Powhatan County Public Schools -

Because of spring break, we missed the opportunity to recognize the division’s wonderful library staff when National School Librarian Day fell on April 4. We want to rectify that now by recognizing the amazing men and women who keep our school libraries organized and provide the fun, creative, and educational environments that nurture our students. Thank you all! Flat Rock Elementary School: Kelly Terry and Rosanne Rini Pocahontas Elementary School: Tiffany Ray and Kathy Duty Powhatan Elementary School: Michelle Ball and Mary Jones Powhatan Middle School: Bucky Webb and Julie Benkovitz Powhatan High School: Paul Smartschan

Red Rover, Red Rover, let the Class of 2037 come over! Kindergarten registration kicks off on Thursday, April 11, and we are thrilled to meet our future students. Appointments will be held April 11 and 12 at your rising kindergartner’s future elementary school. We are asking for your help in reminding anyone with a child that will be age 5 by September 30, 2024, to begin enrolling now. This is a special time for schools to welcome their newest students. It is also important to get students screened and on the rosters as soon as possible to be better prepared for the start of the new school year. In addition, the preschool (VPI/ Head Start) application process for children turning age 3 and 4 by September 30, 2024, is also now available online. Check the Powhatan County Public Schools website for information or contact your local school with Kindergarten Registration or Preschool Application questions. We are so excited and cannot wait to get these students on the PCPS team! #wearepcps #teampowhatan

Mrs. Hall took her kindergarten class at Powhatan Elementary for a Story Walk around the school. The pages of “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Clover!” by Lucille Colandro were posted along the halls and the students read the story as they went along. At each station, Mrs. Hall also gave the kids a cut-out illustration related to the story. Back in the classroom, the students completed workbooks based on the book. #wearepcps #teampowhatan

The Powhatan County School Board workshop and meeting will be held at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively, on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, at their regular location in the School Board Meeting Room at the Pocahontas Landmark Center, 4290 Anderson Highway. The room has a maximum capacity of 160 seated people. If the room reaches capacity, an overflow location has been arranged in the cafeteria of Pocahontas Elementary School, 4294 Anderson Highway, which has a 300-seat capacity. A video conference will be set up to allow people in the overflow space to view the entire meeting and speak during the designated public comment periods. The meeting will be live and archived on the school division’s YouTube channel.

Powhatan County Public Schools is ready to welcome the parents of the Class of 2037 for a Rising Kindergarten Parent Information Night. We invite you to equip yourself with the knowledge to help your child succeed at the information meeting, which will be held on Wednesday, April 17 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at Flat Rock Elementary School. Presentations will focus on: What to expect in kindergarten, how to prepare your kindergartener over the summer, helping your child work through big emotions, and community resources for family support. #wearepcps #teampowhatan

Earlier this semester, Mr. Mullins and Mr. Bird showed their World History I students at Powhatan High School how awesome the ancient city of Constantinople was and modern-day Istanbul is as part of the Byzantine Empire and Russia Unit. The Byzantine Empire and Russian Empire were continuations of Western Roman/Greco culture. This time period started in 476 CE/AD. The teachers took students to Istanbul/Constantinople to virtually visit the Walls of Constantine, the Hippodrome, and the Hagia Sophia. In addition, Constantine had one of the longest aqueducts ever built at 150 miles in length. Students were able to see how the modern city of Istanbul has built around and incorporated these ancient wonders. #wearepcps #teampowhatan

Before spring break, Flat Rock Elementary kindergartners took turns enjoying a Community Day that saw them visiting important sites in the county. In these photos, you can see Mrs. Moss and Mrs. Proffitt’s classes visiting the Powhatan County Courthouse, Food Lion, Bailey’s Café at Powhatan High School for lunch, New Horizon Bank, and Company 2 Fire Station. The goal of this day is to introduce students to our community friends and places that we go when we live in an area. It also introduces them to real-world experiences, such as being presented a bill for their lunch and being responsible for using money they brought to pay for the meal. PHS Culinary teacher Mark Robertson said he views including a visit to Bailey’s Café in the Community Day as a win for both the elementary and high school students. “It’s really fun to watch the kindergartners come in and see the bigger kids at lunch and see what their class looks like. It’s a lot of fun for my students to interact with the kindergarteners and you know they learn a whole different way of conversing with customers because it’s not adults,” Mr. Robertson said. #wearepcps #teampowhatan

We know it's been everywhere, but we care about your eyes, so we are going to issue one more reminder ahead of today's eclipse about timing and staying safe: Today, parts of North America will be treated to a total solar eclipse! Although Powhatan won't be in the path of totality, we'll still get to enjoy around 86% coverage. PCPS will be celebrating the day with age-appropriate activities to help students understand the phenomenon. Rest assured, safety is our top priority, and we'll be providing proper eye protection and guidance on safe viewing practices for everyone involved. Peak coverage will be at 3:19 p.m. We ask for your patience as elementary school buses may be running slightly behind schedule. Secondary students will receive glasses they can bring home to safely view the eclipse. Here are some safety tips to keep in mind when viewing the eclipse. #wearepcps #teampowhatan

Reminder ahead of the eclipse on Monday, April 8: On April 8, there will be a solar eclipse! On April 8, 2024, parts of North America will be treated to a total solar eclipse! Although Powhatan won't be in the path of totality, we'll still get to enjoy around 86% coverage. PCPS will be celebrating the day with age-appropriate activities to help students understand the phenomenon. Rest assured, safety is our top priority, and we'll be providing proper eye protection and guidance on safe viewing practices for everyone involved. Peak coverage will be at 3:19 p.m. We ask for your patience as elementary school buses may be running slightly behind schedule. Secondary students will receive glasses they can bring home to safely view the eclipse. Here are some safety tips to keep in mind when viewing the eclipse. #wearepcps #teampowhatan

