Students and staff enjoyed Christmas festivities today, which included a Christmas sing-along, The Polar Express, and hot cocoa delivered by our PTO. Merry Christmas to the Greendale Elementary family.
Students will bring home a Winter Break Reading Bingo card, which is also attached to this message. Students will complete the challenges to get a bingo or fill the entire board. They will bring the board back in January to turn in to the library for a prize. Happy Reading!
Greendale 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students traveled to the Paramount Theatre in Bristol to watch Bristol Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker. For many students it was their first time seeing a ballet and for others it was their first time seeing The Nutcracker. Prior to this field trip, Mrs. Gates spent time teaching students in music classes about Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky and specifically the music for The Nutcracker.
Teachers of the Year: It is an honor for Washington County Schools to announce and congratulate the following teachers selected by their respective schools as their 2024-2025 Teacher of the Year.
These persons were chosen by their colleagues because they exemplify the best of being a teacher for Washington County Public Schools and the service they provide to the community, school and most importantly, students.
Elementary Schools
*Abingdon -- Gwen Campbell
*Greendale -- Abby Rasnake
*High Point -- Heather Hensley
*Meadowview -- Kimberly Cox
*Rhea Valley -- Beth Delp
*Valley Institute -- Joy Hull
*Watauga -- Sherry Thomason
Middle Schools
*Damascus -- Sallie Moss
*Glade Spring -- Sherry Cannon
*E.B. Stanley -- Maggie Branton
*Wallace -- Kaitlyn Maples
Secondary Schools
*Abingdon High -- Chase Nunley
*John S. Battle High -- Emily Tallman
*Patrick Henry High -- Alyssa Fields
*Holston High -- Buffy Milhorne
*WC CTE Center -- William (Billy) Buchanan
These teachers will be recognized as their building’s Teacher of the Year at the Washington County School Board meeting on January 21, 2025.
As well, we are excited to announce and congratulate the grade level Teacher of the Year for 2024-2025. Each of the building’s Teacher of the Year could be chosen as all are models of what it means to be a teacher.
*2025-2025 Elementary School Teacher of the Year -- Abby Rasnake
*2024-2025 Middle School Teacher of the Year -- Kaitlyn Maples
*2024-2025 High School Teacher of the Year -- Chase Nunley
The 2024-2025 Washington County Teacher of the Year will be announced during the Washington County School Board Meeting on January 21, 2025, and will be our Division’s candidate for the Region VII Teacher of the Year.
Congratulations to all as we celebrate these exemplary teachers of Washington County Schools.
Greendale Elementary has a Little Free Library located at the car rider entrance to the building. Please feel free to select books or leave books. We restock the LFL regularly and accept donations to keep a selection of books available for our students and community.
WCPS will operate on a 2 hour delay on Thursday, December 12, 2024. Childcare will be provided for working families. Doors will open at 8 this morning.
WCPS will operate on a 2 hour delay on Thursday, December 12, 2024 due to black ice in some locations. Opening later will allow better visibility for drivers. Childcare will be provided at elementary schools for working parents if needed.
Child care will not be provided for the early dismissal today. However, staff will be available to monitor students until parents are able to pick up their child(ren) from the school.
Based on our conversations with our meteorologist at AccuWeather, we anticipate weather conditions to deteriorate during our normal dismissal time. As a result, Washington County Public Schools will dismiss 2-Hours early today, Wednesday, December 11, 2024. All extracurricular activities for Wednesday are postponed.
#TheWashingtonWay: We are so thankful for our amazing support staff that we have here at WCPS! At the meeting this evening, School Board Members recognized our Support Staff Award Winners for the fall semester.
*Master Technician Award -- Jason Salyers (Technology Department)
*Wheels on the Bus Award -- Ronica Blevins (Transportation Department)
*Above and Beyond (Custodian) Award -- Becky Lane-Smith (Watauga Elementary School)
*Helping Hand Award -- Lynn Redman (High Point Elementary School)
*Silver Spoon Award -- Kristen Deel (E.B. Stanley Middle School)
*Customer Service Award -- Abby Stamper (WCPS Annex)
Congratulations to our award winners and thank you for your hard work!
Washington County Public Schools is excited to announce that our elementary students are leading the way in reading achievement. Our VALLSS scores ranked at the top in CIP Consortium. The Virginia Language and Literacy Screening System (VALLSS) is the state-provided screening tool supporting Virginia’s Early Intervention Reading Initiative (EIRI). The goal of the EIRI is to reduce the number of children struggling with reading through early diagnosis and targeted intervention.
By screening students in grades K-3, school divisions are able to determine each student’s level of risk – low, moderate, or high – for developing reading difficulties and receive state funding for providing reading intervention. VALLSS measures decoding (blending sounds together to read words), encoding (spelling words), and the comprehension and use of language.
We sincerely value the dedication and hard work of our teachers whose commitment has been essential in helping students reach these milestones. To build on these efforts, Washington County Public Schools has adopted High-Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM) approved by the Virginia Department of Education and provided additional professional development opportunities to strengthen and expand staff expertise in literacy.
Due to predictions of windchills in the morning in the single digits, WCPS will operate on a 2 hour delayed schedule on Friday, December 6, 2024. Childcare will be available for working parents at elementary schools.
