Powhatan County Public Schools -

🌟 In Mrs. Barnes' AP Physics 1 class at Powhatan High School, we had a fantastic moment today! A student asked if he could explain a problem on the board to help his friend understand forces better. 📝💡 It’s amazing to see students supporting each other like this! 🤝💬 Peer-to-peer learning is so important, and it really enhances our understanding of the material. Keep up the great teamwork, everyone! 🙌✨ #wearepcps #teampowhatan

Mr. Peyton's Family and Consumer Science class at Powhatan Middle School whipped up some delicious chocolate chip cookies using the creaming method! 🍪 🍪 🍪 This technique, one of the three fundamental methods for making quick breads, involved beating butter and sugar together until light and fluffy—perfect for creating a tender, melt-in-your-mouth cookie! 😋 The students couldn’t wait to sample their creations and explore this method, which can be applied to a variety of other recipes they will make in the class! 🎂🧁What’s your favorite cookie recipe? Let’s share some culinary inspiration! 👩‍🍳👨‍🍳 #wearepcps #teampowhatan

📚✨ Exciting things are happening with Mrs. McCue’s first graders at Pocahontas Elementary. Recently, they dove into the new Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) reading curriculum and focused on structured literacy. This lesson was a combination of phonics and writing skills that saw them listening for sounds, writing letters, and building sentences. We love to see them growing their skills as they focus in on finding the right answers. #wearepcps #teampowhatan

Game date change - Friday night’s Varsity football 🏈 game will be on Saturday at noon. Please spread the word.

🌟🎉 There are always so many wonderful, engaging activities going on in our schools that it is difficult to share them all. Take a few weeks ago, when Mrs. Senger’s kindergarten class at Pocahontas Elementary rocked the Alphabet Song and got super creative by making letters with their bodies! 🤸‍♂️📚 They danced along to the “Body Alphabet” video by Jack Hartmann with so much energy! 💃🕺🎶✨ The day was also extra special because many of the students wore yellow for Color of the Day, which was an activity the school held to help the youngest students practice their colors. 💛🌼 It was amazing to see them all shine brilliantly as they sang a cheerful yellow song and colored the picture of the day: a big, bright yellow sun! 🌞 #wearepcps #teampowhatan

🎉 The Powhatan High School JROTC was thrilled to receive a generous check for $2,602 from a fundraiser the Moose Family Center held in August! This donation will help support the JROTC program and provide valuable resources for our cadets. A huge thank you to everyone who supported the fundraiser and made this possible! PCPS loves engaging with and building such strong relationships with our local community. 💙 #wearepcps #teampowhatan

🎉 A huge thank you to our amazing community for coming out to support the first enrollment event for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Powhatan last week at Powhatan County Public Library! 📚✨ The local program had an incredible launch, with 41 new registrations bringing Powhatan’s total by the end of the event to 225 children—representing 17% of the kids under age 5 in Powhatan! 🎈 That’s an amazing achievement, especially since the Dollywood Foundation projected the program would reach that milestone by Month 10. Powhatan did it in just the first month! A huge shoutout to the Powhatan Education Foundation, which spearheaded bringing this wonderful program to our county and found the community partners to help sponsor it. 🙌💖 It’s heartwarming to see so many families eager to kickstart their children’s reading journeys. Each month, these little ones will receive free, age-appropriate books right in their mailboxes, fostering a love of reading from an early age. Let’s keep this momentum going and ensure every child has the opportunity to thrive! 🌟

🖍️ Flashback to a fun-filled day in Ms. Dewey’s second-grade class at Flat Rock Elementary School! 🎉 They had a blast with a hidden picture game that focused on vocabulary, noticing and wondering, and making connections! 🕵️‍♂️✨ Does anyone else remember those times flipping through Highlights Magazine in the doctor’s office waiting room—searching for hidden treasures! 🔍 The best part? The kids gave a great cheer when one of their peers found the last item! 🎉🙌 It was so heartwarming to see their excitement and engagement in learning. Keep shining, little learners! 🌟💖 #wearepcps #teampowhatan

🌟🎉 Throwback to an amazing day in Mrs. Smith's fifth-grade class at Pocahontas Elementary! 📚✨ They dived deep into the math lesson about data cycles and explored creative ways to graph information. 📊✏️ The students really showcased their academic excellence, sharing ideas and collaborating with enthusiasm! 👏 Keep up the great work, everyone! 🙌 #wearepcps #teampowhatan

Powhatan Middle School will host an evening of “Non-traditional High School Options” with representatives from the Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School for Government and International Studies, Appomattox Regional Governor’s School for the Arts and Technology, Code RVA High School, and the Powhatan High School/Reynolds Community College for Advanced College Academy Program on October 2, 2024. This meeting aims to provide interested students and their parents with information regarding the curriculum, graduation requirements, and extracurricular activities, as well as answer questions regarding the application process for each high school option. Although the application process is open to current eighth grade students, fifth, sixth, and seventh grade students, their parents are also invited to attend to assist in course planning before they reach the eighth grade. The evening will kick off with a review of Powhatan County Public Schools’ participation in these schools and answer some of the basic questions students and parents have about student participation in these high school program options. Applications will be available on the PCPS website beginning on October 1. Students can also request the application link from Mrs. Haskins in the Gifted Services office (B210) and Mr. Winkler in the Counseling office. The application will be available to students currently enrolled in Algebra I. Private and homeschool families seeking applications will need to schedule an appointment with Mrs. Haskins to come to Powhatan Middle School and provide proof of residency for their student’s application to be verified and accepted. The deadline for 8th graders to submit an application is December 1, 2024.