Powhatan High School club Morgan’s Message recently invited @uvafootball Head Coach Tony Elliott to speak to students about the importance of mental health and athletics and his personal experience with mental health. @morgansmessage_phs is a nonprofit that amplifies stories, resources, and expertise to confront student-athlete mental health issues. Peyton Wirt, the PHS club president, said she was excited for students to hear Coach Elliott, who spoke about the power of positive thinking and the importance of understanding the difference between their role and their identity. Coach Elliott pointed out how many people let themselves be defined by external factors, including what people say about them on social media or the challenges they face and must overcome. “My identity is my thoughts, my character, who I really am,” he said. #wearepcps #teampowhatan @phsindians.athletics

All six Flat Rock Elementary first grade-classes recently held Book Cafes to celebrate reading. Students were treated to “book tastings,” where they got to experience four different authors and their types of writing. They decided based on the author if they would like the book and then they read the books and reviewed them to say whether they enjoyed the experience. Each Book Café culminated with tasty treats. #wearepcps #teampowhatan #elevateeducatorsva

Pocahontas Elementary turned the spotlight on reading on the Friday before Spring Break – or at least a flashlight. For Flashlight Friday, kindergartners had guest readers come visit and share their love of reading. We are so proud of our kids we're beaming! #wearepcps #teampowhatan

Do you have a passion for reading? Are you looking for a way to ignite children's love for books? Are you looking for an opportunity to volunteer your talents? Powhatan Education Foundation would love to meet you! The PEF mission is to enhance the learning experience for Powhatan County Public Schools’ learning community. To that end, the group participates in fundraising that provides innovation grants, student enrichment activities, and post-secondary scholarships. The group is looking for a talented, passionate community member to join them with an eye toward PEF’s collaborative efforts with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. #wearepcps #teampowhatan

Good afternoon PCPS community. We are back again with another installment of the Powhatan County School Board Recap. As always, the goal of this newsletter is to help people who don't have the time to come to or watch full school board meetings still stay abreast of what is going on in our school division. The newsletter link is in the first comment. We wish you a safe and happy Spring Break. See you on April 8.

All fifth-grade students at @powhatanelementary_pcps participated in a narrative project where they wrote a book in English class with Mrs. Lewis. When the school division had a half day, the fifth graders had the opportunity to showcase their stories to all classes from pre-kindergarten to fourth grade. The younger students rotated between several of the young authors, who read aloud to them. What a wonderful way to showcase the fifth graders' creativity and storytelling skills. #wearepcps #teampowhatan

Each year, the Powhatan Education Foundation (PEF) awards Innovative Classroom Grants that present ideas for achieving the county’s curricular goals, enhancing students’ personal development, and/or encouraging links with the community. This year, PEF fully or partially funded six grants for a total investment of $16,146.28, and we are taking time over several weeks to highlight how those projects are going. Next up is a grant that purchased iPads for the PHS Library to use for classroom collaborations. The iPads have been used with projects such as students making original short films, creating stop motion shorts, and more. In Ms. Spotts’ drivers education class, (shown here) the students made videos about safety features that were assigned to them. They had to research the safety features, write a script for a news report or documentary, and film them. #wearepcps #teampowhatan

In advance of Earth Day, almost 2,000 tree seedlings have been distributed to all pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade students since last week as part of the Growing Kids & Trees program. @forestryva and Virginia Cooperative Extension - Powhatan provided free Virginia native hardwood seedlings to the schools that students could take home and plant. Students had a chance to take home either a dogwood, common apple, pin oak, river birch, or white oak tree. STEM Coach Barbara Adcock said she loves the long-term impression this project can make on children. “They can see a tree that was just a stick basically when they are planting it, but by the time they get up in high school, it’s taller than they are in many cases. So, they see the impact of planting something even very small,” she said. The PCPS STEM program will once again have a table at the Powhatan County Earth Day celebration, which will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. on Friday, April 19 on the Powhatan Courthouse Village Green. Be sure to stop by and say hello at this free, family-friendly event. #wearepcps #teampowhatan #earthday @visitpowhatanva

Earlier this month, about 100 seventh grade Integrated History II students at Powhatan Middle School participated in an arts-integrated, in-school field trip. In an effort to help students make connections between the past and present, the school collaborated with Partners in the Arts at the University of Richmond to plan a two-day "Harlem Renaissance to Hip-Hop" experience. After meeting in the gym for a brief introduction and overview to the history of hip hop and hip-hop dancing, which date back to the Bronx in 1973, the students split into their respective groups to learn about the fields of dance, music, visual arts, and poetry with local Richmond artists. Students took what they learned on Day 1 and used it to complete their own creative piece of work and share it with their fellow students the next day. The respective groups created original dances, their own music, graffiti art pieces, and affirmation-themed pieces of artwork. Many thanks to the group of artistic entrepreneurs who came together for this program to help our students explore this rich cultural history: Deandra Clarke, dance and hip-hop history; Zenobia Bey, storytelling and hip hop; Tommy 2600, coding beats workshop; and SillyGenius, graffiti workshop. #wearepcps #teampowhatan #harlemrenaissance @partnersinthearts @danceceo @community_5050 @heritage.n.motion @tommy2600_ @sillygenius

Ms. Allen’s second graders at Powhatan Elementary had fun rotating between reading and writing stations, including personal narratives, writing, and biographies. #wearepcps #teampowhatan

Mrs. Smith used a recipe for a two-layer cake to work on adding and subtracting mixed numbers with her fifth graders at Pocahontas Elementary School. #wearepcps #teampowhatan