What an awesome kickoff for the Powhatan Summer Reading Program! Hundreds of people came to Powhatan County Public Library Tuesday night to enjoy the event, which included an excellent performance by Jonathan the Juggler, a free book for every child who registered, and yummy treats on offer from food truck vendors Jiji Frozen Custard and TBT El Gallo. A huge thank you to them for donating a portion of their sales to support the Powhatan Education Foundation and Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. Didn’t make it out for the kickoff? You can register online at any time or in person during regular library hours. You can also attend all of the fantastic, free summer reading program activities scheduled to continue throughout June and July. #wearepcps #teampowhatan #summerreading
Powhatan Middle School is thrilled to announce its inclusion in the prestigious Varsity Yearbook's Portfolio, Volume 29. This recognition showcases the dedication and talent of the middle school students and staff in producing outstanding yearbooks.
With a total of 612 schools represented, Varsity Yearbook's Portfolio, Volume 29 stands as a testament to the innovation and excellence found within school yearbooks across the nation. From these schools, 1,744 examples were carefully curated, with only 77 books chosen for the coveted Anthology section, including honorable mentions. These selected books represent the pinnacle of achievement in yearbook production.
“As a middle school club, our Portfolio inclusion reflects the hard work and dedication of our staff members at such a young age,” said Mary Melisa Johnson, yearbook advisor.
The chosen yearbooks are characterized by their consistency in both verbal and visual elements, exemplary coverage, and top-notch photography. Portfolio represents the top 1% of books printed by Varsity Yearbook, reflecting the dedication and hard work of each school's yearbook staff.
"We are thrilled to publish the first Portfolio under Varsity Yearbook," said Andrew Checketts, general manager of Varsity Yearbook. "This collection represents the best of the best, and we are honored to showcase the talent and creativity of these students from across the country.”
Varsity Yearbook, a division of Varsity Spirit, is dedicated to providing schools with high-quality yearbooks, training, and support. With a commitment to excellence and innovation, Varsity Yearbook empowers schools to preserve and celebrate their unique memories and achievements while supporting their schools through each step of the yearbook journey.
Candid Color Photography is Powhatan High School's official senior portrait photographer. Please review the senior portrait information to prepare for your senior session, which will be held on Thursday, June 20 at the high school. Appointments are available 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. You must schedule an appointment at the link found in the first comment.
This is a reminder that all PCPS buildings are closed on Fridays during the summer. Staff may be reached Monday through Friday during each building's normal summer hours.
Powhatan County Public Schools is retiring K-8 literacy materials because a new curriculum will be implemented in the fall. A wide range of books and educational materials will be available for free on 6/24 and 6/25/24 at Flat Rock and Pocahontas Elementary schools from 1 to 5 p.m.
The end of school was packed with learning and fun, and there wasn’t nearly enough time to post photos of all of the wonderful activities and lessons our schools and teachers engaged in before school was out. We hope you don’t mind but we are going to keep sharing some of those special moments for the next few weeks. We think they were worth the wait. First up, Mrs. Meaker’s third graders at Pocahontas Elementary prepped ahead of the math and English SOL tests with a fabulous Glow Day. Students in groups rotated between activities involving math task cards and glow games such as cornhole, a card game called War, Jenga, ring toss, Connect 4, bowling, and dominoes. Through these games, students reviewed skills such as rounding, expressions, mystery number, division word problems, area and perimeter of regular and irregular shapes, multiplication, and adding and subtracting fractions. #wearepcps #teampowhatan
Powhatan County Public Schools is hiring. We are looking for interested teachers in the areas of Secondary Art, Middle School Art, Middle School Band, Middle School Computer Technology, Middle School English, Middle School Math, Middle School Science, and Special Education (all levels). To learn more about becoming a valued member of our team, contact Human Resources at 804-598-5700 or visit the school division's website.
