The NEST News
Edition 2: August 24 - 28, 2026
INFO YOU NEEED TO KNOW
VISION
At Elko Middle School, we are committed to soaring from good to great by cultivating a culture of educational excellence, innovation, and community engagement. Our vision is to empower ever
student to reach their full potential—academically, socially, and personally.
We will measure our success by:
- Sustaining full accreditation through rigorous academic achievement and continuous improvement.
- Expanding extracurricular opportunities that foster creativity, leadership, and collaboration.
- Building strong partnerships with local businesses, community organizations, staff and student learning and real-world
THE THEME FOR 2026-2027
MISSION imPOSSIBLE
PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
Dear Elko Students, Parents, and Community Members,
We are thrilled to welcome our 6th grade students on Monday, August 24, 2026 and upperclassmen on Tuesday, August 25, 2026. To ensure a smooth first day, please review the key operational details below:
Arrival & Morning Routines
School Hours: School begins promptly at 8:05 AM and dismisses at 3:15 PM.
Car Riders: Drivers must follow the designated signs into the car loop. Morning traffic will be heavy, so please plan to arrive early.
Bus Riders: Confirm your student's pickup and drop-off locations in advance. Track your bus in real time using the bus app [Insert Link Here].
Building Entry: Parents are not permitted to walk students to their classrooms. Once you drop your student off, our staff will guide them.
Schedules: Schedules are accessible via PowerSchool. If your student forgets or loses their hard copy, we will provide one upon arrival.
Dismissal Procedures
Car Pickup: Pickups occur at the front of the building.
Traffic Flow: Once you load your student, follow the exit traffic. Remaining vehicles should pull forward one space to maintain continuous traffic flow.
Registration & Office Appointments
PowerSchool: Please ensure your account is active with updated contact details.
New Registrations: Registration is by appointment only. Walk-in registrations will not be accepted on August 24th or 25th. Call the School Counseling Office at 804-328-4110 to schedule.
Administrative Meetings: Administrators will be fully focused on helping students settle in during the first two days, causing delays for unannounced visitors. Please call or email to schedule an appointment.
Meals
Breakfast and lunch will be provided free of charge to all students daily.
Reminders:
Bell-to-Bell Cell Phone Policy
We will continue to strictly enforce our bell-to-bell cell phone policy. Student phones must be powered off and securely stored from the time students arrive on campus until they are dismissed at the end of the school day. This expectation helps maximize instructional time and minimizes distractions.
Code of Student Conduct and Dress Code
Students are expected to always follow the Henrico County Public Schools Code of Student Conduct, including expectations related to behavior, attendance, and appropriate dress. We encourage families to review the Code of Student Conduct together to ensure a shared understanding of these expectations.
Thank you for everything you have done and will continue to do to support our school community. Together, we will make this school year a tremendous success!
With excitement and gratitude,
Dr. Lyles
ACADEMICS
SUPPLY LISTS
SCHOOL OPERATIONS
STAGGERD START INFORMATION
Important Reminders for 6th Grade Orientation / First Day (August 24th)
- Arrival (8:05 AM): 6th graders enter the building at 8:05 AM, clear the metal detectors, and head directly to the cafeteria for breakfast.
Schedule & Navigation: Students will attend all eight class periods. Staff members will be stationed throughout the hallways all day to direct students to their classrooms.
Dismissal (3:15 PM): Dismissal begins at 3:15 PM. Car riders should report to the front of the school, while bus riders will head to the bus loop.
Bus Tracking & Delays: Track your child's route using the HCPS Bus app. Please anticipate minor delays during the first few days as drivers help students get acclimated to their routes.
Parent Policy: To ensure a smooth transition and maintain security, parents will not be permitted inside the building to walk students to class.
AUGUST 24 FIRST DAY IS FOR 6TH GRADE ONLY
ATTENDANCE UPDATES
Contacts/Pick-up Lists:
Please make sure your student’s pick-up list is up to date by updating the Contacts listed in PowerSchool. You can do this by logging in to your Parent Portal account. Anyone coming to pick up a student for early dismissal MUST be listed in PowerSchool. If someone is not listed in PowerSchool, we will not be able to call the student down.
EARLY DISMISSAL: The cut off time for early dismissals is 2:30 pm.
Anyone picking up a student must present their driver’s license for identification.
Photos of your license or Virginia Mobile ID cannot be accepted per Henrico County policy.
ALLERGEN INFORMATION
Update any food allergies your student may have via the button below.
TRANSPORTATION
*Transportation information is forthcoming.
