A couple of teachers have moved on from West Branch for this school year. Brandy O’Hare was the high school principal and recently resigned. Tuesday, September 3 was her first day at Curwensville High School as their new superintendent. Kevin Hubler will step in for O’Hare as the high school principal. He was previously the middle school principal and will now be the principal for grades 6-12. WB alumnus, Jesse Husted, will step in as the assistant principal for the district at the end of the month.
Andrew Chimenti, one of the science teachers accepted a teaching position in his home district of Clearfield and will leave at the end of September. Georgia Rice will be coming to West Branch to fill the open position. She is currently teaching science in the Glendale school district. Justin Koleno moved from the high school to the middle school. He now teaches 7th-grade English. Allie Emigh, also a former alumnus, is a first-year teacher tackling ecology, physics, and earth and space science instead of Koleno.
Long-standing physical education teacher, Deborah Gomola retired at the end of the 2023-2024 school year after 25 years with the district. Danny Clark is temporarily replacing Gomola as the girls’ PE teacher and will move to fill Lester Smeal’s position after his retirement at the end of this school year.
On that note, the gym class system is different this year. All courses except lab have moved to a semester schedule rather than an alternating daily rotation. For example, students take health and physical education in their junior year. Rather than alternate these classes between an A and B day, they will take PE for a semester and health for a semester. At first, many students thought this would be bad, but it’s most likely just because it’s a new thing. The district has utilized an A and B-day schedule for decades, so it’s normal to have doubts at first. Kyla Kephart says, “Doing gym and health this year as a semester is much more convenient and it’s better to have it all during the same time frame.” Most students are pleased with the schedule change now that it has been implemented.
The school’s grading system is also new this year. The students and teachers have switched from PowerSchool, which the school has been using for at least 15 years, to Sapphire. Many other schools have succeeded with Sapphire and West Branch hopes to also. Everyone is still getting used to the new system, but the software is designed to make things easier for students, staff, and parents. Sapphire houses several needs such as a grade book, discipline, and student documentation like health forms or education services rather than using multiple programs.
Overall there have been a couple of slight changes to things but West Branch is adapting well. The new staff is fitting in, and everybody is getting used to the new grading system. The teachers who are leaving will be missed, and are excited to greet the new staff arriving soon!