On their first day of summer vacation, Powhatan High School JROTC cadets Alexis Adkins and Corbin Willard, led by Sgt. Major Blakely, worked to support a family in our community at a Habitat for Humanity-Powhatan renovation project. They took out all the old windows and put in the new ones. It was excellent service learning, and we love the math application. #wearepcps #teampowhatan
Travelers who passed by the Pocahontas Landmark Center on Sunday evening or today may have noticed the large tree in front next to Anderson Highway had a large part break off. Facilities staff will be evaluating the remaining parts of the tree to see if it can be saved. In the meantime, we wondered how many longtime residents, especially students and staff who attended the school through the decades, have any special memories of the tree?
The included black and white photograph shows the original school with the tree in front. The photo is courtesy of the Pocahontas School Yearbook of 1961 (“The Echo of 1961”). This was the first of only three yearbook that were published for the school (1961, ‘67, and ’69.) The yearbook was edited by the senior class. #wearepcps #teampowhatan
Good morning and happy last day of school . Please remember that today is a half day, so secondary schools will be out by 10:45 a.m. and elementary schools by noon.
We hope all of our students and their families have a wonderful summer with at least a few learning opportunities thrown in there. Don't forget to have your students read and engage in fun activities like summer camps and Powhatan's awesome Summer Reading Program.
Please join us in thanking all of our teachers and staff for another wonderful school year!
And if your child is attending PCPS next year and will be riding the school bus, you must opt in to school bus service by filling out the Google form we will share in the comment section.
On Memorial Day, the Powhatan High School Army JROTC Color Guard participated in the Memorial Day Ceremonies at both the Virginia Veterans Cemetery in Amelia and for the American Legion Post 201 at the Powhatan War Memorial Cultural Arts and Community Center. Each year, the PHS JROTC Color Guard supports the Virginia Veterans Cemetery with their Wreaths Across America wreath laying ceremony. This was the first year supporting both venues for their Memorial Day ceremonies. The cadets that took part in the ceremonies were: Cadet Nicholas Blankenship, Cadet Sophia Ehle, Cadet Samuel Weaver, Cadet Cohl Brooks, Cadet Isiah Turner, Cadet Nikki Fens, Cadet Emily Derrer, and Cadet Violet Edling. #wearepcps #teampowhatan
Powhatan Middle and Pocahontas Elementary school will both start the new academic year with new leaders at the helm.
Mr. Colin Innes will join the Powhatan County Public Schools family on July 1, 2024, as the new principal of Powhatan Middle School. He is currently the associate principal of Midlothian Middle School.
Also on July 1, Dr. Samantha Martin will transition into the familiar grounds of school administration as the new principal of Pocahontas Elementary. Dr. Martin is currently the division’s Coordinator of Innovative Learning and Professional Development.
Mr. Innes takes over from Mrs. Courtney Jarman, who will become the division’s Chief Schools Officer on July 1, while Dr. Martin is the successor to Mr. Tom Sulzer, who is transitioning to become the Assistant Facilities Director on July 1.
Mr. Innes comes to the division with 14 years of experience in education, the last eight of them in school administration. In addition to working in his current position for the last four years at Midlothian Middle, he was also previously the assistant principal at Bailey Bridge Middle and Midlothian Middle schools.
Before transitioning into administrative roles, Mr. Innes had proven himself as an experienced, bilingual leader. He taught Spanish for six years, and he also developed curriculum and taught in the Spanish Immersion Center at Manchester High School.
Mr. Innes is an experienced instructional leader with a strong cross-curricular background and dedication to supporting student academic growth and achievement through personalized learning. Recognizing that middle school can be a challenging age, he also has a passion for building relationships and focusing on restorative practices to significantly lower disciplinary issues.
“I am humbled by and excited for the opportunity to lead Powhatan Middle School. I believe that education is certainly the backbone of society as we set our students up for their immediate and future success,” Mr. Innes said. “At Powhatan Middle School, we will continue to work hard to create an environment where every student has a champion, and where all students feel valued and heard in order to achieve their highest potential.”
Dr. Martin has been with PCPS since 2014, working first as an assistant principal at Powhatan High School and then as principal of Powhatan Middle School before taking on her current role in 2022. She previously taught special education math at the high school for two years.
Before her time in Powhatan, Dr. Martin worked as a program specialist for grades 5-9 in the Virginia Department of Education’s Training and Technical Assistance Centers and taught at the middle and high school levels for seven years.
