New job. New city. New home. New school.

Senior Allie Hennes decided only four weeks ago that she would be attending Sion in the fall. The decision was tough, and it took a lot of time and contemplation, she said.

“You want me to start from the beginning?”

Her parents were sitting in the living room of their Omaha, Neb. home when they called Hennes and her sister Sophia downstairs.

The news: Dad was offered a job in Kansas City.

Her parents said they think he might take it, and they asked what the girls thought of the idea.

“At first I was like, ‘This is a joke.’ I was mad. I was really mad, actually,” Hennes said.

Her parents said to give it a chance, so she shadowed both St. James Academy and Sion. Her dad took the job towards the end of January, but Hennes finished out her junior year at Mercy High School in Omaha.

“He [Allie’s father] started traveling, leaving Monday mornings to go to Kansas City and coming back to Omaha on Thursday or Friday,” Hennes said. “We did that for five months, and that was really hard.”

Hennes moved to Kansas City two days after school ended in May, but over the summer she had quite a decision to make. She could finish out her high school career in Omaha. She could either stay with her aunt or live in an apartment with her mom or spend her senior year with her whole family together at a new high school.

While she wasn’t a fan of St. James Academy, Hennes said Sion was a lot like her high school in Omaha. Mercy High school is an all-girls school with similar class sizes, class types, and traditions, she said.

So, Mercy or Sion? Hennes got input from many friends, family members, and Sion seniors, including Brittany Koppers. Hennes shadowed Koppers on her first visit to Sion and kept in touch with her through Facebook, Twitter, and text.

“We became texting buddies, and I answered any questions she had,” Koppers said. “I encouraged her to come to Sion and tried to make her feel as welcome as possible.”

Ultimately the decision came down to what was best for her family.

“I just didn’t think I could leave my family, or have us split-up,” she said.

She kept thinking back to when her dad was gone four or five days out of the week and how hard that was.

“I knew I couldn’t do that for a whole school year,” Hennes said. “It was just too much.”

And so, in the last week of July, Hennes officially decided to join the Sion community.

“All you guys were really welcoming, so that helped a lot,” she said.

Koppers said that she knew Hennes was really nervous, but she was excited to get to stay with her family and meet new people.

“She’s a super-sweet girl,” Koppers said. “I’m so glad she came.”