(Photo by Douglass Huxley) Hamilton Middle School teacher Stephen Tupitza talks to the Wood County Board of Education Tuesday night about how the merger with former VanDevender students is going. Students from VanDevender were split between Hamilton and Jackson middle schools after the school closed its doors for good at the end of the last school year. Hamilton Principal Kevin Campbell, back left, and Jackson Middle School Principal Kurt Echard also spoke to the board.

PARKERSBURG — The Wood County Board of Education heard an update Tuesday night from Hamilton Middle School Principal Kevin Campbell and teacher Stephen Tupitza, along with Jackson Middle School Principal Kurt Echard, on how the merger of former VanDevender students into their population is going.

Students from VanDevender were split between Hamilton and Jackson after the school closed its doors for good at the end of the last school year.

Campbell said the goal for Hamilton was for faculty, staff and students to feel aligned and headed in the same direction.

“One of the things that I put before our combined staff was the goal for us to all feel like we’re pulling on the same oar,” Campbell said. “For everybody to feel like we’re all moving in the same direction, and the faculty and staff at Hamilton has certainly taken up that challenge.”

Tupitza said in the beginning, the transition was rough for many former VanDevender students who missed their old school.

(Photo by Douglass Huxley) Jackson Middle School Principal Kurt Echard talks to the Wood County Board of Education Tuesday night about how the merger with former VanDevender students is going. Students from VanDevender were split between the Jackson and Hamilton middle schools after the school closed its doors for good at the end of the last school year. Hamilton Principal Kevin Campbell, back left, and teacher also addressed the board.

“There were a lot of comments from my Vandy students about how much they missed Vandy,” he said. “It was their home.”

Tupitza said over time that feeling started to change and he noticed a turning point in former VanDevender students around September, where he said they started to feel more comfortable in their classes. He said one of the most powerful forces in the transition he witnessed wasn’t from policy or programming – it was the compassion of Hamilton students.

“I would actually credit them with their open arms and the thoughts that they had towards their new Vandy peers,” Tupitza said. “Yes, the administration, teachers and staff have worked really hard to make it seamless, but really it’s our students that have made it work. The Hamilton students going out of their way to try to make their fellow peers feel comfortable, and the Vandy students finally feeling safe and realizing, ‘Hey, this is home, too.'”

He said one of the more powerful things he noticed came from Hamilton athletics. A former teacher at VanDevender, Tupitza said the school sometimes had trouble fielding a football team to compete in the county.

“What was so cool to watch was a bunch of Vandy boys try out for the Hamilton football team and make the team … that camaraderie … developed quickly,” he said. “By August, the boys were locked in.”

(Photo by Douglass Huxley) Chris Rutherford, director of attendance and home services, talks to the Wood County Board of Education Tuesday night about attendance policy changes in the district. He said one major change increases the length of time a student can be out sick before extra verification is needed.

He said that led to a level of success some students had never experienced before.

“Let me tell you how cool it was to watch my Vandy boys who had never won a game get to play with the Hamilton team … and knock off Jackson and Edison. … They’ve never won a game. This year, they won a championship,” Tupitza said.

He said he also saw this kind of camaraderie with the girls volleyball team, which he coaches. He said he was approached by Hamilton players who wanted to do something to make their new teammates feel welcome.

“They came up with the idea of putting a single blue string in the golden-brown ribbons for their hair,” Tupitza said. “All the girls on the team wore blue, brown and gold to symbolize that they wanted those girls to feel the recognition that they deserved.”

Echard said the staff and students of Jackson Middle School were just as welcoming to those coming from VanDevender. Echard was also new to the school, serving as the principal for VanDevender before its closure last year and taking over as the new Jackson principal when Jeff Kisner moved to central office to take up the director of secondary education role.

“Mr. Kisner and the staff went out of the way to bring in the new staff and kids; they communicated well. They make everybody feel welcome at home,” Echard said. “They’ve even welcomed me, and I was kind of nervous about that.”

He said despite the early uneasiness of the transition, everything has gone smoothly and the overall tone has been positive.

“We all feel welcome. There’s a great staff at Jackson,” Echard said. “It’s been a pretty successful transition.”

Chris Rutherford, director of attendance and home services, talked to the board about attendance policy changes in the district. He said one major change increases the length of time a student can be out sick before extra verification is needed.

“What we changed it to is essentially five consecutive days. … And instead of dividing the 10 unexcused absences between semesters, we just did it for the whole entire year,” Rutherford said, explaining that parents may still write up to 10 notes total for illness and certain family situations.

He said the policy now explicitly excuses more school, county and state-approved activities, including up to five college visits and participation in recognized organizations such as FFA and other state-sanctioned programs.

He also said there is a new three-tiered system of support for attendance being built into practice, with universal strategies for all students, targeted help for those at risk and intensive interventions for the most chronically absent. He said there have been some early gains from these efforts.

“This time last year … we were at 93.473 (% attendance), this year we’re at 94.165, so we’re up … (and) we’re down to 14.7 (% chronic absenteeism),” he said, adding that attendance staff have made more than 11,000 contacts with families.

Rutherford said contests and incentives have helped efforts as well, pointing to a recent contest where schools are using “March Attendance Madness.” Homerooms compete in bracket-style contests for attendance trophies and other rewards, and this is tied to broader cultural change.

“That helps change the culture of attendance,” Rutherford said.

Rutherford closed by acknowledging the progress made while emphasizing that there is still more work that lies ahead.

“The systems that we have in place are working, but we still have work to do,” he said.

Board President Justin Raber said the board appreciates the sustained focus on attendance Rutherford and his staff have made and the shift toward clearer policy, stronger supports and better tools they’ve created to help students be in class every day.

“I know … I pushed pretty hard a couple of years ago,” Raber said. “But I can’t thank you more, as well as your staff, and most importantly, us as a system, getting this out there for parents to understand how important daily attendance is.”