Warren County and Skyline Middle Schools – the culmination of a vision

Photos/Roger Bianchini

It was really more than two ribbon cuttings, one dedicating the opening of a new middle school, the other the renaming of another middle school facility. – Coming as they did just three days after the announcement of what appears to be a realizable plan to rebuild along historic lines at the Afton Inn site in downtown Front Royal, it seemed like two punctuation marks for a community on the move!!

Above, the Luray Ave. school sports a new name; below, the gym wall at Luray Ave. school

If capital improvements can put a face on changes taking place in a community, then the opening of the new Warren County Middle School off Leach Run Parkway and the re-dedication of the former Warren County Middle and High School facility on Luray Avenue as Skyline Middle School, gives Front Royal and Warren County a mighty pretty face.  It is a face that began developing that look with a 20-year capital improvement plan conceived in 2003 when a two-high school future for Warren County Public Schools was conceived and approved.

So if my memory serves me, the two ribbon cuttings of Monday, July 31, 2017, completes a process involving the construction of two buildings from the ground up – Skyline High School and the new Warren County Middle School – the renovation of another three facilities into magnificent structures in their own right – Warren County Junior High, as we previously reported opened in 1999 and expanded and renovated to open as Warren County High School in 2007; the old WCHS (circa 1940) renovated into a state-of-the-art middle school, which from July 31, 2017 on will be known as Skyline Middle School; and I am going to count Bing Crosby Stadium, circa mid-1950s, renovated into a modern, semi-pro ballpark that serves as both high schools’ baseball home field.

Two views of the home ballpark of the Wildcats and Hawks baseball teams

And that is as far as I’m going to stretch my memory, kids – from here I will let others involved in both the path to this day, and the future that will spring forward from this day tell the story.  And since I was always taught “ladies first” I will defer to the remarks of new Warren County Middle School Principal Amy Gubler:

Above, WCMS Principal Amy Gubler addresses the future for students in a new building; below she helps Superintendent Greg Drescher with what appeared to be a time capsule set behind the school’s cornerstone.

“We have the great privilege to foster student learning in this extraordinary new school.  While today we are celebrating the successful opening of the new school, we are also celebrating the essential learning that will come to life in the many years to come.

“Being first is never easy.  There is no map.  No Blueprint. No history.  There are not easy-to-follow directions for assembly.  Everyone will start here as a ‘rookie’ when we open these doors on August 15^th.  Every 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grader will walk through the hallways as a beginner – their previous experiences are somewhere else …

“Being first brings its’ own rewards. The students who enter our school on the first day of school will become charter members of an exclusive group, which will grow in membership with each passing year.

Above, the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new WCMS; below, the school’s auditorium where the bulk of ceremonies took place.

Excited future student Dagan and mom Theresa

“Our teachers and staff have an amazing opportunity to create a culture for all those that follow at Warren County Middle School. Our students will join clubs, interact with teachers, cheer for classmates and engage in meaningful learning opportunities.

“My hope is that everyone here today will accept the challenge of creating an environment that rewards motivated learners and appreciates individual differences.  Warren County Middle School will be a place where everyone belongs.

“If I may offer one piece of advice to our incoming students and staff members it would be… Be willing to step out of your comfort zone.  Life is not always going to be perfect.  As you we all know, Middle school is a series of peaks and valleys.  There will be many challenges as we create our new culture.  Push yourself to learn new things.

“If there is an opportunity to meet someone new or make a new friend – take advantage of the opportunity even if it makes you feel a little uncomfortable at first.  Life begins at the edge of your comfort zone.  Whatever makes you uncomfortable, meeting new people, trying something new, public speaking, is your greatest opportunity for growth.  Please use this beautiful new building and surroundings to push yourself to grow.”

County Administrator Doug Stanley recounted the 14-year path to the county’s having two high schools and two middle schools feeding those high schools.

County Administrator Doug Stanley witnessed the entire process of the Warren County Public School System’s development of a plan to carry it forward for another 20 year into the future, not to mention some of the struggles to get to the point of the county government and the county public school system getting on the SAME page for that development:  “This ribbon cutting represents the culmination of the work of many people over many years.  In particular, I believe that we are here today because of the continued teamwork that has been forged by the Board of Supervisors, the School Board and the respective staffs of each over the past four years.

