Washington County Public Schools

History Tour: Several Patrick Henry High School faculty, staff, administrators, and their respective family members spent their Saturday evening participating in an Abingdon town historic tour with Donnamarie Emmert. A wonderful time was had by all!

Promise Program: Your future starts here with the Washington County Promise Program! Students, this is your chance to get free tuition and kickstart your post high school journey. Thanks to Wellspring Foundation of Southwest Virginia, this life-changing opportunity is available for eligible students. We want YOU to be part of it! What's required? *Graduate high school between 2025 and 2037 *Live in Washington County, VA, for at least 12 months prior to graduation *Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident *Complete the FAFSA and VHCC scholarship applications *Choose a degree or workforce credential program *Maintain a minimum 2.0 GPA once you're in college *Perform 8 hours of volunteer work each year. This program removes the financial barriers, so that you can focus on what really matters -- your education and future! Check out https://promiseprogram.org/ and get started today. #WashingtonCountySchools #VHCCPromise #FreeTuition #YourFutureStartsHere #StudentSuccess #EducationForAll (Photo Courtesy: Virginia Highlands Community College)

It was an exciting Friday for Washington County Public Schools! We were honored to provide a tour of Rhea Valley Elementary, Holston High School, and Abingdon High School to Virginia Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera and her staff, as well as Sen. Todd Pillion. During the visit, Secretary Guidera was able to see the new safety vestibule at Abingdon High School, learned about flood recovery efforts at Rhea Valley Elementary and saw the Hydrophonics System in action at Holston. Secretary Guidera also offered a special congratulations to Holston High School for being recognized Thursday with the 2024-2025 Virginia Board of Education Exemplar High Achievement Award. As always, our students were great ambassadors for our distinguished guests, and we loved highlighting all the great things happening in WCPS!

Microsoft Word Proficiency: Ms. Fuller's Computer Information Systems and Marketing classes at John S. Battle High School wrote letters to their favorite company as part of a Microsoft Word assignment. Students learned how to use Word to correctly format a business letter, create and address an envelope, and send it in the mail. In their letters, students expressed why they selected their company to write to and asked for a letter back to share with the class. Some students have received a letter back from their company along with some goodies! Those companies include: *Wendy's -- Free Frosties, stickers, and a letter *Bass Pro Shops -- Stickers and a letter *Ariat -- 40% Discount coupon, stickers, and a letter *Virginia Tech -- T-shirt, pennant, highlighters, stickers, information about the college, and a letter *NRS -- Two hats, two pairs of gloves, stickers, and a letter *Coke -- A letter

Hands-On Activities: Students from Damascus Middle School were one of the first two groups of students in our region to experience the new Career Commons at the EO Regional Workforce and Child Development Hub in Abingdon. Our students were able to engage in hands-on activities throughout the innovative experience to gain a better sense of skills and knowledge needed in a variety of occupations. Throughout the event, students were able to acquire a better understanding of future vocational paths available to them in our area and beyond! To show continuing support to the Damascus community, the staff at EO were kind enough to give DMS students an "Appalachian Strong" t-shirt, which was designed specifically to raise funds for flood relief.

STEM Night: Third through fifth grade students and families at Watauga Elementary School had a great time at STEM Night on Thursday! Some of the fun included STEM challenges and science experiments. STEM focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.

Exemplar School Recognition: On Thursday, the Virginia Board of Education recognized 141 schools for their high achievement and continued improvement as part of its Exemplar School Recognition Program. The recognized schools include 92 schools across the Commonwealth earning the Board of Education Highest Achievement Award. Washington County Public Schools is excited to announce Greendale Elementary School and Holston High School have received the 2024-2025 Board of Education Highest Achievement Award! The Highest Achievement Award is based on performance during the 2023-2024 school year. Schools recognized for Highest Achievement demonstrated high levels of success across all school quality indicators, including success in narrowing achievement gaps, as well as: *Achieve Performance Level One for reading, mathematics, and science based on the student pass rate (which does not include growth measures) for the "all students" group in the school. *Achieve at Level One in the Chronic Absenteeism, Graduation and Completion Index (GCI), and Dropout Rate school quality indicators. Congratulations Greendale Elementary School and Holston High School! We are so proud of our students and staff!

