Hempfield scholastic community kicks off a new start at Harrold School

Hallways bustled Thursday as Hempfield Area School District’s ninth grade class members took their first steps through the doors of the former Harrold Middle School and into a new paradigm for the district.

When they return next Thursday for the first day of class at what’s now being called Harrold School, the cohort of around 430 freshmen will enter a building that’s neither fully a middle school nor a senior high school, but something in between, Principal Jason Lochner said.

“I hope what they feel is the same level support and comfort that they’ve had as middle school students, but blended with experiences that high school students traditionally get,” said Lochner, who was originally hired as Harrold Middle School’s principal in 2010.

During Thursday’s student orientation, he described the school environment at the reimagined Harrold building as interactive and engaging.

“(We’re) trying to take the absolute best of both worlds,” he said.

Hempfield freshmen were originally set to attend classes in the former Harrold Middle School for the duration of the upcoming high school renovation project. The school board approved plans this year to redistribute middle school students from Hempfield’s three middle school buildings into two, reassigning the Harrold space for ninth graders.

Despite delays to the renovation project due to high costs, ninth grade students will still attend Harrold starting with the upcoming school year.

Anticipation, apprehension

Lochner says he’s heard varying emotions from students and parents heading into the new year. Many parents whose students were already enrolled in eighth grade at Harrold are positive about the change, he said.

Opinions varied Thursday among parents, students and other open house attendees.

Rising ninth grader Abigail Rossman focused on opening her locker in the hallway.

“It’s OK. I’d rather go up to the high school, but it’s all right,” said Abigail, 14, noting that the building no longer feels like a middle school. “Walking around and seeing new people, it’s just different.”

Abigail’s mother, Nicole, said the location change makes transportation about the same for the family, since Harrold is so close to the high school and Abigail attended middle school there.

“If she was across the street, it’s the same distance from our house,” she said. “I’m kind of indifferent, I guess. It is what it is — we’ll make it work.”

Dominic Meckling, 14, went to West Hempfield and Wendover during his time in his middle school. When he was younger, he was excited about making it to the high school building, but the idea of ninth graders going to Harrold first has grown on him.

“I think it’s a better atmosphere for all the ninth graders to meet each other, before learning all the grades above them,” Meckling said. “I think it’s easier on the students.”

Andrea Brown attended seventh grade at Harrold when she was a teenager. Now, her son Zander, 14, who attended Wendover Middle, will spend his freshman year in the building.

“I’m not really sure as to how I think yet,” Brown said of the transition. “It’s different.”

Mackenzie Ruffin, 14, is anticipating a fresh start in the new school year.

A former Harrold Middle School student, she expects this year to be a good year to make new friends and connect with new teachers.

“I was a little bummed (originally), but I realized it would be a good starting point, to start out here than in the high school,” Ruffin said. “I’m pretty excited to get back into the routine and also to get back into winter and fall sports.”

Among the friends she knows from middle school, Ruffin is also excited to see her former teacher, Danielle Ali, on her schedule.

While most of the teachers at the new ninth grade version of Harrold are from the high school, Ali is a is a longtime Harrold Middle School teacher.

“The kids have to get used to understanding that we’re still the high school. We’re not like ninth grade middle school,” Ali said.

What students can expect

Inside the building, some classroom furnishings are built more around collaborative, cluster-based learning than orderly rows of desks, Lochner said.

“When I was in high school 30 years ago, everybody sat at a desk staring at a board,” he said. “That’s not at all the case (at Harrold). You’re going to find a lot of tables in the room, and rooms are going to be set up to be comforting and colorful and very interactive for kids.”

School leaders plan to look into opportunities for ninth graders to “intermingle” with upperclassmen for events, such as Veterans Day programs or pep rallies, but those plans are still in progress, along with planning for ninth grade dances.

Transportation is changing for Harrold students, too. All students from grades 9-12 will take the same buses, but the buses will go to the high school first and drop off the upperclassmen in the morning before driving across the street to Harrold.

At the end of the day, 10 shuttle buses will take Harrold students across the street so they can catch the high school buses home.

“The kids will all come out, and we are going to encourage them to get in the first shuttle in line,” Lochner said. “They needn’t worry about what (shuttle) bus they get on at Harrold. What they really have to focus on is where the bus that will take them home (is) when they get over to the high school.”

Teachers look ahead

Ninth grade algebra teacher Pilar Kerestan, who was in the midst of setting up her room on Thursday, previously taught at the high school.

She says things are “completely different” at Harrold, but in a good way. She is getting along well with the principal and looks forward to forming a welcoming environment with other teachers.

“I think it’s going to be good for the ninth grade kids to be here and just (be) by themselves without the upperclassmen,” she said. “They don’t have to try to compete with them, they won’t have to try to look cool for them, so I think this will be a nice transition to the high school for them.”

The size of the building feels more like a middle school, but the faculty are high school teachers, she said.

“Having it be so small and tightknit, we’re building a nice community here,” Kerestan said. “We’re teaching high school courses — we’re not bringing it down a level, these are all ninth grade courses. We’re keeping the rigor and the coursework.”

For Ali, who spent many years at Harrold before the transition, having the chance to get to know the students is a plus.

“I’m going to get to know almost every kid in this building,” she said. “It’ll be kind of neat, because I’ve never had that before. It’ll be fun.”

She expects things to feel different on the first day of class.

“I think once it gets rolling, it’s going to feel more like a high school.”