“To quote Robert Yates, ‘It is amazing what can be accomplished when nobody cares about who gets the credit.’  It wasn’t too far back when the relationship between the two bodies was extremely strained.  That relationship has been rebuilt due to the effort and commitment of the members of the Board of Supervisors and School Board to work together on the common goal to improve educational opportunities for the youth of our community.”

WCMS is pretty impressive, even from a distance.

Stanley also gave a nod to his bosses, past and present, on the financial aspect of what has been accomplished:  “A special thanks needs to go to the current and past members of the Board of Supervisors for supporting the vision and having the courage to set funding aside so that the community could pay the debt service without ANY tax increase and the fortitude to make the tough decision to raise taxes to open this beautiful facility.”

He also gave a figurative point out WCMS’s front door to the new north-south connector road off which it lies, to the EDA that oversaw that decades-long-discussed road project, and to the behind the scenes work of school system officials:

“There are a number of folks that need to be thanked for their various roles in this process: Jennifer McDonald, the staff of the EDA and the current and past EDA Board Members – who helped facilitate the property acquisition of the school site and design and construction of Leach Run Parkway.  Without the Parkway we would not be here today…

Approaching WCMS from the south on Leach Run Parkway

“I would like to officially thank the School Board members and staff for their work in helping make this project a reality – in particular Melody Sheppard for her hard work and dedication and for a job well done.”

Stanley also addressed a little national (and local) economic history leading to delays in implementation of the plan:

“Pursuant to our plan, this day should have occurred in 2009, however due to the Great Recession and the associated dip in student enrollment and tax revenue growth, the project was delayed.  Instead of renovating the 15^th Street School, we re-purposed that facility into the Health and Human Services Complex.  Despite what you read on Facebook, this was done not because the Board of Supervisors took the facility but because the School Systems Architect deemed the renovation to be as costly as building a new school.  At the end of the day, we ended up with this beautiful new school in a great location ideally situated to serve the anticipated growth of this community.

“I am a firm believer in the fact that in the end, things will work out for the best.”

And the county administrator gave a nod to the contractor, still seen at work following the ceremonies:

“The relationship between an owner and a contractor is a lot like a marriage – it takes a lot of give and take to make it work.  We sincerely appreciate the great relationship that we have with the Shockey Companies and share in the pride of the facilities that will serve our community for many decades to come.”

Several hours after the 9 a.m. ribbon cutting ceremony, Shockey workers were still at it, tweaking the school to completion for opening day on Aug. 15.

And for those still upset that the Luray Avenue school that has borne the Warren County name since 1940 will no longer, I conclude with former Warren County Public Schools Superintendent Pamela McInnis referenced in our earlier story on the school renamings:

Former WC Schools Superintendent Pamela McInnis, pink pull over, enters the new WCMS with the crowd after the ribbon cutting.

“Kids are very adaptable and I think once they get into the new buildings and see what they have to offer, things will go very well.  Warren County High School is not going away, that’s what’s important.

“What Warren County High School means and is, is not the facility it’s in, but the people and what goes on inside those walls makes the school what it is. So that will all still be there, it just won’t be the same physically.  Perpetuating that WCHS name, it will have the same traditions as the current WCHS has.  And that’s what people need to be tied to, as opposed to a building itself.”

Above, Skyline Middle School Principal Bobby Johnston addresses new traditions beginning in a facility originally opened in 1940 as Warren County High School; below, the ribbon cutting ceremony included a trio of students, from left Sadie Benson (7th grade), Grace Benson and Olivia Himes (8th grade) – the trio also led the first Pledge of Allegiance in Skyline Middle School to begin the re-naming ceremony.

And we’ll five the final word to Skyline Middle School Principal Bobby Johnston, who echoed Gubler and McInnis in pointing to a new day, if in a somewhat older facility: “August 15^th will be the first Hawks to walk through this building … it is the next step in this building’s history.”

GO YOUNG HAWKS!!!

GO YOUNG WILDCATS!!!