Heather HebrankThursday night had a few presentations and a bevy of changes to the district, all of which the board approved, 4-0, with one board member absent.
Julie Wellbaums’s 5th graders, who will be singing “God Bless America” at the Dragons game on May 1, kicked off the meeting with the song following the call to order and pledge of allegiance.
After adding an assistant principal to Bell Creek Intermediate before the 2023-24 school year (Zack Cline), Stephen Bell now gets its Assistant Principal in the form of Heather Hebrank. Hebrank has been with the district for seven years and lives in Bellbrook with her husband and two children. Hebrank has been a kindergarten teacher all the way through third grade in her 17 years as a teacher.
“When I came to Bellbrook Schools, I fell in love with this place. Stephen Bell – Wow. I can’t begin to tell you how special this place is,” Hebrank said. “I had my administration license, but I didn’t want to leave, so when this position popped up, it was so attractive. I’m so excited to even be considered for such a great assignment.”
Hebrank will serve as the first-ever assistant principal at Stephen Bell.
With the departure of Todd Whalen as one of the assistant principals at Bellbrook High School, the board approved Barry Limon as his replacement.
Barry Limon (left)Limon has spent five years in administration, most recently as the principal at New Miami High School. “I am excited and humbled to be joining Bellbrook High School administration team and being part of the Bellbrook-Sugarcreek school district,” Limon said. “I am really looking forward to working with the students and staff and getting to know people in the community.”
With the retirement of Jenness Sigman as the Manager of Business, Jeff Eckley, the former principal and assistant principal at Bellbrook Middle School will take the job, coming out of retirement after just one year.
Bellbrook High School Principal David Hann and school psychologist Evan Geist were approved for four-year contracts. Communications Coordinator Henry Conte, Director of Special Education Bridgett Pritchard and Transportation Coordinator Lori Smith all were approved on three-year contracts.
The District also approved a number of new teachers, including:
Stefanie Barker, Kindergarten
Carol Chan, School Nurse
Kaley Clark, 1st grade
Hannah Denlinger, 2nd grade
Caroline Ey, 3rd grade
Anna Hivner, 3rd grade
Rachel Martin, 5th grade
Rachel Olson, 2nd grade
Alyssa Orth, 4th grade
Allyson Seifert, 5th grade
Martin Venegas, JROTC Instructor
Donnie Phelps, Zack Cline, Beth Bench and Danielle Taylor gave an update on Bell Creek Intermediate and all of the wonderful accomplishments the building has to celebrate including their Positive Behavior and Intervention Systems (PBIS), Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) and military student and family care. You can watch the entire presentation here.