John S. Battle High School

Middle and high school students devoured the pulled pork sandwiches today! #schoolnutrition

Dear Families, We are excited about our partnership with Ballad Health that provides our students and staff with the opportunity to have an Urgent Care visit without ever leaving school grounds. Through telehealth equipment provided by Ballad, students and staff can live stream with an Urgent Care physician or nurse practitioner to receive an evaluation, take a test, receive a diagnosis, and order a prescription. In the coming weeks all schools will have this service available to them. We are already up and running at Greendale, Meadowview, Damascus, E.B. Stanley, Glade Spring, Holston, Wallace, Valley Institute, Patrick Henry, Abingdon Elementary and Watauga. As a matter of fact we had our first employee take advantage of the service last week. SRO Mike Reid had a visit at Damascus Middle School. Here is what he said about the experience. "I used the telehealth system last week. The process was simple and very user friendly. I didn't have to take time out of my day to run to urgent care or otherwise. After the visit, meds were called in to my pharmacy. Would definitely use this service in the future." I know this will be a great service to our students, families and staff. When combined with the in-person clinic at John Battle, access to affordable healthcare has never been more available to our stakeholders. If you have any questions, please contact me or Head Nurse Paula Nichols pnichols@wcs.k12.va.us Thank you, Keith Perrigan, Ed.D. Superintendent Washington County Public Schools 812 Thompson Dr. Abingdon, VA 24210 276-739-3000 @WashCoSuper

Next week, March 4-8, is National School Breakfast Week. Be sure to show your appreciation for all those to make it possible for the students of WCPS to have a delicious and nutritious breakfast daily! #WashingtonWay

Be sure to tune in on March 12th for this very informative information about how to help build your child's confidence.

Good evening, Earlier this week we received additional information concerning instructional hours and remote learning. This led to a conversation with VDOE staff which provided a new perspective on our plan to offer virtual instruction on March 5. As a result of this conversation, I am announcing that WCPS will be closed on March 5 and that our last day of school will remain the same (May 29). We hope to offer childcare for working parents of elementary students on March 5. If possible, we will provide additional information in the near future. Thank you, Keith Perrigan, Ed.D. Superintendent Washington County Public Schools 812 Thompson Dr. Abingdon, VA 24210 276-739-3000 @WashCoSuper “Committed to the Success of Every Student“

So thrilled to have Dr. Jerry Jones share his talent and story of being educated in SWVA during Segregation with PHHS students. Check out some of the other Black History Month activities held in @washcovaschools here - go.boarddocs.com/vsba/wcps/Boar…

Dear Families This is just a reminder that schools will dismiss 2 hours early tomorrow, February 22, for Parent/Teacher Conferences. Please make arrangements for your child's transportation. Thank you, Washington County Schools

Be sure to check out these exciting opportunities for our students sponsored by the Washington County Public Library next month!

Good afternoon, A few folks have reached out to us about increased cases of flu and other illnesses in our schools. After reviewing the attendance data at every school in our division, we noticed that a few of our schools have had a slight increase in the number of students who are absent and/or checked out of school early. Thankfully, the increases are not to the extent that we would consider closing school or making other schedule changes. However, in order to make our learning environments as safe and healthy as possible, we have approved overtime for all custodians and have directed them to make sure all areas of our schools are properly cleaned and disinfected, especially those areas with higher than normal absences. We will also be disinfecting school buses as necessary. We appreciate the communication from our families about the increase in illnesses and we hope that everyone who has been affected feels better soon. If we see attendance rate increase at an alarming rate, we will communicate with the local Health Department about how to best address the situation. In the meantime, we hope you and your family stay healthy and avoid the Flu, COVID, and the other illnesses that seem to peak this time of year. Thank you, Keith Perrigan, Ed.D. Superintendent Washington County Public Schools 812 Thompson Dr. Abingdon, VA 24210 276-739-3000 @WashCoSuper

Families, we hope that you'll take advantage of this very timely and informative session being offered free of charge for all our families. Join via ZOOM tonight for the next session in our Mental Health Series The ABCs of Substance Use and Vaping!

Due to downed trees and power lines in some parts of the County, bus service will be delayed for some students as we reroute buses. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

Lacrosse Opportunity for Washington County Students:

It's safety first for the WCPS Transportation Support Team! This team is up early and staying late daily to ensure safe travels for all Washington County Students for school days and for afterschool activities! #WashingtonWay @WashCoSuper

Be sure to check out Varsity Tutoring's Practice Tests and Personalized Learning Plans that are free to all WCPS Students through their SSO Portal. This week's highlight is on Practice Tests. Be sure to take time to log in and see how this could enhance your students' learning.

Tonight, Washington County Schools is proud to recognize some of our excellent teachers who were chosen as Teacher Of The Year by their colleagues for the 2023-2024 school year. #WashingtonWay #WCPSBest @WashCoSuper

Wallace Middle School is host to several WCPS Teachers and Administrators for Safety Care Training today. Just another way our staff is putting the needs of our students first! #WCPSBest #WashingtonWay @WashCoSuper

Good afternoon, Increased temperatures today not only allowed ice to melt, but enabled VDOT to treat roads more efficiently and effectively. As a result, Washington County Public Schools will operate on a regular schedule on Wednesday, January 24, 2024. Unfortunately, there are still a few roads and turn arounds that we can’t access by bus. We have contacted those families to make other transportation arrangements. We appreciate your patience as we have worked through this weather event. I will be making recommendations to our Board on Thursday to reschedule and account for the days we have missed to this point. Based on our policy, we are now able to implement virtual learning days if we have adverse weather in the future. I will also recommend that we have a virtual learning day on March 5, 2024 (Presidential Primary) rather than closing. I anticipate that our Board will take action on those recommendations in February. Stay tuned, we will keep you updated! Thank you, Keith Perrigan, Ed.D. Superintendent

This is just a reminder that Varsity Tutoring is available FREE to ALL Students through their SSO Portal. This is a service provided by the VDOE. This week's spotlight is on the 24/7 On-Demand Tutoring Chat.

Good afternoon, There are still at least 27 roads in Washington County that are impassable by school bus. In addition to the safety of students who live on these roads, these roads are connecting roads to other students on our bus routes. Even though I would love to bring students back to school tomorrow, we are going to close school on 1-23-24. Childcare will be provided at our elementary schools for working parents who need the service. I apologize for the inconvenience this causes our families. Thank you, Keith Perrigan, Ed.D. Superintendent Washington County Public Schools 812 Thompson Dr. Abingdon, VA 24210 276-739-3000 @WashCoSuper “Committed to the Success of Every Student“

Good afternoon, There are probably few folks who would like for our students and staff to return to school tomorrow more than me. We waited as long as possible today to make the call, hoping the sunshine today would help melt the ice. However, there are still many secondary roads and turn around spots that are snow and/or ice covered. As a result, Washington County Public Schools will be closed on Monday January 22, 2024. We will share information later in the week about rescheduling the days we have missed.