MAJORITY of my students are great, but I have one problem kid & it’s only the beginning of the year, not sure what to do next

TLDR; “Popular” kid is upset that I replaced their previous, favorite teacher

For context, I taught high school social studies + coached a 9th grade dance team last year, and I now teach dance full time as a middle school elective.

I learned a LOT from my first year teaching (2024-25) with a particularly rough group of high schoolers. I started this new year with my dance classes FIRM about class expectations and boundaries, especially since dance studio space is wildly different than a traditional classroom.

Right off the bat, first day of school, I had this 7th grader very shocked and upset that I replaced the previous dance teacher from last year. In her words, this previous teacher was “chill” and “fun” and “like her best friend”. I’ve had MULTIPLE parents and even other staff members describe this teacher as having had very blurred boundaries with students by “treating them like friends”. They’ve mentioned things like her having no plan for class and letting students do whatever nearly every day, buying them Starbucks drinks, letting them play games on her personal cell phone, etc.

7th Grader is a “popular”, athletic kid. She shows constant, immature, attention-seeking behavior in my class. I ignore it when it’s ignorable, but when it has potential to get out of hand (ex: screaming over her broken nail), I pull her aside to give her a VERY firm warning as to not give her attention in front of the whole class.

I had a very stern, private talk with her the 2nd or 3rd day of school where I acknowledged her disappointment about her previous teacher being gone, but I’m not going to allow her to make her distaste for a new teacher ruin every other student’s experience. I have been logging her disruptive behavior in a Google Doc.

This is the ONLY student that tries to push boundaries and exhibits attention-seeking behavior nearly daily. Also the ONLY student etc that has outright told me they’re upset that I replaced their favorite teacher. Do I let the rest of the year play out hoping she’ll adjust? Do I try reaching out to her parents or other resources (counselors, coaches, other teachers, etc.)?