WCHS leader makes changes

Published 12:00 am Sunday, August 9, 2015

Warren Central principal Eric Green sits behind his desk Friday at the school. (Justin Sellers/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central principal Eric Green sits behind his desk Friday at the school. (Justin Sellers/The Vicksburg Post)

Eric Green grew up working in his father’s machine shop, and that’s the one thing he knew he didn’t want to do for the rest of his life. Now he’s the principal at the largest school in Warren County.

The Warren Central High School principal said he’s thinks he will be a good fit for the school.

“I’ve had my hands in a lot throughout high school, college and the workforce,” he said. “I’ve kind of been an every man. I have a background in machine shops, which I knew I didn’t want to do for the rest of my life.”

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Green played four sports coming up through high school and played at the college level, adding he has an understanding of coaches and what they go through.

“People tell me ‘Man, you’re going to be gone all the time,’” he said.

Green said he was previously an assistant principal and athletic director and he and his family are used to a lot of travel and nights spent away from home.

“I have worked for people in the past who have been very structured in the way they run the school,” he said. “I’m one of those guys who believes you can never be too organized. That’s kind of the mindset I wanted to bring to this school.”

Green said since accepting the position at Warren Central he has been reviewing policies and procedures to make sure they’re the best they can be for the school, adding there will be several changes at the school this year.

One of the changes is the new odd/even schedule, which was decided on before Green accepted the position at Warren Central. The schedule will allow students to complete eight credits per year.

“Our schedule this year is not only a modified block schedule, but we’re also going to have mini period after third block,” he said. “It’s going to be 20 minutes, and we’ll use these for tutorial and for clubs to meet.”

Green said the mini period was implemented after teachers expressed a need.

Students will also report directly to their homeroom when they get to school now, Green said.

“The students should either go to the cafeteria or go to homeroom,” he said. “Last year with the change and the late schedule, the kids often didn’t have somewhere they needed to be.”

Green said now those students will report to their homeroom, keeping them out of trouble.

“The teachers will be using that time some for tutorial and retakes,” he said. “It’s mostly designed to keep kids under supervision. It’s a time they can work on homework.”

The grading process is taking a change to reflect some of the values the district is placing on the schools, Green said.

“The parents can expect fewer grades in the grade book than they are used to seeing,” he said. “They will be graded basically in the old style of grading with the major grades and tests.”

Green said the students will still be graded throughout the day, but most grades will not be factored into the grade book.

Another new implementation at both high schools is the academies approach the school district is moving toward, Green said.

“Next year the way they’re going to be implemented through some of the STEM classes with the 16 job clusters the CTE is using,” he said.

The program will give students opportunities to learn more about careers they may be interested in pursuing after high school, Green said.

“The idea is to get them experience to see what they want to do or what they do not want to do,” he said.