Green Bank Elementary Middle School Welcomes Sara McClintic As Principal

Green Bank, WV – Green Bank Elementary Middle school in northern Pocahontas County has welcomed Sara Hill McClintic as Principal for the remainder of the school year. Pocahontas County School Superintendent CC Lester asked McClintic to fill in following the unexpected departure of former Principal Melvin Lindsey in mid January. McClintic offers some background information.

“I am a former Principal from Greenbrier County,” says McClintic. “I have worked and taught in Greenbrier County for 30 years, serving my last five years as middle school principal at Eastern Greenbrier for the 6th grade students. Retired a year and a half ago and enjoyed the no-alarm-clock attitude, but feel like that I needed to be doing something, and when this opportunity or this situation came along, I thought that I would like to see if I could come up here and help out with the situation.”

She had only been at the school for a couple of days when we spoke, but she was nonetheless open and friendly and eager to get to know the kids and teachers at Green Bank.

“My husband was a teacher in Greenbrier County and he has brought basketball teams up for 5th and 6th grade and has competed against Marlinton teams and against Green Bank teams,” she says. “So he’s more familiar with some of the teachers, the coaches in this area than I am. Other than being here for ball games, I really did not know the staff or anyone at the county office.”

She says the call from Superintendent Lester came out of the blue.

“It really did; I’ve been doing some training for Tech Steps, which is a technology literacy program across the state for schools, and I was actually preparing for that session last weekend,” she says. “I got the phone call and I thought it was someone from that school, so I was totally caught off guard. Still a little bit in shock of how it’s all evolved so quickly; I think this is a good move and I’m glad I did get the call.”

She says teachers and students immediately made her feel welcome at the school, with several students giving her a hug. She says it’s been a while since she received hugs from first graders, but she’ll take as many as she can get. She’s relying on the year book to help her put names with all the faces of her new staff. She’s also finding a very positive attitude among the staff and the children.

“Yes, I truly am,” she says. “The culture in this school is well established; the teachers seem to enjoy what they’re doing, there’s a lot of collegiality. The students [are] very well behaved, very friendly; I’ve had several students, particularly middle school aged students to come up and extend their hand and introduce themselves, I find that very refreshing.”

“I’m excited to get back into the arena and do it in a school with this culture and this situation and the enthusiasm of the teachers I think will work out well for everyone.”

McClintic’s commute from Greenbrier is an hour and a half one way, so she’s hoping to find a place to rent, preferably in the Green Bank area. At the Board of Education meeting Monday night, the Board also designated Allen Bell as a substitute Principal as needed at Green Bank for the remainder of the school year.

Story By

Heather Niday

Heather is our Program Director and Traffic Manager. She started with Allegheny Mountain Radio as a volunteer deejay. She then joined the AMR staff in February of 2007. Heather grew up in the Richmond, Virginia, area and now lives in Arbovale, West Virginia with her husband Chuck. Heather is a wonderful flute player, and choir director for Arbovale UMC. You can hear Heather along with Chuck on Tuesday nights from 6 to 8pm as they host two hours of jazz on Something Different.

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