some differences in what goes on inside.

One of those differences is a broadcast journalism class.

“Our teacher is taking that on and really learning herself how she can help students establish that space to tell the story of Standing Bear,” Associate Principal Trisha Lind.

The sophomores start on Tuesday.