Immersive Learning: Students in Mr. Addair's 6th grade science class at Glade Spring Middle School have been working hard on becoming familiar with Prisms Virtual Reality headsets!

Lace Up Your Running Shoes: The Washington County Career & Technical Education Center is hosting a Veterans Day 5K Run & Walk on Saturday, November 16 at 9:00 a.m. WCCTEC is working to make this a fun event! Click here to register: https://register.chronotrack.com/r/82374

Important Roundtable Discussion: This evening, students Gracelyn Leonard and Ethan Boothe represented the Washington County Career and Technical Education Center during a roundtable discussion with Virginia Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera and First Lady of Virginia Suzanne Youngkin. The roundtable was hosted by EO in Abingdon and was made up of education and business leaders as well as elected officials. The students had a chance to share the important role WCCTEC plays in preparing them for their futures. Other topics of discussion included the importance of collaboration, dual enrollment classes, internships and lab schools. Dr. Keith Perrigan, Mr. Brian Johnson and Jenny Nichols also participated in the roundtable.

Bullying Prevention: October is National Bullying Prevention Month -- a month-long event to prevent childhood bullying and promote kindness, acceptance, and inclusion. Students and staff at Holston High School wore blue to bring attention to the cause.

Family Fun Night: Greendale Elementary celebrated Family Fun Night at Anderson Farm on Tuesday! The evening was a collaborative effort of Title I, CIS, and PTO. All groups came together to provide a special Halloween read-aloud of "The Legend of Spookley the Pumpkin," a brief reading lesson, and an overview of the Title I program. To add to the fun, there was a free barbeque meal cooked by Sheriff Andis, hayrides, corn maze, petting zoo, and a corn bin. Nearly 300 students and family members enjoyed the evening. Thank you to the Anderson family for hosting this amazing event!

Student Networking: Our students from the Washington County Career and Technical Education Center are showing off their skills and interacting with employers and other students from across the Commonwealth at the Virginia Chamber Education and Workforce Conference in Richmond. The special networking provides conference attendees with the opportunity to engage directly with students to showcase their career and technical education through student-led demonstrations. Dr. Keith Perrigan was also on hand at the conference to offer special remarks and introduce the panelist discussion. We are so proud of our students representing us!

Planning for the Future: It was an exciting day recently as the Washington County Career and Technical Education Center kicked off the EmpowerHealth and ManufacturED 360 Programs! Students dove into essential professionalism skills like networking, resume building, and more.

Promise Program: Today was a proud moment for Washington County Public Schools! We witnessed something truly special as our community gathered at Virginia Highlands Community College to celebrate the launch of the Washington County Promise Program. This commitment by Wellspring Foundation of Southwest Virginia and VHCC marks a major step forward in providing a brighter future for our students. Thanks to this incredible program, students who live in Washington County, VA, can now pursue higher education with free tuition, breaking down financial barriers and opening doors to countless opportunities. We’re beyond excited to see the impact this will have on our students, their families, and our community as a whole. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who joined us today - from students and faculty to community leaders and partners. Your support means everything as we work together to enrich the lives of our young people. Head over to https://promiseprogram.org/ and discover how this opportunity can benefit your student! #WashingtonCountySchools #VHCCPromise #StudentOpportunities #OurFuture #CommunityStrong #EducationMatters (Photo Courtesy: Virginia Highlands Community College)

The Washington County Sheriff's Office is inviting students and families to a Trunk-or-Treat on Saturday, October 26! Concessions will be available including pulled pork, hamburgers, hot dogs, nachos, and more. Proceeds will go towards St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Pumpkin Paint Party: A special thank you to Kevin Leonard for donating pumpkins to all Valley Institute Elementary pre-school and kindergarten students! On Friday, pre-school students decorated their pumpkins with a paint party!

This week is National School Bus Safety Week. The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is urging drivers to slow down and be aware of school buses in their communities. To learn more about the importance of school bus safety and available resources, click here: https://www.nhtsa.gov/road-safety/school-bus-safety

Friday Fun: We love seeing our students embracing the joy of a good book! First grade students at Watauga Elementary School enjoyed Flashlight Friday Reading.

Tailgate Party: Fifth grade students at Abingdon Elementary School worked hard to memorize their multiplication and division facts during the first quarter. To celebrate, Abingdon High School football players and cheerleaders recently came to have a tailgate party!