Dr. Martin has a Doctorate of Education from the University of Virginia with a focus in K-12 Curriculum and Instruction, a Master of Teaching degree from UVA with a focus in K-12 Special Education, and is Nationally Board Certified in early adolescent math.
In her previous administrative roles, Dr. Martin showed herself to be a leader who believes in collaborative structures for success for all students, schoolwide differentiated professional development, and strategic planning and data-based decision-making for school improvement.
“I have fallen in love with the Pocahontas Elementary School community during my current role, and I am so thankful for this opportunity. I believe in the success of each student in a positive, caring environment where students, staff, and parents are excited about learning each day. I look forward to meeting students and families as we begin the next year, and I know we will do great things together,” Dr Martin said.
This morning, May 29, 2024, our student notification software experienced a glitch. Parents/guardians of all enrolled students in Powhatan County Public Schools received multiple notifications stating their child was marked absent. Please disregard these notifications. Your child’s attendance was properly recorded. We are working on determining the cause of this glitch. We apologize for the inconvenience. If you are concerned about your child’s whereabouts, please contact your child’s school to confirm that he/she is present.
This morning, May 29, 2024, our student notification software experienced a glitch. Parents/guardians of all enrolled students in Powhatan County Public Schools received multiple notifications stating their child was marked absent. Please disregard these notifications. Your child’s attendance was properly recorded. We are working on determining the cause of this glitch. We apologize for the inconvenience. If you are concerned about your child’s whereabouts, please contact your child’s school to confirm that he/she is present.
Earlier this month, Flat Rock Elementary School’s Kindness Klub sponsored a food drive across the entire school for Backpacks of Love. The school collected thousands of items to donate to the nonprofit, which is dedicated to eliminating hunger in school-age children in Central Virginia by providing food for their weekends. #wearepcps #teampowhatan
Sixth graders in Mr. Roberts’ Energy and the Environment class at Powhatan Middle School put what they learned about thermal energy into practice by trying to save penguins! Ok, they were ice cubes shaped like penguins, but those ice cube penguins were in very real danger from some powerful heat lamps. The students were charged with building a box that would withstand concentrated heat under a heat lamp for 15 minutes to prevent the penguin from melting. In constructing the boxes, the idea was to conserve less energy, pollute less, and reduce greenhouse emissions. Students recorded the mass of their penguin ice cube before and after the time under the heat to see how much it melted and gauge their success. Mr. Roberts said the experiment was based on real efforts in Africa to protect penguins, but the knowledge the students gained could be applied in a number of ways, such as understanding how to conserve energy when building homes for humans. #wearepcps #teampowhatan
Powhatan County Public Schools expresses its deep gratitude and appreciation to the men and women of the U.S. Military who served their nation and paid the ultimate sacrifice. We honor and remember you today.
Attention Parents and Guardians of PCPS students who will be riding the school bus in the 2024-25 school year:
Parents and guardians will now opt in for student transportation services for the 2024-2025 school year. In order to facilitate routing and planning for bus transportation, we are asking that all parents/guardians fill out a transportation request if they need bus transportation for the upcoming school year. The information collected for this request will allow us to route more efficiently and provide us with the most up-to-date information on the transportation needs of your student.
These forms will be due by July 26, 2024. Requests received after July 26, 2024, will be processed in the order received. However, requests received after bus route planning has begun are not guaranteed by the start of the 2024-2025 school year, and service may be delayed until September 3, 2024.
Scan the QR code or follow the link in the first comment to fill out the form.
Members of Powhatan High School’s One Voice and Resonance choirs were invited to perform on May 22 at the Virginia State Police Memorial Day Service, which honored 67 of the Department’s law enforcement professionals who have died in the line of duty. The students met Governor Glenn Youngkin at the event, and he was among the many people there who gave these talented young men and women and their leader, Mr. Dean, a standing ovation after their brilliant performance. Thank you to our young people for honoring our fallen heroes in such a beautiful way. #wearepcps #teampowhatan
This is a reminder that Powhatan County Public Schools will be closed on Friday, May 24 and Monday, May 27 in honor of Memorial Day. We hope our PCPS students, staff, and families have a lovely weekend.
