Washington County Elementary School

WCES PTO MEETING

Good Evening Students, Staff, and Parents This Principal Peele with this week's announcements. Progress Reports will go home with students on Tuesday 2/11. Parents, please make sure you take a look at your child's progress report and schedule a conference with the teacher if you have questions or concerns. Please be reminded that one of the requirements for promotion is all 3 and 4 on the report card along with passing the state assessment. Wednesday 2/12 is an early release day for students. School will dismiss at 12:30pm. Parents, please plan accordingly. Students, I look forward to seeing you this week focused, ready to learn, and following the PBIS matrix. This is the end of the announcements. Thank you and enjoy your evening.

Good Evening Students, Staff, and Parents This is Principal Peele with this week's announcements. This week is our Parent and Community Engagement Week. Flyers were sent home with students. Parents, please participate in this week's events. Friday, 2/7 is a Mandatory Teacher Workday. There will be no school for students. Students, I look forward to seeing you this week focused, ready to learn, and following the PBIS matrix. This is the end of the announcements. Thank you and enjoy your evening.

Good Evening Students, Staff, and Parents This is Principal Peele with this week's announcements. Report cards will go home with students tomorrow Monday 1/27. Parents make sure you take a look at your child's report card and if have any questions or concerns, please schedule a conference with your child's teacher. The week of February 3rd will be Family Engagement Week. Be on the lookout for the day to day agenda for the week. Students, I look forward to seeing you this week focused, ready to learn, and following the PBIS matrix. This is the end of the announcement. Thank you and enjoy your evening.

Due to the icy conditions on backroads throughout the county, all Washington County Schools will be closed tomorrow, Friday, January 24, 2025 for students and there will be no after school activities. Staff will have an optional work day so please refer to the School Closing/Inclement Weather Guidelines on our website - Condition Blue. - Thank you for your continued support.

Due to the accumulation of snow and prolonged freezing temperatures, all Washington County Schools will be closed tomorrow, Thursday, January 23, 2025 for staff and students. Staff, please refer to School Closing Guidelines on our website, Condition Red. We will continue to monitor the weather and provide you with an update regarding the school schedule for Friday. - Thank you for your understanding and cooperation!

Due to the anticipated inclement weather, all after-school activities for this evening are canceled, and all Washington County Schools will be closed tomorrow for staff and students, Wednesday, January 22, 2025. - WCES Students: Homework packets will be provided and are expected to be completed upon their return to ensure students are counted present. - WCHS and WCECHS Students: Coursework will be accessible online via Google Classroom or NCVPS, depending on your designated platform. - We will continue to monitor the weather and provide daily updates regarding the school schedule for the remainder of the week. Please stay safe as we navigate these winter conditions. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation!

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Dear Parents/Guardians: The peak of the cold and flu season is upon us and WCS is beginning to see an increase in illness. More cases of colds, flu, strep throat, and the stomach flu have been reported. The custodians will begin spending additional time wiping desks and other hard surfaces. To prevent widespread flu in the school, we recommend that your child stay home from school if he/she experiences flu or cold symptoms. To decide whether or not to send your child to school, please consider the following guidelines: Consider keeping your student at home for an extra day of rest if he/she has any of the following: Very stuffy or runny nose and/or cough Mild sore throat (no fever, no known exposure to strep) Headache Mild stomach ache Student must stay home for treatment and observation with the following symptoms: Fever (greater than 99.0 degrees by mouth) without taking medication Vomiting (one or more times) Diarrhea Chills, headache General malaise/feelings of fatigue, discomfort, weakness or muscle aches Congested (wet) or croupy cough Lots of nasal congestion with frequent blowing of nose To help prevent the flu and other colds, talk about good hygiene habits with your student: Wash hands frequently with soap and water Do not touch the eyes, nose or mouth Cover mouth and nose when sneezing or coughing (coughing or sneezing into their bent elbow, not their hands) Avoid close contact with people who are sick Colds are the most contagious during the first 48 hours. A child who has a fever must remain at home until “fever free with no medication” for a minimum of 24 hours. A child who has started antibiotics needs to be on medication for 24 hours before being able to return to school. Often, when a child awakes with vague complaints (the way colds and flu begin) it is wise to observe your child at home for an hour or two before deciding to send him/her to school. Your child should be physically able to participate in all school activities on return to school. Keeping a sick child at home will minimize the spread of infections and viruses in the classroom. Thank you in advance for helping make the rest of this year at school as healthy as possible! Washington County Schools

