Photo by Joselyn King Ohio County Schools Public Relations Director Karin Butyn updates board of education members Monday night on the school district’s “Tiny Patriots” events that took place Jan. 10 at the Ohio County Public Library.

WHEELING – The second “Tiny Patriots” event held Saturday at the Ohio County Library attracted 200 people and hopefully eased parental concerns about enrolling their young child in Ohio County Schools, according to school officials.

Karin Butyn, public relations director for Ohio County Schools, provided facts and figures from the event to board of education members Monday night.

She reported 200 walk-throughs at the event, during which school officials made acquaintances with 30 families.

Butyn noted that total cost for the event was less than $1,600 for “Tiny Patriots” T-shirts that can be used in pre-K and kindergarten events throughout the year.

Registration for pre-kindergarten opened on Monday, with numbers “consistent” with those from the past two years, she continued.

“I always like to see more, and we’re working on that,” Butyn said. “But when we started this event last year, we did see a massive increase in kindergarten of 17%.

“I don’t think that’s sustainable year after year, but I know we will keep trying to get kids in our system and to create pathways so parents feel comfortable.”

She added school officials don’t want parents to have questions.

“We want them to know these answers so people feel comfortable and confident as they are making the decision to send us the most important person in their lives,” Butyn said. “We want them to know who we are, and to be excited about the next chapter.”

From a special education standpoint, it was exciting “to meet families who have children with special needs and didn’t know what to do next,” said Nicole Shepherd, behavior specialist and alternative education coordinator for Ohio County Schools.

In some cases, arrangements were made on Saturday to get special needs children in the schools in the coming weeks rather than waiting until next year. There were as many as four families needing the service, she said.

“It may not seem like such a large number, but to make that special connection with families… is just really important,” she said. “We caught several kids we wouldn’t have seen until next year, and that was cool.”

The event was geared toward children newborn to age 5 and their families. Parents had the opportunity to meet administration from the Ohio County Schools Central Office, who were present to answer questions about school registration, nutrition, transportation and curriculum.

There were also vendors representing community organizations present to assist the young families. Among those present were The Health Plan, WVU Medicine, Birth To Three, YWCA Wheeling and Northern Panhandle Head Start.

Butyn said her idea for the “Tiny Patriots” event started about two years ago when her own child was about to enter the school system.

“I was very overwhelmed and anxious – and I work here,” Butyn explained. “What do I do next? Who do I call?

“So we wanted to offer some additional transparency, especially to first-time enrollees. We wanted to find a way to make our concept, our system and our environment familiar….”

The Ohio County Public Library was selected to be the site for the “Tiny Patriots” gathering because the school district wanted a place “that was equally accepting to all in the community.”