West Hempfield, Wendover parents explore middle schools at Open House

The halls of Wendover Middle School and West Hempfield Middle School in Hempfield were bustling with noise and activity Tuesday night — but not with students.

Parents gathered and hurried from classroom to classroom, following the sound of the PA system’s bell as they traced their middle school students’ schedules at the fall Open House held at both schools.

Open houses are held across Hempfield’s buildings annually at this time of year, but for parents of many middle school students in the district, the 2023-24 school year brings with it big changes.

A portion of Hempfield middle schoolers were sorted into different buildings this year as the district consolidated three middle schools into two to prep for upcoming construction at the high school.

Students who would have attended Harrold Middle School are now attending either West Hempfield or Wendover moving forward after a redistricting process.

For some parents of former Harrold students, the process has been a big transition.

“For me, I went to Harrold; my other son, who is a senior, he went to Harrold. So this is a very big change,” said Rachel Christner. Her son is in seventh grade, and previously attended Harrold. He’s now attending West Hempfield.

“This is my first time in this school, so this is new to me,” she said.

Some of this year’s scheduling changes are a plus, she said. Students will now be taking history and science all year long instead of half the year.

Nadine and James Lane, grandparents of a sixth grade student who would previously have attended Harrold this year, visited Wendover Middle School on Tuesday night. Their granddaughter has done well for the first two weeks of school at Wendover, Nadine said.

“We came to the thing that they had before school started, and she got to see a lot of her friends, and the rooms and the teachers,” Nadine said. “I think she’s done really well. She loves school.”

Rebecca DeArmint, a parent of twins who are entering sixth grade from West Hempfield Elementary School, says that her kids are doing “really good.” Returning to the building is a blast from the past for her: DeArmint’s father used to teach at West Hempfield Middle School.

“Most kids, most of their friends are all excited,” she said. “We have got a few of our friends who were in Fort Allen, so Harrold, so they’re here now, and that’s a good thing. They don’t have to wait until high school to meet up with those friends.”

For Jim Stitt, a seventh-grade World History teacher at Wendover, the year brings its own changes. He previously taught at Harrold. For the first few weeks, he works on building a rapport with students, and has them complete a get-to-know-you packet.

“I would definitely say it’s a huge change, being in a different building,” he said. “It’s definitely noticeable, with the kids not knowing exactly where to go, and everybody just trying to fit into kind of a new family, almost.”

West Hempfield band director Brian Hopkins said kids in his ensembles are “excited to learn.”

“That’s kind of been the culture of West Hempfield, and Hempfield in general,” he said. “For band, everyone is excited that we are coming together, and we’re meeting new people. It’s been really good. Even the staff has been really excited. Obviously, there’s been growing pains, but everyone has been optimistic. Nobody has been hiding, everyone has been doing everything they need to. So it’s been a very positive experience so far.”

West Hempfield Principal Audrey Dell says that the combination of students and teachers from Harrold with previous West Hempfield students and teachers is going well.

“The mesh between the teachers has been amazing. You could walk through here and not know who was a West Hempfield teacher and who was a Harrold teacher,” she said. “The kids have been great.”