The Little Judges' Docket

This is the week we have our Specials Night! Come join us in the gym at 5:15 through the bus loop doors (Van Fossen side). After a brief introduction, we will have times to visit each specials teacher and join in on an activity that your child may be doing at school during their specials time. Specials consists of Art, Music, Library, STEM, and PE.

Please have your student to school as close to 7:30am as possible so they have time to put their belongings away and eat breakfast since we have announcements at 7:45am and instruction begins at 7:50am. If you are a car rider, the parking lot will be blocked off at 7:45am so if you are later than that you will need to walk your child into the office to sign them in. We will have safety drills (fire drills and lockdown drills) per Virginia state code during the first month of school and sporadically throughout the year. We will make sure to let you know in the newsletter the weeks they will be happening.

Please note the changes below.

Digital Devices: Per our governor's order, cell phones, smartwatches, etc. should be off and away during school. If you need to contact your child, please call the office. If your child needs to contact you, have them let the teachers know and they can come down to the office.

Weapons Detection System: All schools have a weapons detector system this year for safety for our students. We will have all students and any visitors walk through in the morning. We do not anticipate any problems or issues, but are excited to provide another level of security for our families. You should have received some information from the division about specifics. If you have any questions, please let us know!

Meals:

Students will be going through the line and typing in their numbers for breakfast and lunch. We understand our kindergarteners may need time to learn their ID number. Our goal is to get them to learn their ID numbers quickly and we will be there to assist. All breakfast and lunch are still free.

Transportation:

Walkers come in at the front of building! There is more room for our parents and siblings in the front yard. If your child has permission to walk alone, we typically send them near the end of the grade level line to make sure we have everyone matched up and safely in the care of their adult. We have permission to continue to close down Van Fossen from Virginia Avenue to Kern Street and Pleasant Valley from Virginia Avenue to Patterson every day during arrival and dismissal to keep our students safe. In the afternoon we release by grade level. Staff will be outside at 2:15pm getting adult's names to make sure we are ready to dismiss quickly and safely. Please make sure you have all people that will be picking up your child on the list with the front office.

Bus Riders will arrive on Van Fossen and be dropped off at the sidewalk to walk in the front door this year. Buses will be parked in the bus loop and on Van Fossen Street in the afternoons to take students home. Students will arrive at the front entrance and dismiss from the bus loop doors.

Car Riders will continue to drive Virginia Avenue, turn left on Battle Avenue to turn left on Bruce Avenue to arrive at Pleasant Valley Rd and turn into our back parking lot. Please do not block the entrance to the Fire Hall. Cars will leave through Pleasant Valley to keep it from being backed up. The car rider line will stop in the mornings at 7:45am so our students have time to get breakfast and hear announcements for the day. You cannot enter the parking lot for dismissal until 2:30pm due to recesses.

Here is the Parent/Student Handbook for the 25-26 School Year.

Thank you as always for your support for our school. We need to work together as a community to make our students successful because we are creating Local leaders today - Global leaders tomorrow!

Lisa Pluska, Ed.D.

Principal, Virginia Avenue Charlotte DeHart Elementary School

540-665-6330

Reading is so important for students to be successful in life. The statistics show that if a child is not reading on grade level by 3rd grade, they really struggle to keep up with their peers and they struggle to graduate on time. We are focusing on every student being on grade level by the end of the year. If you see that your child is struggling with reading, reach out to the teacher or our Reading Specialist, Robin Packard. She can give you tips on working with students at home. The best thing you can do is read with your child every day. It can be in any language and with lots of pictures. Just let your child see that reading is fun and important to you as well!

Report cards will be on PowerSchool this year. Please be on the lookout for more information. The division will send out directions as to how to see it and we will also send them closer to time.

Dear Parents of third and fourth grade students,

Winchester Public Schools offers a window of time in which you can refer your child for gifted evaluation from September 2, 2025 to September 29, 2025. The attached document explains some characteristics of gifted students. If you believe your child is demonstrating gifted characteristics, please consider referring your child for testing. To refer your child, please locate the referral form is on the WPS website under departments, gifted.

If you have any questions about testing for the gifted program or services provided by WPS, please contact your school’s gifted chair, Heidi Chilcott.

While we did not win the attendance challenge for another week, we did win overall! I am so proud of our school and community. It truly takes us all working together to make sure our students are successful. Just a reminder as to how important it is to be in school every day. If your child is sick, of course we understand. Please make sure to talk to your students about the importance of hand washing. We always tend to have sicknesses when everyone comes back.

We have our first PBIS event coming up in October. Make sure to remind your student that we really want to have enough points to be able to choose our event. Everyone gets to do an event of some type. The way they earn points is by being at school, and following the rules of the school (see below).

We have started a special reward for students in 3rd and 4th grade at the end of the day. If they have followed the rules and completed their work during the day, they have a chance for a 15 minute choice time at the end of the day. They can choose recess, gym, art and library (games). If the student struggled to follow the rules or complete work, they go to study hall to complete their assignment for that day. Please let us know if you have any questions.

Every day on the announcements we will be talking about the three school wide rules -

1. Keep hands and feet to self and use kind words;
2. Stay in your assigned area; and
3. Follow directions quickly and quietly.

If you are interested in volunteering, please see below! Make sure you let the office staff or your child's teacher know before filling out the application so we can make sure you are on the volunteer list.

September 30 - Specials Night 5:15 - 7pm

October 3 - 2nd grade Field Trip 8-11am

October 9 - Division Literacy Night at DMIS 5:30 - 7pm

October 13 - No School for students - Teacher Workday

October 14 - K Field Trip 8:30 - 10:30am

October 23 - Student Led Conferences 3-6pm

October 27 - 31 - Fall Growth Assessments for 3rd and 4th grade

• Here is the link for the Student/Parent Handbook .
• If there needs to be a change in transportation, please call the office (not the teacher) at 540-665-6330 before 1pm to let us know. Car riders must come to the back of the school by Pleasant Valley, walkers to the bus loop doors, and bus riders will be let off the bus on Van Fossen Street and coming in the front door and on the bus in the afternoon on the Van Fossen St side. Staff will be there to help guide and get your child into the school safely.
• If you arrive after 7:50 A.M., you must accompany your child to the office to sign your child in.