ROCHESTER, N.Y. — It was moving up day at Our Lady of Mercy School for Young Women.

Middle schoolers in grades 6 through 8 took a two-mile walk to the high school campus as a part of a moving up day parade.

Mercy High School usually houses grades 6 through 12. School officials designated the campus on East Avenue to house grades 6 through 8 to continue in-person learning five days a week throughout the pandemic.

"This is giving our middle schoolers a chance to move back home," said Sherylanne Diodato, middle school dean. "Literally moving ourselves back home by walking back to Blossom. It's very exciting for us today because the girls will be on tour of the middle school campus and the 8th graders will tour the high school campus. There will be team building activities. But it also a way to celebrate five days a week, we made it. It's so exciting for us. The energy and celebration of today is through the roof."

The moving up event is a Mercy tradition where classes gather to provide advice to the grade level below them.