YOUNGSTOWN — Most Youngstown City School District students will begin taking classes Tuesday with some attending reconfigured schools. They will have more health clinics and will notice familiar faces in new positions.

Students attending two of the district’s schools — Youngstown Rayen Early College High School and Rayen Early College Middle School — began their 2021 school year Aug. 18. These schools’ start dates were designed to correspond with the beginning of Youngstown State University’s school year.

District leaders have decided that all people entering district buildings and riding on district buses will be required to wear masks.

“It’s not political at all,” Chief Executive Officer Justin Jennings said. “We’re putting everyone’s health and safety first and foremost.”

The district is following the guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local and state public health authorities.

School supplies are being provided by the district, but backpacks will be the responsibility of families, according to Jennings.

There are some staff changes due to the reconfiguration.

“We already had a strong team at central office and at our schools,” he said. “The latest refinements just strengthen it that much more.”

MIDDLE SCHOOLS

Maureen Donofrio, a former assistant principal at Harding Elementary School, is the new principal at Rayen Early College Middle School. Patricia Lyden, formerly an assistant principal at Paul C. Bunn Elementary, is the school’s assistant principal and Raymond Salyard is RECMS’s new dean.

Tara Amill, an assistant principal at the former McGuffey Elementary School last year, is the new assistant principal at Youngstown Rayen Early College.

The middle school moved from inside of Chaney High School to its own building at 58 Williamson Ave., as part of the district reconfiguration.

The district changed its structure to bring back middle schools, which will house sixth- through eighth-graders. Six elementary schools will accommodate preschool through fifth-graders.

With the reconfiguration comes the addition of YOUCare Quickmed clinics in more district schools, including the two new middle schools. The clinics at East and Chaney high schools opened last year.

“We will now have YOUCare Quickmed clinics right inside of our schools to meet the needs of scholars and staff,” Jennings said.

The district’s new middle schools are East Middle School at the P. Ross Berry Campus, and Chaney Middle School at the McGuffey Campus.

Artemus Scissum, former principal at Martin Luther King Elementary School for several years, is the new principal at East Middle. His assistant principals are Leslie Kitchen, formerly a dean at Taft Elementary, and Jamie Campbell, who worked as an instructional coach in the district.

Edna Douglas is the school’s new dean.

Eboni Williams, who was the fifth-through-eighth-grade principal at McGuffey Elementary, is the new Chaney Middle School principal. Tim Filipovich, who was an assistant principal at McGuffey Elementary, and Aadrian Yancey, who was an assistant principal at RECMS last year, are the assistant principals at the new Chaney Middle. Aderonia Foreback is its new dean.

OTHER SCHOOLS

Alternative School at Wilson is the district’s new alternative school located at the former Wilson Elementary. Rick Fox, who was principal at Wilson, is the principal at this school. Matt Snipes, who formerly worked at Mahoning County High School, is YCSD Alternative’s assistant principal.

The new YCSD Virtual Academy will be led by Principal Roshay Huff who was the principal at Kirkmere Elementary School last year. The school is for first- through 12th-grade students. Quiana Faison, a teacher last year, moves into the dean role at the new school.

Six elementary schools housing preschool through fifth-graders were affected by the reconfiguration.

Harding Elementary has a new administrative team with Bryan Whitmore as its new principal. Dave Bermann is the new assistant principal and Carl Sims is its dean. Whitmore was the assistant principal at Wilson, while Bermann was assistant principal at the former Williamson Elementary.

Kirkmere Elementary School also sees new leadership this year with Michelle Payich, former principal at Williamson, as principal and Anthony Lordi, who formerly served as a dean, the new assistant principal. Latisha Tucker is Kirkmere’s new dean.

Nichole Hanley, a former assistant principal at Martin Luther King Elementary, is now its principal. Dan Smith, who was a dean at the school, is its new assistant principal. Jennifer Kluchar, a long-time teacher in the district, moves to the dean position at MLK.

William Baun returns as the principal at Bunn this year and will be joined by assistant principal Karen Klem, who formerly served in that role at Taft Elementary. Evelyn Veal continues as Bunn’s dean.

Tod Morris continues as Taft’s principal with Greg Kibler, formerly assistant principal at Kirkmere, as the assistant principal at Taft. Ronnie Hunter, formerly a YCSD social worker, is now the dean at Taft.

Michael Saville and Ray Conser return as principal and assistant principal, respectively, at Choffin Career and Technical Center. Denise Zordich, a dean last year at East High, becomes Choffin’s dean this year.

The administration of Volney Rogers Elementary remains the same with Principal Kelly Weeks and Rachel Woodburn, assistant principal, and Josh Marsh, dean.

Chaney High School leadership team is unchanged with Principal Robert Kearns, assistant principals Tricia Mulcahy and Jason Yemma. Angel Laudermilt and Keith Mitchell are Chaney High’s deans.

Debra Campbell, formerly East High School’s assistant principal, moves into the principal role this year. East’s new assistant principals are Sherry Cross, who comes to YCSD from Central Ohio, and Henrietta Williams, who was a dean last year.

The new East High deans are Mark Assion and Chivas Whipple who also serve as the school’s football and basketball coaches, respectively.

Aaron Bouie III, principal for the lower grades at the former McGuffey Elementary School last year, joins the central office as the executive director of preschool through fifth-grade curriculum.

Bridget Lambright-Tommelleo is the district’s new K-12 STEAM coordinator. She’ll bring more of a focus on science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics to the district. She served as RECMS’s principal last school year.

Joan Mingo, who served as MLK’s principal, moves to the district’s central office as culture and climate specialist and Amanda McGinnis, is the district’s new grants and special projects coordinator.

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