By Douglas W. Fries – Superintendent
Welcome to the 2022-2023 school year. We hope everyone had a wonderful summer break. Our
administration and staff are eager to begin another year with students, parents, grandparents, and
community members. We hope to work with everyone to make this another successful instructional year.
With the beginning of the 2022-2023 year we are happy to be returning to in-person instruction. We are
hopeful to maintain in-person instruction throughout the year. The high school Virtual Academy is still
available during and after school sessions for special circumstances at the high school level.
The district will continue to order appropriate cleaning supplies and hand sanitizer to maintain a clean
learning environment in both our buildings and on buses. We do ask parents and students to continue to
monitor student COVID-19 like symptoms and monitor their child’s temperature in the morning before
coming to school. Students should not come to school if they are sick with COVID-19 symptoms or have
a temperature of over 100.0°.
Our school system, for the third year, will continue to utilize our districtwide Learning Management
System (LMS). The teaching staff and students both have experience using the Canvas Learning
Management System. The Canvas LMS can be used for students who are absent from school to monitor
their assignments. The Canvas LMS could also be used if we ever had a districtwide quarantine or an
extended amount of calamity days beyond the five allowable days.
This fall our district will participate in two Waiver Days, on September 26 and October 24, 2022. Both
days will be non-instructional days for students and allow for staff professional development. We also
look forward to having an outstanding motivational speaker address our middle school and high school
students on September 27, 2022. We know that they will both enjoy and appreciate his presentation. The
staff have had the opportunity to hear him in the past.
Our elementary through tenth grades will continue to participate in Measurement of Academic Progress
(MAP) testing to continue throughout the year to keep a close measure on our alignment to end of year
required state assessments. We continue for the eighth year with the College Credit Plus program with
the majority of our students attending Edison State, Sinclair, and Wright State. We also look forward to
continuing with our Career Tech programming at the high school which is consistently well received by
our students. Many of these programs continue to be national competition award winners. Last summer
our Careers with Children program had several national award winners in the FCCLA competition. The
top 10 award winners were:
- Kaylie McGreevey – Gold & 3rd Place Overall – Instructional Video Design
- Kate Garber & Emma Howard – Silver – Instructional Video Design
- Tessa Fine & Lilly Lowe – Silver – Digital Stories for Change
All 5 students were recognized on stage in San Diego for being in the top 10 nationally overall.
Congratulations!
This year Junior Class students will continue to take the required ACT test in the spring of the year.
Our district continues to be on a rotational basis to purchase textbooks and supplemental materials beyond the required College Credit Plus textbook purchases. This year, our district purchased many new
English/Language Arts textbook and materials for grades 6-12. Next year we will be purchasing
English/Language Arts for grades K-5.
This fall will be the first year for our brand-new state of the art Field House at the stadium. The name for
the Field House is the Wayne HealthSports/Orthopedic Associates Greenville Field House. The Field
House features a new concession stand, booster room, training room, restrooms (including a family
restroom), four locker rooms, two offices for the coaches, as well as electrical, mechanical, and
technology spaces. Our community waited a long time for upgrades with concessions and restroom areas.
Our athletes, coaches, and trainers deserve upgraded facilities. The Field House will serve our fall and
spring sports well. We thank our community for the support of the Field House and appreciate working
with our sponsors and partner, Wayne HealthSports/Orthopedic Associates.
This fall we will continue to contract with the City of Greenville to provide us with three school resource
officers. One will continue to be housed at the high school while the other two will be at the K-8 facility.
These SROs will assist us with safety and security, but also provide educational programming. They have
done an outstanding job for the district and it is our pleasure to work with the city to staff these positions.
We are appreciative to expand the coverage to these SROs covering all school hours. We are also fully
implementing our Threat Assessment Teams at the high school and middle school this year.
As we begin a new year, remember to travel slowly on Ohio and Main Street and observe the speed limit
when students are present and particularly during drop off and dismissal times at the K-8 complex, as well
as, the high school. Always slowdown in the parking lots and follow marked traffic flow to keep
everyone safe. At the K-8 complex in front of the building the first row of parking on both sides will be
reserved for visitors. Staff members assigned to these buildings will not park in these areas. All visitors
must continue to enter Memorial Hall by the side door, next to the parking lot, and be buzzed in for
security purposes.
Please join me in welcoming the new employees to the Greenville School District. We look forward to
working with each of them in our educational delivery and are glad they have joined the Greenville
School District team. The following is the list of new employees:
Memorial Hall (Central Office): Jonie Hackler (Custodian); Vicky Warner (Gifted Coordinator)
High School & Career Tech: Mark Atkinson (NJROTC SNSI Instructor); Tim Cundiff (MD Intervention
Specialist); Ryan Eldridge (Social Studies Teacher); Kurt Labig (Med Tech Instructor); Jami Oda (Food
Service); Brent Short (Asst. Principal); Tom Warner (Engineering Instructor)
Middle School: Michelle Drees (ED Intervention Specialist); Kaitlin Edwards (6th Grade Math Teacher); Isaac Osterfeld (5th Grade Teacher); Timothy Pratt (7/8 Grade Health Teacher); Aaron Schmitmeyer (5th Grade Math/Science Teacher)
Elementary School: Amanda Bunger (Para Professional); Dorothy Garber (4th Grade Intervention Specialist); Brian Gross (3/4 Grade Intervention Specialist); Jessica Swisher (1st Grade/Reading Recovery Teacher); Brooke Uhlenhake (1st Grade Teacher)
Transportation: Nicole Thorp (Bus Driver)
This summer the district educated 165 students in Summer School. 83 of these students were at the K-8
in early August. 82 students were at the high school in June and early July. This was an effort to
continue to work with the state initiative of academic recovery for students. Free transportation and
lunches were also available to any Summer School student who elected the service.
This year the Greenville Board of Education and district will continue to improve and provide more
mental health services and support. The district will continue two contracts with Recovery and Wellness
to provide mental health services. One is mental health counseling available for all needed students with
parental permission after a screening if necessary. One day a week coordinated at the high school and the
other day at the K-8 complex. This is a completely free program, with parent permission, during the
school day. The second contract is for the student support groups for two hours a week. Also, free and
during the school day with parent permission. The district will continue to employ a part time social
worker for the seventh year as well and keep the increased employee hours at 25 hours a week. This
service also is free of charge during the school day with parent permission.
Remember, the entire Greenville School faculty and staff is here to assist you – our students, parents and
community. If we can be of assistance, please feel free to contact our principals or myself. I can be
reached by phone at 937-548-3185, or by email at dfries@gcswave.com. Let’s all work together to make
2022-2023 an outstanding school year. Our district wants to focus on being kind, providing hope, and
helping our students achieve and overcome obstacles.
We look forward to seeing you all this fall. Go Wave!