Washington County Schools was made aware of a recent cybersecurity incident involving PowerSchool by the North Carolina Department of Instruction (NCDPI). The incident impacted student and staff data globally. We are still in the early stages of this development and in the information gathering process. However, our Technology Innovations Department has been working with PowerSchool and the NCDPI. From their analysis, it appears that no student's password, grades, or social security number was accessed by the hacker. However, other student information, including medical, discipline, and custody related alerts, demographic data, student UID, and contact information, was compromised. It also appears that staff members with PowerSchool access had their phone numbers, email addresses, addresses, and UIDs compromised. Additionally, the hacker accessed approximately 515 active staff members' social security numbers. We were informed by PowerSchool that it has confirmed that the breach involved unauthorized access due to compromised credentials of one of its contract employees. “PowerSchool has shared that the threat has been contained and that the compromised data was not shared and has been destroyed.” Importantly, per PowerSchool, there are no additional copies of the compromised data in existence. PowerSchool is also working with law enforcement to monitor the dark web for any data exposure. Upon notification of this incident,Washington County Schools has been in communication with NCDPI and Powerschool and will continue to actively work alongside both entities to ensure that all notifications required of PowerSchool are conducted. It is important to stress that there is nothing that WCS could have done to avoid this situation as we did not have administrative access to the maintenance tunnel where the breach occurred. Our commitment to protect student and educator data is a top priority. For additional details and FAQs, please visit PowerSchool's public website - https://www.powerschool.com/security/sis-incident/

January is School Board Appreciation Month. Thank you for the important work you do in making our school district a great place for all students and educators. We appreciate you!

Good Evening Students, and Parents This is Principal Peele with this week's announcements. Tomorrow, 1/13 will be our first day in the new school building. Let us all have patience and grace as we start this new chapter. Drop off time for students starts at 7:45am and pickup time starts at 3:30pm. If students are being picked up early, they need to be picked up before 3:05pm or they will have to wait until dismissal. Parents, to dropoff and pickup elementary students you will use the first school entrance on highway 45 coming off highway 64. Any change in a child's transportation, it needs to be made by 3pm so that staff will have time to get students to the appropriate place. Next Monday 1/20 is a holiday and there will be no school for students or staff. I look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow focused and ready to work together. This is the end of the announcements. Thank you and enjoy the rest of your evening.

OPEN HOUSE! Join us today at our new home for an open house. Come out to meet with your student scholars' teachers and locate your new classroom. This is strictly for students and their families. Be sure to only enter on the Hwy 64 side (not Hwy 45 side) for parking.

Good Evening Students, Parents and Staff This is Principal Peele with a reminder. WCES Open House for the new building will be tomorrow, 1/8/2025 from 2:00 pm-6:00 pm. Due to Thursday and Friday being changed to virtual school days, there will be homework packets ready for students at the Open House. The completion of all the assignments by Monday 1/13 will count for the attendance for Thursday and Friday. All assignments will need to be completed in order for your child to receive attendance credit. I look forward to seeing you. Thank you and enjoy your evening.

Washington County Elementary School 2025 Open House Information

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

WCS Substitute Refresher Training Training session is scheduled for Janurary 16, 2025, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Roper building. Current substitutes should check their email for a calendar invitation. New substitutes must complete the online Substitute 101 Class and present their certificate in order to attend the refresher/orientation session. Please note, completion of this training is required to remain eligible to substitute for the 2024-2025 school year at WCS.

Good Evening Students and Parents This is Principal Peele with this week's announcements. WCES will be having our Winter Multicultural Cantata on Tuesday, 12/17 starting at 6:00 pm. Parents, families and friends please come out and watch our students perform. Wednesday, 12/18 is the last day of school for students before our winter holiday break. Students, I look forward to see you these three days focused, ready to learn, and following the PBIS matrix. I wish everyone a wonderful, safe, and restful holiday. This is the end of the announcements. Thank you and enjoy the rest of your evening.

Spotlight of Excellence: Samantha Bearden Samantha Bearden was recently recognized as Washington County's Exceptional Children's (EC) Educator of Excellence at the 73rd North Carolina Conference on Exceptional Children (NC CEC) in Greensboro. Mrs. Beardden, an EC teacher for the 4th-8th Grade Adaptive Classroom at Washington County Elementary School, has made significant contributions since joining the district in January 2023. Starting as a 6th-8th grade Resource Teacher, Mrs. Bearden quickly became an integral part of Washington County Middle School. She has played a key role in transitioning 8th-grade students to high school, helping families understand the different educational pathways available. This year, she transitioned into an Adaptive Classroom teacher, supporting students with extended content standards, and continues to assist fellow educators in navigating ECATS. Msr Bearden's dedication to her students and her ongoing pursuit of professional growth make her a tremendous asset to our district. We are proud to have her on our team and thank her for her unwavering commitment to expanding learning opportunities for all students. Congratulations, Mrs. Samantha Bearden!

Good Evening Students and Parents This is Principal Peele with this week's announcements. Progress reports will go home with students on Friday 12/13. Parents, if you have any questions or concerns about your child's progress report, contact your child's teacher to schedule a conference. Parents, just a reminder that students last day before the holiday break is now 12/18. Please make plans accordingly. Students, I look forward to seeing you this week focused, ready to learn, and following the PBIS matrix each day. This is the end of the announcements. Thank you and enjoy your evening.