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

• 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

• Please remember…you need to email me if you are planning to go out of town. 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. As of Thursday, Dec. 19th if your child has MISSED 8 or more DAYS then your child has already missed 10% of their school year and 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.

Powhatan Strong: Family Connection Series

• PCPS’s next Powhatan Strong Series session will be held virtually on Thursday, January 15, 2026 at 12 PM. During this session, we will explore ways that parents, guardians and community members can get involved through parent engagement and volunteer opportunities within our PCPS schools. To log in visit bit.ly/PowhatanStrong25-26. If you would like to pre-register to receive a reminder closer to January 15, please fill out this google form. Thank you!Previous Coffee Chats can be found at the links below:

  • August Session- Attendance

  • September Session- School Safety

  • October Session- Bullying

  • November Session- Parent Burnout / Stress

• 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

• Family Game Night will be on Thursday, Feb. 5th (100th Day of School). More details to come…STAY TUNED!

• 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. -It has been GREAT seeing our Watch D.O.G.S. in our building this week! THANK YOU to all of our dads who have taken the time to come and support POWES! We can’t wait to see which dads will show up next!

  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.