File Photo Wheeling Park High School Principal Amy Minch has taken a new job in the Ohio County Schools central office. She begins in July.

Wheeling Park High School will get a new principal next year as its current principal, Amy Minch, takes a new job in the Ohio County Schools central office.

Minch will be school district’s next attendance director beginning in July, succeeding the retiring Jeff Laird. In addition, Minch will oversee an expansion of career and technical education opportunities at middle schools within Ohio County Schools.

Minch said many duties fall within being the school district’s attendance director, and she will be addressing many of the same issues as Laird.

“A lot of things other than attendance were under his realm under Title III,” she said. “He dealt with the homeless population and attendance-related things.

“The addition to my job title will be my working with the middle schools to create career and technical education.”

She said during his eight years as principal at WPHS she has overseen work to develop the school’s CTE’s programs, and has that background.

Her daily duties will include student attendance matters, and working with students, counselors, parents and community stakeholders to improve attendance numbers, according to Minch.

“In addition, I will be working with the middle schools and implementing some CTE programs at the middle school level,” she said.

“Our goal is to provide exploration, skill development, and introductory courses to explore a variety of careers and skills across the different avenues.

“It may look different at each middle school based on what students’ schedules are. It will evolve at each grade level and each school as the year goes through.”

The goal is that every Ohio County student have some experience with career and technical education while they are in middle school, according to Minch.

“Then when they come to the high school, they can make decisions,” she said.

Minch also will be responsible for making home visitations when needed, and there are times when a student might be homeless.

“I don’t know if we have had an increase in the number of homeless students in Ohio County Schools, but it was always something we had to make accommodation for and offer assistance to those families,” she said. “They don’t necessary always stay under that umbrella as things are put into play to help the families.”

The challenge of the job always is to meet the needs of families, and bring stakeholders to the table and provide resources, according to Minch.

“Every student counts,and their school attendance is essential,” she said. “That is our goal in Ohio County Schools.”