🔧 Exciting things are happening in Mr. Roberts’ STEM elective class, Energy and the Environment! The students recently visited Dr. Spott’s Innovation Lab at Powhatan Middle to dive into the engineering design process by building and testing bridges. They used plastic strips, wires, screws, and nuts from TeacherGeek (@theteachergeek) and had a fun challenge: to create either the longest or the strongest bridge. And guess what? The longest bridge came in at a whopping 75 cm, while the strongest held an impressive 2.25 lbs! 💪 And this was only the course's first visit to the Innovation Lab of the school year. We can’t wait to see what they come up with next! 🌉 #wearepcps #teampowhatan

🔥🎉 We’re gearing up for Homecoming at Powhatan High School, and we’d love for you to join us for a Community Bonfire! Bring your own chair and come enjoy a fun evening on Tuesday, October 8, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the high school. It’s going to be a great night with performances by the PHS Band, appearances from our JV and Varsity football teams, cheerleaders, and dancers. Plus, there will be food and games for everyone to enjoy! Just a quick note: all middle and elementary students need to be accompanied by an adult. Can’t wait to see you there! #wearepcps #teampowhatan

🌟 Happy Monday everyone! We just wanted to take a moment to celebrate the amazing connections between our community and our classrooms. It’s always a joy to have community members visit and share their experiences with our students. Last week, we were thrilled to have former PCPS teacher Gail Timberlake visit Mrs. Dillon's fifth-grade social studies classes. She shared her fascinating story, “The Rescue of the Lady Slipper,” and talked about the history and rediscovery of bateau boats—such an important part of Powhatan’s local history! Thanks for being a part of our learning journey Mrs. Timberlake! As you might know, community engagement is a big deal for us at PCPS, so much so that it’s one of our Strategic Plan goals. Last year, we revamped our curriculum to fill the gap left when we moved the Virginia Studies course down a grade. Now, our fifth graders are diving into a rich geography curriculum that includes a mandatory unit on local history, all aligned with state standards. We’re still super proud that this new curriculum received a 2024 Achievement Award from the Virginia Association of Counties (VACo) in August! 🎉 #wearepcps #teampowhatan

🌍✨ In honor of International Day of Peace, which takes place on Saturday, September 21 this year, Flat Rock Elementary School participated in the Pinwheels for Peace project. This project is sponsored by the FRES Equity and Diversity committee. Students were encouraged to self-reflect on the importance of peace in our world and how we can contribute to a peaceful society. Each class in grades 1-5 was provided with enough pinwheel templates, push pins, and pencils for each child to complete a pinwheel customized to fit their personality. Preschool, CBI, and Kindergarten were provided with premade pinwheels for this project. These beautiful creations were proudly displayed today in front of the school and inside, reminding us all of the importance of peace. It’s wonderful to see our students embracing this meaningful day! 💖 #wearepcps #teampowhatan

🌟 We are ready for some collaborative writing to spark creative dreams. Mrs. Humphrey’s students at Powhatan Middle School recently collaborated to create their “dream” school for the PMS “One TEAM, One Dream” writing challenge. PMS kicked off the school year with this fun contest, encouraging everyone to let their imaginations run wild and think about how to make their dreams a reality. The students were asked to imagine every single person in the middle school building working as a team to be the best they can possibly be! They were then asked to bring that dream to life in writing! We can’t wait to see how their creative ideas could help shape a better school! 🏫💭 #wearepcps #teampowhatan

📚✨ Exciting things are happening in Mrs. Miller’s fourth-grade class at Pocahontas Elementary! Recently, they dove into the new Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) reading curriculum and had a good time reading “Flora and Ulysses.” The kids were engaged, answering questions using clues from the story. It’s so great to see them exploring new adventures in reading! #wearepcps #teampowhatan

Morning and afternoon students in Ms. Penny and Ms. Tonya’s 2- and 3-year-old classes at Flat Rock Elementary were learning about the letter Mm, and engaged in an experiment involving M&M candies and water. After many predictions about what might happen when the water touched the M&M’s (including melting, getting wet, exploding (!) and making a rainbow), the students took turns adding water to the middle of a circle of candies using an eyedropper. They patiently watched the colored coating dissolve when the water touched the candies and were excited to see the “rainbow” of colors that grew! #wearepcps #teampowhatan

🌟 September is Attendance Awareness Month, and we want to highlight the key role healthy habits and good choices can make in helping students be present and succeed in school. Regular attendance plays a huge role in academic success, social development, and building those lifelong skills. 🌟 Let’s keep encouraging our students to show up and shine! ✨#wearepcps #teampowhatan

Here you see Mr. Ford, a site substitute at Flat Rock Elementary School, working with a student in Mrs. Schwartz’s kindergarten class. While our schools do best when our staff members are there, we know life can throw some curveballs and substitutes are needed. PCPS partnered with ESS to manage our substitute program beginning July 1, 2024. The seasoned educational personnel and management firm has more than two decades of experience providing trained and qualified substitute staff to school districts. If you are interested in being a substitute, please visit the ESS website linked in the first comment.

🎉 On Friday, Powhatan Middle School welcomed 35 brand-new cafeteria tables with built-in stools! 🙌 Our old tables just couldn’t handle the busy middle school hustle and bustle, but these new ones are a game-changer. Not only will they help with crowd control, but they’ll also make cleanup a breeze and speed up setups for special events! 🍽️✨ It has been great to see our students enjoying their meals at these awesome tables this week! #wearepcps #teampowhatan