Pringle excited to return home to WHHS as new principal
Scott Pringle has come full circle, becoming the newest principal at West Holmes High School. Pringle began his teaching career as a Knight.
Scott Pringle’s adventure in education has taken him through many roles on many journeys during his career, which began in 1994.
However, Pringle has always stayed close to his roots, having graduated from West Holmes High School in 1990.
His effort to educate and guide youth took him from his alma mater, to Hiland High School, to Loudonville, but recently, Pringle found his way back home, becoming the new principal at WHHS, a place in which he feels quite comfortable even though many things have changed since he last taught there.
“I guess it’s welcome back,” said Pringle, who will take over for former principal Tyler Renner, who departed to become principal at Hiland High and Middle School. “I am very excited to return to West Holmes and take on the role as the new principal.”
Pringle graduated from West Holmes High School in 1990 before attending the University of Akron. After graduating from the University of Akron in 1994, Pringle started his teaching career as a third-grade teacher at Nashville Elementary. He later moved to the West Holmes Middle School, where he taught sixth- and eighth-grade math and computers.
While he enjoyed teaching, Pringle said the overriding goal was always to find a role in administration. During his teaching he also found time to earn his Master of Administration at Ashland University.
“I think administration was always where I envisioned myself,” Pringle said. “It’s something I’ve worked toward, and I feel very comfortable in the role.”
Not only did Pringle invest himself into the district as a teacher, but he also took on roles in several extracurricular activities during his time at West Holmes. He coached junior high football and high school basketball.
“I’ve always enjoyed sports, and I really loved my time coaching the basketball team,” Pringle said.
In 2006 he accepted a position as assistant principal at Hiland High and Middle School and has served in an administrative role for the past 15 years, including last year when he served as principal at Loudonville High School.
“I’ve worked with a lot of people from each of those communities and school districts, and I have been blessed to be able to draw a lot of knowledge and experience from some wonderful people,” Pringle said. “With more than 28 years of experience, I’ve picked up a lot of things along the way that have prepared me for this position.”
Having been a longtime resident of Millersburg and having been a teacher in the district for many years, Pringle has a built-in advantage of knowing the West Holmes community very well as he takes on the role of guiding the district’s high school students.
“I think the fact that I’ve been living in the West Holmes District and having taught here is a big advantage,” Pringle said. “I know what this community and district embraces in terms of work ethic and character.”
Pringle said he isn’t going to reinvent the wheel when it comes to guiding the high school. He said the district and the school has many great leaders and staff members who are doing great things. He said he wants to help his staff members continue to grow and develop students and hopes to do whatever necessary to continue to improve the school.
“First and foremost, we all want to do what is in the best interest of our students,” Pringle said. “We also want to challenge them and prepare them for whatever career path they are choosing. I want to inspire students to be successful.”
While the idea of returning to West Holmes was enticing to Pringle, he said he isn’t one to jump into anything without giving it a great deal of thought and processing all of the possible effects a move like this would have.
Even though he relished the position, he said he sat down with his wife Lori and their children to discuss their thoughts and opinions.
“Those conversations were important to me, and there are always factors in making any type of move like this in your career, but it was something that definitely caught my attention when the position became available,” Pringle said.
He said he has a great understanding of not just the time commitment that takes place during school, but also the time a principal invests in after-school activities.
“This position is about supporting kids, whether it’s during school or outside of school,” Pringle said. “We talked as a family what that might look like.”
Pringle is married to Lori Pringle, and they have two daughters, Brooke, who will be a freshman this coming year at Bowling Green State University, and Bree, who will be a junior this year at West Holmes.
While the family has lived just east of Millersburg since 1998, Pringle said there are plenty of changes in the district since he roamed the middle school halls 15 years ago.
“For me, it’s building on the positives we’ve made as a district and a school, and we have a great staff here,” Pringle said. “There’s so much to be excited about as I get ready for our in-service and first day of school. I want to be ready to hit the ground running when that times comes.”