Quick Updates:

• 25-26 Parental Opt Out Booklet

• 2025-2026 Students Rights and Responsibilities

• Cardinal Care Coverage - Back to School!

• Counseling Topics

• Elementary Assessment letter

• PCPS Elementary Attendance Procedures

• School Supply Lists

• Solving Problems Together: Who to Contact?

• Breakfast & Lunch Menus & MySchoolBucks for lunch accounts

• SchoolCashOnline for field trip and other payment

• Let's have some December FUN starting on December 8th and continuing to December 19th. Please CLICK HERE to see the calendar of FUN each day from Holiday Bling day to Tacky Sweater Day with lots of other FUN days as well. Check it out now so you can start planning your child’s outfits! Staff and students will participate in these FUN days!!

• At the December 11, 2025 School Board meeting, the Board approved changing April 6, 2026, from a designated snow make-up day to an instructional day for students and staff. This change was made in response to the four instructional days already missed due to snow.

Attendance Around the Holidays

• This is just a reminder as you are planning trips/vacations for your child…please remember you do not want your child to miss 10% or MORE of their time in school. If they do then they are on our Chronically Absent List. For reference as it stands now…if your child has been absent 5 or more days then your child is being monitored due to Chronic Absenteeism. As the year goes on and we accumulate more days in school and your child is present at school then your child will drop below the 10% mark which will pull them off the list. I just wanted to bring this back to your attention as we have not yet started the “Sick Season” as of yet. 

Annual Christmas Mother Collection!

• It’s that time again…POWES’ Annual Christmas Mother collection! CLICK HERE to see the list of items needed! 

Ordering School Pictures

• Your child’s school pictures should be delivered soon! In the meantime if you need to order pictures please CLICK HERE for the QR flyer.

• Message from Strawbridge: Parents still need to order pictures? Our NEW Code Lookup Tool is now available. You can simply scan the QR code and follow the directions to access your child's picture ordering gallery. No need to contact Customer Service for an access code! Student last name and Student ID number will be required for data security. If at any time you have questions about the Code Lookup or are having difficulty navigating the site, you can still reach out to our Customer Service team via the Live Chat on our website, www.strawbridge.net

Powhatan Strong: Family Connection Series

• Powhatan County Public Schools Student Services Department welcomes you to our monthly Virtual Coffee Chats titled Powhatan Strong Family Connection Series. Each month, Student Services will present a different topic with strategies to support your students from home, policies and procedures at the division and school levels, and opportunities to ask questions of our Student Services Department members and guest panelists. Previous Coffee Chats can be found at the links below:

  • August Session- Attendance

  • September Session- School Safety

  • October Session- Bullying

• To log in, visit bit.ly/PowhatanStrong25-26.

• If you are unable to make it to the Coffee Chat, we encourage you to submit your questions via the Coffee Chat Google Form.

Powhatan PTO

• We have had a very successful week in the Holiday Shop! Thank you to everyone who has participated. We hope you have enjoyed it! The Holiday Shop got a late start and was extended into next week due to the snow. We have a few classes left to shop and are including an updated Class Schedule for your convenience. If your kids did not get a chance to shop last week, they will have the opportunity to shop this week. 

• Cocoa & Canvases

  • Get into the holiday spirit with an artist-led paint night, Candace Morgan! Create your masterpiece while enjoying our hot cocoa bar. To make it even better — the Chick-fil-A Food Truck is sliding in like Santa’s sleigh 🛷, serving up delicious bites all night long!

    • Date: December 18th

    • Time: 6–8 PM

    • Location: POWES Cafeteria

    • Tickets: $10 for the first guest, $5 for each additional guest (includes canvas, painting materials & hot cocoa!)

    • We’re also looking for a few cheerful volunteers to help with the hot cocoa bar and painting setup 🎁💪. If you’re able to lend a hand, we’d love your support!

      Spaces are limited, so grab your tickets and get ready to paint some holiday magic!

    • Volunteer Sign Up

    • Purchase Tickets Here

• Have you joined our FABULOUS PTO? If not, click here to join! CHECK OUT THE POWES PTO NEWSLETTER!

• If you have any questions please feel free to email them at powhatanespto@gmail.com 

Volunteer With Us!

• The Lunch Buddies Mentoring Program has been in place in PCPS for over 10 years. The goal of the program is to help foster strong relationships among our students and the positive adult role models in the community. Whether at any of our 3 elementary schools or our middle school, you would meet with a student once a week and ultimately act as another advocate for them. It can be anything from academic support to conversation, playing games, making crafts, and so much more. The program is planned to begin the 1st week of Oct. and will last until mid-May. If you are interested please reach out to lunchbuddies@powhatan.k12.va.us for any questions.

  Visit this page to apply.

• Watch D.O.G.S. - information will be available during our Open House night on Tuesday, Sept., 16th. Please stop by the counseling table to learn more about this exciting experience here at POWES! If you want to get a jumpstart, please fill out this form.

Additional Information & Reminders

• Updated PCPS Cell Phone Policy -This policy INCLUDES Smart watches so please make sure if your child wears one they understand it MUST be put in their backpack when they arrive at school. SEE PG 2 OF THE POLICY FOR ELEMENTARY students

• This Parent Guide has additional information about the school year, including the parent/student handbook, important school contact information, meal prices, and more detailed information about parent drop off and pick up.

• As the year begins and needs arise which calls for you to pick up your child early from school, you MUST bring your ID into the building in order to sign your child out.

• Transportation Changes: For any transportation changes, please email powespickup@powhatan.k12.va.us AND your child’s teacher.

• REMINDER…if you sign your child in tardy OR sign in to eat lunch with your student PLEASE do not walk down to your child’s classroom. Permission from admin or your child’s teacher has to be verified in the office before you can enter the building. This is a safety concern when we do not know who is in the building. Thank you for your support as we keep our POWES kiddos and staff safe.

• We are loving the amount of families stopping in to have lunch with their child. However, we are seeing an increase in the number of students your child is bringing over to the lunch table with you. Please ONLY pull your child due to allergies and to prevent the opportunity for others to be left out.

• P

  arent Drop Off/Pick Up Zone: For safety reasons and to speed up our parent drop off/pick up zone, please stay in the car. If your child is in a car seat please have them get out of it while in line and move to the PASSENGER side of the car so they can just get out without your assistance on the PASSENGER side of the car.

• Vacations: Remember family trips/vacations MUST be approved by the principal ahead of time. Last minute communications can result in an unexcused absence. Even though a vacation may be approved, it does not mean the absence goes away...an absence from school is an absence from school.

• School Messenger: If you do not currently receive text messages from the school messenger program and you would like to OPT IN to receive TEXT messages. Text the words OPT IN to 67587.

• Each year, Powhatan County Public Schools is required to share certain notifications with families based on federal and state legislation. PCPS sent out the initial list of required notifications on Aug. 20, 2025. Based on Virginia School Board Association (VSBA) and legislative updates that have since been released, PCPS has updated its notifications. Here is a link to a summary of those items: Required Notifications 2025-2026.

• TAB collection ends this week!! PLEASE send in ALL of your aluminum pull tabs ASAP in order to have them count towards our collection for the Ronald McDonald House. If we collect the MOST we will NOT only be doing a good deed, but we will also receive the “Ronald McDonald House Tab Trophy”!