Earlier this semester, Pocahontas Elementary celebrated National Poetry Month with a Fifth Grade Poetry Contest, giving fifth graders a chance to show their creative side by submitting an original poem in a contest. After reviewing all of the beautifully written poems, the Pocahontas Instructional Leadership Team and Counselors picked one of the six submissions as the winner of the contest. Layla Leandro's poem "Hope" was chosen and as the winner, and her poem was shared on the announcements and featured in the Fifth Grade Graduation Ceremony. Honorable mentions of students who submitted their poem are the following: Chesney Elder, Avalyn Edwards, Clementine Fiorello, Jazzlyn Young, and Collins Davis. All students received a certificate of recognition, a copy of their poem, and a gold-tipped quill – symbolizing their strong and insightful writing, and to remember to keep writing poetry! #wearepcps #teampowhatan
📚🌞 Ready for a WILD summer adventure? 🦊🌿 Come out to the second Powhatan Summer Reading program event at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 25 at Powhatan Middle School, 4135 Old Buckingham Road. This will be an amazing opportunity to learn about local wild animals with AWARE Wildlife. You can also join us for a safari storytime with a craft. All are welcome. #wearepcps #teampowhatan @powhatanlibrary
Happy Juneteenth! Powhatan’s Juneteenth event will be a day of celebration, culture, and history. The event will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 22 at the Pocahontas Landmark Center, 4290 Anderson Highway. It is free and open to all. The day will include craft vendors, food trucks, music, and special performances. There will also be a special exhibit at the Powhatan African American Cultural Arts Museum about The History of Powhatan teachers and educators.
This event is not sponsored by PCPS.
Earlier this semester, Mrs. Hudson’s English 9 class at Powhatan High School headed to the library to work on their unit on sonnets and literary devices. Mr. Sparks, a practicum student from @longwooduniversity, taught the plan in collaboration with the librarians, focusing on William Shakespeare’s sonnets ahead of reading “Romeo and Juliet.” The lesson involved stations that saw the students mixing and matching literary devices, doing a scavenger hunt, taking a virtual reality look at a play, analyzing a sonnet, and taking group photos portraying an emotion in front of a green screen using the library’s iPads. Mr. Sparks shadowed Mrs. Hudson for several weeks. What a fantastic opportunity to learn from one of the division's awesome educators. #wearepcps #teampowhatan
PCPS hires three key leadership roles
POWHATAN, VA – Powhatan County Public Schools is excited to announce the appointment of three exceptional individuals to its division leadership team who bring a wealth of experience to strengthen the division’s capacity to innovate and excel.
In alignment with the division’s Strategic Plan and a recent reorganization of the central office, we are pleased to introduce two newly created roles: Chief Academic Officer and Chief Schools Officer. These redefined positions are designed to enhance our focus on academic achievement and school operations, respectively.
We are confident that Dr. Angela Stewart as Chief Academic Officer and Courtney Jarman as Chief Schools Officer will significantly contribute to the ongoing success of PCPS.
Additionally, we are excited to welcome Scott Mecca as the new Director of Technology, who will lead our efforts to explore and integrate innovative technology across the district that supports our educational goals. All of the positions begin on July 1.
Dr. Stewart is currently serving as an assistant principal at Deep Run High School, but her diverse experience will serve her well in her new position, where she will be responsible for the development, implementation, and supervision of curriculum and instruction that meets or exceeds the requirements of, and is aligned with, the Standards of Learning.
In addition to her administrative experience, Dr. Stewart has served as an educational specialist for professional learning and leadership in Henrico County Public Schools. She also worked for Chesterfield County Public Schools in various roles, serving as a program manager of professional development, project-based learning staff developer, literacy coach, and teacher. She got her start as a teacher in Richmond Public Schools.
Dr. Stewart holds a Master’s Degree in Reading - Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Virginia and her doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from Virginia Tech.
“I am excited to join PCPS and look forward to working with students, staff, and the community to maximize teaching and learning experiences for all students,” Dr. Stewart said.
Mrs. Jarman is currently serving as the principal of Powhatan Middle School, one of several previous roles that will give her great insight as she becomes responsible for managing the school leadership teams, including the supervision of the division’s schools and school leaders.
Prior to her time at PMS, Mrs. Jarman worked as the associate principal at three middle schools in Henrico and the assistant principal of Manchester Middle School in Chesterfield.
Before her time in administration, she worked in Chesterfield as an instructional consultant for gifted education, a middle school language arts department chair, an honors institute program coordinator, and a language arts teacher. Mrs. Jarman has a Master’s in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute.
“Stepping into the role of Chief Schools Officer fills me with anticipation and eagerness to work with and inspire our amazing educators while elevating student learning experiences,” Mrs. Jarman said.
Mr. Mecca comes into his role with PCPS with experience as the director of information technology for school divisions in Edmond, Oklahoma; Gloucester, Virginia; and Torrington, Wyoming. Notably, he served in Gloucester during the pandemic and led the division with no online instructional background to becoming one of the top five Canvas utilizers in Virginia by October of 2020.
All of this expertise will serve Mr. Mecca well as he provides direction, coordination, and leadership in the implementation of core technologies as well as the maintenance of existing systems and related infrastructure used throughout PCPS.
While Mr. Mecca has spent the last 20 years focused on information technology, he also brings an educational perspective. He was an education major at the University of Wyoming and taught secondary physics, chemistry, and astronomy in Wyoming before transitioning to a technology integration specialist and finally his first director of information technology position for a public school district.
“I have been around education and technology all my life. I truly enjoy working with teachers and staff to find innovative technologies to integrate into education to provide students with authentic learning experiences,” Mr. Mecca said. “The appropriate use of technology can greatly assist teachers and help relieve the many tasks they must do.”
He added that being a native of Wyoming and growing up in rural communities much like Powhatan taught him to love and appreciate being in the more family-oriented smaller communities.
Powhatan County Public Schools is hiring! We are looking for interested teachers in the areas of Secondary Art, Secondary Computer Programming, Middle School Art, Middle School Computer Technology, Middle School English, Middle School Math, Middle School Science, and Special Education (secondary). 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.
Back in May, second graders in Mrs. Allen’s class at Powhatan Elementary came back from a weekend away to discover their class caterpillars had gone through metamorphosis and emerged from their cocoons as beautiful butterflies. All of the second-grade classes had the chance to observe the life cycles of butterflies to help them better understand the concept. #wearepcps #teampowhatan
Good afternoon PCPS Community. The Powhatan School Board met on June 4 for a work session focused solely on the Student Rights and Responsibilities. Check out the School Board Recap covering the highlights of this workshop to learn more about this important document, which will be up for consideration by the board at its regular meeting on Tuesday, June 18. Check the first comment for the link to the newsletter.
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.