The WCPS Transportation Department would like to inform families that Bus 5 is running roughly 30 - 40 minutes late this morning, Wednesday, December 4. The route will be completed as normal.
In what has been a tricky morning, we have decided to call a Remote Learning Day for Tuesday December 3, 2024. Main roads are clear, as are some back roads and side streets. However, “road checkers”, encountered multiple slick secondary roads. At our December School Board Meeting, we will present a Snow Route plan that would potentially allow us to have in person learning on days like today. Be safe, stay warm, and we’ll see everyone online
Due to current snowfall in some parts of Washington County, temperatures in the teens overnight, and predicted snowfall in the morning hours, WCPS will operate on a 2 hour delayed schedule on Tuesday, December 3, 2024. Childcare will be provided for working parents at elementary schools. Should conditions worsen to warrant a Remote Learning Day, childcare will not be available. A decision to change from a 2 hour delayed schedule to Remote Learning will be made by 7:30 a.m.
Promise Program: The past couple of weeks, we enjoyed sharing big opportunities with our youngest students! Along with our friends from the Wellspring Foundation of Southwest Virginia and Virginia Highlands Community College, we visited all of our elementary schools to share the exciting news about the Washington County Promise Program. We're already planting seeds for bright futures by introducing this life-changing opportunity to our students and families early on.
During the visits, we talked about how the Washington County Promise Program can offer free tuition for eligible students, making higher education more accessible than ever before. The excitement at each stop was contagious, and we can't wait to see these young minds grow and eventually take advantage of this amazing opportunity. This is just the beginning of a bright path for our students, and we're thrilled to share this journey with them and their families.
Visit https://promiseprogram.org/ to see if your student qualifies.
#WashingtonCountyPublicSchools #VHCCPromise #FreeTuition #EducationStartsHere #FutureReady #StudentSuccess
Due to winter weather, Washington County Public Schools will implement a Remote Learning Day for Friday, November 22, 2024. NO childcare will be provided.
Classroom teachers will communicate with students to facilitate classes.
Stay safe and warm!
Good afternoon, WCPS Families & Staff –
We are providing an update following initial water testing for lead in all Washington County Public Schools’ buildings. That information was released earlier this month.
On October 26, 2024, new regulations approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) required water that is used in schools be tested for lead by 2028. To be ahead of that timeline, the Washington County Service Authority tested five fixtures at every school (at least two fixtures in the kitchens and 2 or more water fountains in various locations throughout the school).
There are three possible results from testing:
*Non-detect: Practice good water habits
*Less than 10 parts per billion (ppb): Consider risk mitigation such as flushing before use
*Greater than 10 parts per billion (ppb): Stop using the water source and take remediation steps
If you recall, the initial testing found that four of our schools had at least one fixture that tested less than 10 ppb (Meadowview Elementary – two fixtures, Watauga Elementary – one fixture, Glade Spring Middle School – one fixture, and Holston High School – two fixtures). One school had two fixtures that tested above 10 ppb (Greendale Elementary). As a result, we took additional precautions at those five schools immediately. Only fixtures that tested non-detect are available for cooking purposes at these schools. This is above and beyond the protocols recommended by the EPA.
The moment we received the initial testing results, we immediately discontinued the use of consumable water fixtures at the five schools (e.g. drinking fountains) – with that protocol remaining in place until the issue is remedied. As a result, we have been providing bottled water for students and staff. We are also installing a new water cooler at all schools in our division. This water cooler is equipped with five different filters that are designed to remove lead and other impurities.
As an additional safeguard, we also began the process of testing every fixture in Greendale Elementary. That testing is now complete, with test results showing 52 fixtures tested non-detect, 8 fixtures tested less than 10 ppb, and 17 fixtures tested above 10 ppb. The good news is these new test results show that all but one of the drinking fountains came back as non-detect – with many of the elevated readings coming from fixtures not needed for day-to-day school operations. One fixture tested extremely high, and we believe that could be because the classroom sink has not been used for an extended period of time. We will replace that fixture and test again before considering future use. (The samples for lead testing are taken after the fixture has been unused for a minimum of eight hours to get a worst-case result. Flushing the fixture for an extended period reduces the likelihood of lead presence.) We are replacing the sink in the kitchen that initially tested above 10 ppb and will retest again before returning that sink to service. Other next steps are to determine and troubleshoot whether the elevated testing numbers are due to the fixture itself, or if it is a result of the plumbing in the walls. Those fixtures will remain turned off until further notice. It is possible that sinks that are no longer used or needed will be removed from future service. We have been given clearance to use all points of contact that have returned "non-detect" results.
More testing has taken place at the four schools that also saw elevated results. Once those test results are complete, we will conduct additional tests at the remaining 11 schools in our division.
We will continue to work with the Washington County Service Authority and the Office of Drinking Water to ensure we are taking all needed steps to keep our students and staff safe. We are also staying in contact with the local Health Department. The new Greendale testing results and additional information which includes an FAQ, and a helpful flyer can be found at this link on our website: https://www.wcs.k12.va.us/documents/washington-county-service-authority-information/722977
If you have any questions or concerns, we will continue to work with the agencies referenced above to share the latest information and provide the safest possible environment for our students and staff.
Thank you,
Keith Perrigan, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Washington County Public Schools
812 Thompson Dr.
Abingdon, VA 24210
276-739-3000
@WashCoSuper
