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Students Return to Ohio County Schools

New Year, New Faces and Plenty of Wildcat Spirit at Wheeling Middle

By JOSELYN KING 3 min read

WHEELING - The wheels on the school buses brought students back to classrooms in Ohio County Schools on Wednesday as a new school year began.

At Wheeling Middle School, new Principal Nathan Skrzypek was joined outside the school by teachers holding signs welcoming students back for the school year as festive music played.

Some students exited their buses and ran excitedly across the street to the school to join friends.

Others could be heard muttering as they went inside, "I really don't want to do this."

Skrzypek, though, was anxious for the year to start and waxed enthusiastic about the coming year.

"I’m so excited. I'm excited for our staff," he said. "I love our school. I love all the things we do for our kids. I'm really blessed to be someone who loves their job and really loves what they do."

Skrzypek noted that as the start of the school year grew near, there were a number of new enrollments at Wheeling Middle School.

"They are from all over the place," he said. "We just enrolled somebody from Oregon. We enrolled somebody from Oklahoma. We are enrolling people from all over the place, and that's a good thing."

Skrzypek also is starting the year at a school that scored very well on the most recent West Virginia General Summative Assessment.

The school jumped from 59% proficiency in reading to 65%; from 36% to 40% in math; and from 11% to 31% in science.

"Our test scores are fantastic," he said. "The schools are ranked, and among middle schools we did very well.

"I'm extremely proud of all the work everyone has done to get us here. This is a great place to work. We're all proud to be 'Wildcats' and help our kids in any way we can. We are thankful for what we've been given by the administration.... I love it here."

This school year, Wheeling Middle School hopes to host a football game on its field "for the first time in a couple of years," Skrzypek continued.

"We have to get (the field) lined off," he continued. "We are getting ready for some sports. We have a very talented volleyball team that we're getting ready to kick off.

"Other than that, we're just working through our logistical schedules like any school does."

He has a goal to get a new sound system for the gymnasium so the school can host more community events.

"I would also like to give our kids a fitness facility here," Skrzypek said. "A lot of our kids, for them, it’s not like the old days when they could go to the playground and play all the time. Sometimes they go home and don't leave the house.

"Fitness is something I'm passionate about, and I would like to offer them that opportunity."

Teachers Trisha Cronin, Jenny Craig and Krystal Gilbert-Robinson were among those outside holding signs that welcomed back students, and all said they were excited for the new year.

Craig, a special education teacher at the school, serves as co-president of the Education Ohio County teachers union.

"It's great to see the kids and meet new kids," she said. "We've got some fun projects planned for them this year."

Gilbert-Robinson added she also was glad to see the students.

"I missed them," she explained. "It's great to come back and see how they've grown, and how they've progressed over the summer."

Starting at /week.