POWES Family Press

Good Evening Powhatan Elementary Families,

This year at POWES, we will 📈LEVEL UP🥇(our theme for the year)! Your child's teacher has worked tirelessly over the last couple of weeks trying to transform their room into a WELCOMING place in which your child will spend the next 170ish days of their academic career. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, send your child's teacher a heartfelt note of THANKS as they promise to provide your child with the best year yet! They are dedicated to "LEVELING UP" this year, but they will need your support as well so stay tuned on how you can help your child's teacher!

***If you have ANY paperwork OR need to visit the office for any reason PLEASE wait until 9:00AM to do so. This will allow us to get our students to their correct classrooms and will allow the front office staff to give you the 110% attention you deserve. Again, if you need to visit the office please plan to do so from 9:00 AM or after due to our "All Hands on Deck" procedure we will be following school-wide first thing in the morning as we get our kiddos to class.***

Below is what you will find in this Sunday's message regarding the 26-27 school year. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

1. Procedures for 1st Day & Moving Forward
2. Transportation Info
3. Important Dates and Resources
4. Upcoming Drills
5. PTO Info
6. Dr. Gill's Message
7. LOOK...we have Powhatan PRIDE!
8. Helpful Links ALL year long for Parents
9. PCPS Calendar! Check it out...ALL of the date your kiddo is OUT of school! THIS IS THE TIME TO PLAN appointments & trips!

***If your Pre-K or K student is STILL missing registration or medical paperwork your child CANNOT attend school until all documentation has been brought in and verified by Mrs. Cindy Pruitt, registrar.

⏰ REMINDER: Elementary start time: Drop off begins at 8:25 am in the front loop of the school. Bus riders will also get off the bus at this time, too.

• REMEMBER…it’s a “Drop and Go”...parents will NOT be allowed to walk their child into the building. We need to start our daily routines from day one.

Our school day starts at 8:40 am…so your child needs to be in class at that time or they are tardy. Dismissal begins at 3:30 pm.

***If a need arises for some reason and you need to pick your child up early from school you will NEED to bring your photo ID inside the building in order to do so...EVEN if we know you!

• If you have any changes in your child's NORMAL mode of transportation throughout the school year please email powespickup@powhatan.k12.va.us and your child’s teacher. Please be patient as arrival and dismissal will take a little longer the first few days.

📜 Over the next couple of weeks your child will either learn or review what it means to..."Have Powhatan PRIDE"! They will review our school's expectations of: Being Respectful, Being Responsible, Being Safe, and Being Kind. Please use these same guidelines at home to bridge the gap between home and school. They will recite our school pledge each morning..."I am Respectful, Responsible, Safe, & Kind...I have Powhatan PRIDE"! 🧡

Transportation schedules are now available through the My Ride K-12 app. Families are encouraged to review their child's bus information before the first day of school, including bus assignment, bus stop location, and scheduled pickup and drop-off times.

As we begin the school year, please keep in mind that bus schedules may experience minor adjustments as routes are finalized and drivers become familiar with their students and stops. We appreciate your patience during the first several days of school.

Please have your student at the bus stop at least 10 minutes prior to the scheduled bus stop time. Being ready and waiting before the scheduled arrival time helps our buses remain on schedule and ensures students do not miss their bus.

Important Safety Reminder for Families of Young Children

For the safety of our youngest riders, PCPS requests that parents, guardians, or their designee accompany young children to and from the bus stop. Please plan to arrive at the bus stop with your child at least 10 minutes before the scheduled pickup time and be present to meet your child when the bus arrives in the afternoon.

We encourage all families to review bus stop safety expectations with their children, including staying a safe distance from the roadway, being aware of other vehicles on the road, waiting for the bus to come to a complete stop before approaching, and following the directions of the bus driver. For more tips and additional information, see the PCPS Transportation webpage.

Thank you for helping us start the school year safely and successfully. We appreciate your partnership and the trust you place in PCPS Transportation each day.

We wish all of our students and families a safe, successful, and wonderful school year!

Sincerely,

PCPS Transportation

View My Ride K-12 Parent User Guide (English).pdf

View Student Transportation My Ride K-12 Parent User Guide Spanish Flyer (1).pdf

Here is a link to the 2026 - 2027 division calendar and important notes about the first few days of school. There will be a STAGGERED start to the school year for Pre-K & K. ALL other grade levels start on the first day of school. ***If a Pre-K or Kindergarten student arrives on the WRONG day, you will be notified to come pick up your child from school.

