As students return to school once again for another year of classes, they see some of the same faces from last school year and from summer. There are also the new faces of those who are new to the school district or those who have just moved up from a lower grade. But also, there are faces missing of those who no longer go to the same school, for reasons like graduation and moving away. Though this applies to students, the same goes for the adults at the school.

Within FHS office, there is now a vacancy. Former Secretary Natalie August resigned from her position. This means that her duty as a secretary has now also been passed on to Deborah Muchow, the other office secretary within the high school, until a replacement is found. August’s resignation was approved by the school board on Aug. 7 and her last day was Aug. 17.

“The mood in the office has definitely changed,” Muchow said. “[The staff] definitely misses her. Even though she left here, we are happy that she was able to find a job that  that she enjoys uses her accounting major.”

On Sept. 18, the school board approved a part-time secretary in the office. Alyssa Young will be filling the vacancy temporarily until the school board can find a permanent replacement for August.

On the opposite side of the high school, the math teacher position that Ed Shepard held is now no longer part of the high school staff. His position was terminated and now the courses that he had previously taught have been delegated to the rest of the math department within the high school. Mr. John Rosa and Ms. Amy Isanogle now teach Honors Geometry and Ms. Amanda Bovard now teaches Statistics and Financial Literacy.

Since the school district purchased new laptops for incoming freshmen and sophomores, the Secondary Computer Applications class taught by Mr. Tom Hickey needed to be moved back into the library. This is due to the new laptops not having Adobe programs, which are a major part of the class’ curriculum.

At the school board meeting on June 12, the school board accepted the resignation of Elementary Principal Richard Edder. At the following meeting on July 24, the board approved former Dean of Students Emily Mathers as the new Elementary Principal.

As Mathers changed positions, this left a vacancy in the Dean of Students position. In order to fill this position, Fourth Grade teacher John Capehart transferred from being a teacher to Dean of Students.

Other changes in the elementary school include Amy Shultz transferring from fifth-grade to fourth-grade and Amie Buzza transferred from first-grade to fifth-grade. Two other teachers, Kelly Hospodar and Amanda Whitworth were furloughed over the summer. For more information on that event, visit fhs-press.com and read the article “School board approves furlough of 2 teachers”.

In an update since then, Ms. Stephanie Hill resigned from her position as third-grade teacher before school started. To fill this replacement, the school board hired back Dr. Amanda Whitworth, one of the two furloughed teachers.

The school board also filled a vacancy at their June 12 meeting, from the resignation of former board member Jennifer Sayre last school year. Michelle Micija filled the vacancy of Jennifer Sayre’s term, which will expire in December of 2019.

Though these positions have changed, the functionality and purpose of the school have stayed the same. No matter what is to come, students will attend the same school, just with a few more changes.