Aaron Skrbin preps for role as South Fayette High School principal
Aaron Skrbin essentially grew up around firefighters.
His father was a firefighter for the Wilkins Volunteer Fire Co. and took Skrbin to the fire hall when he was a young boy.
“I grew up with it,” said Skrbin, 40, who was named principal of South Fayette High School late last month, replacing Scott Millburn, who took a position with the Montour School District.
“There are a lot of legacies in firefighting,” said Skrbin, who lives in Mt. Lebanon and is a member of Mt. Lebanon’s fire department.
“The Mt. Lebanon’s fire chief’s father was a firefighter in Muse,” said Skrbin, who joined the Wilkins fire department when he was 16. “It is the camaraderie and community service.”
During a recent interview in his office at the high school, Skrbin said he originally studied communications at Duquesne University, but turned to education because of a positive experience he had in high school, while a member of the marching band at Serra Catholic High School in McKeesport.
“I also love history,” he said.
Any career in communications was history for Skrbin, who changed his major to education with an emphasis on social studies and never looked back. He graduated from Duquesne in 1997 and went on to earn a graduate degree in public management from Carnegie Mellon University in 2005.
Initially, Skrbin spent five years as a social studies teacher at Woodland Hills High School, which led to a one-year stint as a principal at a middle school in the Woodland Hills School District. In 2005, he was named assistant principal of South Fayette High School, and in 2012 he was named associate principal.
“We are looking forward to Mr. Skrbin moving into the high school’s top educational leader position as the district continues its academic momentum and digital transformation,” said district superintendent Dr. Bille Rondinelli. “This is an extremely exciting and pivotal time as education continues to evolve and as the South Fayette High School simultaneously embraces a building expansion project due to enrollment growth.”
As the high school’s top administrator, Skrbin will oversee a school with an enrollment of 822 and a staff of 75. In addition, the district plans to break ground by the first of the year on the long-awaited $34 million expansion of the high school. The building is expected to reach its capacity this year.
“If we don’t do something soon, we are going to be on top of one another,” he said.
Still, Skrbin said he is looking forward to the new school year, which begins Aug. 24 for students.
“It’s a great job and there are going to be challenges,” he said. “But, I get to lead a group of people who are committed to working with children and want to make a difference in the community.”
Skrbin, who calls himself a consensus builder, said he always tries to get and understand both sides of an issue before making a decision. And he might be finding his plate full in the coming weeks.
His former position at the school needs to be filled. He said it might be several weeks before a new associate principal is hired.
“The position has just been posted,” he said. “I might be by myself for a while.”
One of the items on his agenda is boosting the high school’s STEAM education curriculum. STEAM, an acronym for science, technology, education and applied mathematics is an education curriculum that puts an emphasis on those areas of study. STEAM also readies students for both college and careers. More than 90 percent of South Fayette High School graduates go on to either college or a technical or vocational school, Skrbin said.
While he may have a lot to do at work, Skrbin said he allots time for his passions, which include firefighting, bicycling and playing in a local Tambura band for a Croatian fraternal organization on Pittsburgh’s North Side.
“I went to college on a scholarship from the (Duquesne University) Tamburitzans,” said Skrbin, who can play a brac, a lute-like instrument popular in Eastern Europe, as well as bass, a prim and celo. The latter two are stringed-instruments that are also popular in Eastern Europe.
“Several of these groups play in the area,” said Skrbin, who is Croatian on both sides of his family. “My grandfather was a fantastic bass player.”