• Monday, August 24th: First Day of School Pre-K/Kindergarten last names A-K ONLY; First Day of School Grades 1-5

• Tuesday, August 25th: First Day of School Pre-K/Kindergarten last names L-Z ONLY; Second Day of School Grades 1-5

• Wednesday, August 26th: Second Day of School for all Pre-K/K

• Wednesday, August 26th: Kindergarten Color Days BEGIN! (8/26-9/11...calendar below)

• September 4th & 7th: School Holidays

• September 17th: Back-to-School Night

📝School Supply Lists:

View Supply Lists for PK (3’s & 4’s)
View Supply Lists for Kindergarten, 1st, & 2nd

View Supply Lists for 3rd, 4th, & 5th

Additional Information

• View Community Color Fun Run flyer

• 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. Parents will receive a copy of this in student folders during Open House. Please note that bus routes are not yet available.

• If your student will require medication at school during the 26-27 school year, please plan to meet with the school nurse. You can contact Nurse Sloan by email ashley.sloan@powhatan.k12.va.us.
  
  

• 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.

• Are you or someone you know interested in becoming a substitute teacher for PCPS? Apply here if you are interested! Please spread the word so we can increase our substitute pool.

Even though it’s the first week of school, we have to conduct certain emergency drills. This week we will have a fire drill.

As the year moves forward your child will practice different types of emergency drills. Some of which you will be notified at least 24 hours prior. Others will be "unannounced", but your child's teacher will go over all of these drill expectations this week and next. Please talk with your child about them at home. Pre-K & K will NOT participate in the "Lockdown Drill" this semester.

Types of Drills:

• Fire
• Tornado
• Earthquake
• Lockdown

Thank you for stopping by our table during Open House! Hopefully you not only grabbed some newly designed POWES swag, but also joined our PTO! If you are interested in joining or want to know more about what we do please contact us at powhatanespto@gmail.com. We are excited to partner with you to make this a successful and memorable school year for our students and staff.

On behalf of Powhatan PTO, we want to extend a warm welcome back to you and your family and we look forward to a fantastic year! We already have so many ideas & events in the works! As you will see below we recently updated the cups in the front parking lot fence, which adds to the other "upgrades" to the front of the school! A HUGE thanks goes out to our board members and their families for doing this for the school.

POWES PTO

Dear POWES Families,

🎉 A few highlights from around our school:

1. We were busy hiring this summer! POWES has numerous NEW faces this year. We want to give a HUGE welcome to our:
   PK IAs: Ms. Oliver (working w/Ms. Perry who is also new to us from POCA), Miss Richter (working w/Mrs. Rakes), Mrs. Bowles (working w/Mrs. Fields), & Mrs. Gayness (working w/Mrs. Welch)
   
   Let's welcome our NEW librarian...Mrs. Boyd & our NEW P.E. teacher...Mrs. Alexander!
   
   We have also added a new reading interventionist Mrs. Douberly to our already amazing reading team! Let's welcome Mrs. Trigg to the 3rd grade team and Ms. Pence who is joining the 2nd grade team, but is joining us from FRES! Joining our counseling team is Miss Pfautz (who will work with PK, 2nd, & 3rd grades). And last but definitely not least Miss Hair who is joining our 5th grade team (she just became official LAST week so she has been very BUSY getting to know POWES and all things PCPS)!
   
   

2. Already starting with our "FUN" days by helping our kindergarten kiddos identify their colors! Please join us by sending your kiddos to school in the "Color of the Day" as we join our kindergarten kiddos and teachers. ALL grades and staff will participate AND so can you...PARENTS!!
   
   

3. Keep an eye out for more information coming home regarding your child's academic success, classroom expectations, and other events throughout the school year!
   
   

We are so excited to kick-off the 26-27 school year with all of you! Mrs. Gobble, assistant principal, and myself are so glad that each of you will be joining us as we 📈LEVEL UP🥇 this school year. As the school year goes on, I will send out the weekly message on Sunday evenings. Again, I am HONORED to be your principal and I cannot wait to see all of you VERY soon!

See you soon,

Dr. Jason Gill

Your PROUD Principal

View Parent Guide with ALL Things POWES!

Breakfast & Lunch Menus & MySchoolBucks for lunch accounts

SchoolCashOnline for field trip and other payment

View the PCPS website

View the PCPS Instructional website