Photo by Stephanie Elverd Speaking during Monday’s Ohio County Schools Board of Education meeting, Nathan Skrzypek said returning to Wheeling Middle School feels like coming home.

WHEELING — Nathan Skrzypek’s connection to Wheeling Middle School runs deeper than a new job title.

On Monday, the Ohio County Schools Board of Education unanimously approved Skrzypek as the next principal of Wheeling Middle School, replacing longtime principal Richard McCardle, whose administrative retirement was accepted as part of the same personnel agenda.

Skrzypek, who most recently served as an assistant principal at Wheeling Park High School, said the opportunity represents both a professional milestone and a personal homecoming.

“Thank you so much for this opportunity to lead Wheeling Middle School,” Skrzypek said to the board. “I am truly honored to accept the role and I am super appreciative of the faith you guys have in me. It’s a privilege to join a community that’s so close to myself and my family’s history. I currently live in Bethlehem which is where my wife’s entire family is from.

“My father’s family came from Poland in the early 1900s along with a lot of other Polish immigrants and settled in South Wheeling and worked at Benwood mill,” he said. “My grandma lived there until she was 94 and I still have family down there.”

Skrzypek’s ties to the school itself date back more than two decades. He completed his student teaching at Wheeling Middle School in 2005, an experience he said helped shape his career path.

“Quite honestly, I’ve also wanted this particular job. It’s like home to me. I am super excited,” he said.

Superintendent Kim Miller voiced strong support for the hire.

“I am excited to recommend to the board Natahn Skrzypek who is being recommended (as the) principal assigned to Wheeling Middle School,” Miller said.

Board member Andy Garber echoed that enthusiasm, highlighting Skrzypek’s rapport with students.

“If you’ve ever seen [Skrzypek] at work, you would see his true love for children and the way he interacts with them is special,” Garber said. “One of the things he is going to be down at Wheeling Middle is that person that listens. That person who is going to keep a kid who is having issues on his hip and say ‘OK, we’re going to get through this’. That’s the type of guy that this guy is and I’m really excited he is going down there.”

Skrzypek said his focus will center on the unique developmental stage of middle school students.

“Middle school is an extremely critical time in a young person’s life where students begin to discover who they are, what they value and what they are capable of achieving,” he said. “I believe deeply in creating a school environment where every kid feels safe, supported and challenged.”

He added that building relationships will be at the core of his leadership approach.

“I had Dr. Larry Jones, who you guys might remember as the superintendent back in the day, he was my advisor at Wheeling Jesuit and he said, ‘the students don’t care about how much you know until they know about how much you care,’ and I like to think I try to do that on a daily basis,” Skrzypek said.

Skrzypek said he is eager to collaborate with staff and families as he steps into the role.

“Thank you again for your trust and your confidence. I love my job at Park,” he said.” I love the people who I worked for and with but this job in particular was always on my radar so I am very appreciative. I am eager to get started and serve this school district with passion and integrity and purpose.”

McCardle’s retirement follows recent controversy during his tenure.

While the school district did not confirm the name of the administrator who resigned early this month, the district’s website has posted the principal’s job at Wheeling Middle School, which had been held by McCardle.

A statement from the school district central office stated leadership “recently became aware of an allegation of inappropriate physical contact between a school administrator and a student.”

“OCS immediately reported the incident to the West Virginia Department of Human Services and to law enforcement, as is required by West Virginia law,” the statement read. “Both agencies are conducting their own independent investigations with OCS fully cooperating. The student’s family was immediately notified followed by a meeting with OCS leadership to provide known information.”

The administrator was immediately removed from the assignment as required by West Virginia law, and the employee has tendered a resignation to OCS, the statement continued.

Ohio County School is completing its own investigation and will submit a final report to the West Virginia Department of Education, according to the statement.