When schools and school districts consolidate, students and parents may experience uncertainty. Over the years, students and parents get to know administrators, teachers, expectations, and traditions at a school, and when those things change, they do not know what to expect.
However, former Montgomery County High School students now attending Winona Secondary School are adapting well, thanks to familiar faces helping with the transition.
This year, the Winona-Montgomery Consolidated School Board named Michael Guttuso, a former teacher at Montgomery County High School, as principal at Winona High School, and Veronica Helms, a longtime coach and teacher at Winona Secondary School, as assistant principal. And with school heading into its fourth week, things seem to be going well.
“It’s going fantastic, the students love it,” Guttuso said.
Guttuso, who worked for seven years for the Montgomery County School District, said the transition wasn’t as bad as some thought it would be.
While at Montgomery County, Guttuso taught science, biology and was elementary physical education teacher.
He began his career in Rankin and Madison Counties, then migrated north and worked at Winona Christian and in Grenada, before working at Montgomery County.
“My first job was at St. Joe in Jackson, I worked there for seven years,” Guttuso said. “Then, I went to Jackson Academy I worked there for 11 years, I worked at Madison Central for four years, Winona Christian a year, Grenada, then Montgomery County. I been all over the place.”
Originally from New Orleans, Guttuso has lived in Mississippi since 1981. He said he moved back home at one point, but his wife hated it and the couple moved back to Mississippi.
“Everyone’s been good. Feels like I’ve been working here 15 years, everything went smooth,” he said.
They said the transition wasn’t what people thought it would be.
”It wasn’t that bad,” he said. “All of our students knew each other. It’s not bad at all. They love it.”
Helms, who has taught and coached at Winona High School for 21 year, is also connected to the Montgomery County School District – as an alumnus.
“This is my 22nd year [at Winona Secondary School],” she said. “I taught Jr. High history for 10 years, then I went to the Vo-Tech where I taught marketing and accounting for a couple of years, then I came back over here and taught technology foundations.”
Helms also grew up not far from Winona, went to Duck Hill High School and graduated from Montgomery County High School. She was a student during the consolidation of Duck Hill and Kilmichael schools.
“I think the smaller schools are all starting to disappear,” Helms said. “It gets hard financially to keep the lights on for 100 students.”
In addition, Helms’ mother, Beverly Taylor, taught and coached in the Montgomery County School District for over 30 years.
“If they don’t know me, they know me by my mom,” Helms said.
Helms is familiar with the feelings her students may feel with coming into a consolidation, and it because of that familiarity that she’s able to help make the transition and easy one.
Guttuso and Helms have combined forces to create an environment that is welcoming and nurturing to their students.
“Our goal is to be the best that we can be,” Guttuso said.
A good start to the school year can be in part attributed to having two level-headed people leading Winona Secondary School. Both Guttuso and Helms have genuinely care for their students, and have asked students to come to them with any issues that arise.
“They haven’t yet, but when they do, we’re here,” he said.
For the new Winona-Montgomery Consolidated School District, it’s “One Team, One Dream,” the district’s unofficial motto for the 2018-2019 school year.
“And we mean it,” Helms said. “It’s not something that we’re just saying. They’re all ours now. It doesn’t matter where you’re from, we’re not going to treat you any different. They’re all ours now, they’re all ours.”
