With the decision to close Wasson High School final, up to 200 students and their parents attended an open house Thursday night to get more information about the schools they’re heading to in the fall.

Students picked up “transition packets” that included copies of their transcripts, graduation plan and information about their assigned school — and how to transfer to a different school, which isn’t guaranteed.

“We have each of our four high schools and all of our alternative programs here to visit with students,” said Stacy Bush, an assistant principal at Wasson.

“Schools have brought their students, their counselors and have presentations for the students to welcome them to their new school,” she said.

After meeting with staff and students from their assigned school for about 30 minutes, the Wasson pupils and their parents could meet with the other schools.

Hannah Phillips, a 16-year-old 10th grader, said she’s been assigned to attend Palmer High School but that she would rather go to Mitchell High School. Phillips said she is focused on sports, specifically volleyball and track, and feels she would have “more of a chance to shine” at Mitchell, which is smaller than Palmer.

“I don’t have anything against them (Palmer) personally,” she said. “But I just feel like I wouldn’t have as much of a chance because their teams are so big, and there’s so much competition. Making a name for yourself at a school like that would be a lot harder.”

Parent Sabrina Bess said her 15-year-old son, Chase, is assigned to attend Mitchell but is weighing his options.

“I’m hoping that this is a good experience,” she said about the open house. “It’s really difficult when you’re having a hard time with this whole process anyway to come in with that open mind.”

Bess, who was a vocal opponent of Wasson’s closure, said she would prefer that Chase attend a smaller school. When she took him to check out Palmer, she said the experience scared her.

“You walk in here, they know you. They say hi. They say my name. They say my son’s name,” she said. “I walked into Palmer, and they looked at me like I was foreign, that I had no reason to be there.”

Bess said she thinks the Colorado Springs School District 11 board made the wrong decision by closing Wasson but that she and her son are coming to terms with it.

“It was hard tonight when I’m sitting there and they’re doing the little video” about Mitchell, she said. “My son has been dealing with this, but when he looked at me, he said, ‘Mom, it just hit me, Wasson is closing.’ That was hard.”

Bush, the assistant principal, said students are having a difficult time with the transition.

“There’s been a lot of tears this week,” she said. “But at the same time, it is providing at least a sense of direction so they know that they have a home for next year. That’s been some comfort.”

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Wasson High School in April 2010. Photo by The Gazette file