Parent Portal Bus App HCPS families can access The Edulog Parent Portal bus tracking app. This app will empower families, improve communication and foster efficiency. Parents, guardians, and caregivers can follow their student’s bus, receive notifications when a bus enters a user-defined zone, and receive notifications that their student has boarded/disembarked the bus. Download on App Store or Google Play.
TECHNOLOGY
Securly Home App Now Available for Families!
As a district, HCPS is excited to share that we now offer families access to Securly Home, a free app and web portal that gives you real-time visibility and control over your child's online activity on school-issued devices outside of school hours.
With Securly Home, you can easily:
- Monitor activity: View a visual summary of your child’s daily online activities (Stories), access a 30-day history (Activity Feed), and receive real-time alerts for flagged behavior related to self-harm, bullying, or violence.
- Set boundaries: Control online activity at home by allowing or blocking specific websites, search terms, and content categories using Rules.
- Manage screen time: Set Internet time limits with Offline Schedules, or temporarily pause and resume internet access for each child using the in-app Pause button.
How to get started: Parents who are listed as Contacts 1 & 2 in PowerSchool with a registered email will receive a welcome email from Securly containing your official login credentials. From there, you can download the mobile app or visit https://securly.com to log into the Parent Portal. For troubleshooting and helpful video guides, please visit https://homesupport.securly.com or reach out to Ms. Cappell at jdchyman@henrico.k12.va.us.
CODE OF STUDENTS CONDUCT 2025-26
CELL PHONE POLICY
Secondary Schools
To ensure a learning environment free from unnecessary disruptions, cell phones and unauthorized electronic devices are required to be out of visible sight, and silenced, or in airplane mode during the school day, and during instruction-related after-school activities (tutoring, homework help, make-up work, etc.), unless being used for instructional purposes with the teacher’s permission. Unauthorized electronic devices include, but are not limited to, cell phones, and smart devices with cellular service or Wi-Fi connectivity.
To further reduce distractions in the classroom, students are required to put their cell phones and smart devices in division-issued storage devices during scheduled class time. This will provide even more consistency throughout and between schools. If a student needs to leave class to visit the restroom, clinic, school counseling office, etc., their cell phone and/or smart device must remain in the classroom. Students will keep their phones and smart devices away in their personal belongings during class changes and at lunch.
Recommended Consequences First Offense Device confiscated until the end of the school day, verbal warning and parent/guardian contacted. Second Offense Device confiscated, parent/guardian contacted, and parent/guardian must retrieve the device. Third Offense Device confiscated, parent/guardian must retrieve the device, and school-level consequences may apply. Fourth Offense Device confiscated, parent/guardian must retrieve the device, school-level consequences may apply, and the student shall be banned from possessing a cell phone and/or electronic device at school for the remainder of the school year.
DRESS CODE
Dress Code The HCPS dress code policy permits any student to wear any religiously, ethnically, or culturally specific or significant head covering or hairstyle, including hijabs, yarmulkes, headwraps, braids, locs, and cornrows. All students will be subjected to the same set of expectations regardless of gender, gender identity, or gender expression. These expectations should also carry to clubs, and extra-curricular activities. Staff are prohibited from applying the dress code by direct physical contact with a student or a student’s attire and from requiring a student to undress in front of any other individual. This policy complies with the Code of Virginia.
The administration of every school has the authority to notify students and parents/guardians of modifications to the dress code for spirit days and other school celebrations, as particular items pose a disruption, or as other circumstances warrant. Students may not wear the following items unless otherwise stated:
Students may not wear the following items unless otherwise stated:
- Hoods (on heads), hats, or face masks (that covers more than the mouth and nose) inside school buildings, during regular school hours, unless required for religious or medical reasons. • Sunglasses (worn indoors), unless prescribed by a physician.
- Clothing must reach the tip of the thumb when hands placed at the sides (arms straight with palms flat).
- Messages on clothing, chains, jewelry, and personal belongings that pertain to drugs, alcohol, tobacco, sex, gangs, vulgarity, or messages that negatively represent a religion, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, transgender status, or people, or that could cause a substantial disruption to the learning environment.
- Spiked jewelry, chains, and items which could cause student injury. • Beachwear (which includes bathing suits and trunks) and sleepwear.
- Clothing that reveals undergarments.
- Clothing that is see-through, revealing the midriff (while sitting or standing), or resembles undergarments.
- Bedroom slippers or shoes with wheels.
The administrative team in each school shall have discretion regarding dress code decisions. Parents/Guardians of students who violate the dress code may be contacted to provide appropriate clothing for their child(ren), if necessary.
BELL SCHEDULE
OUTSIDE FOOD POLICY
No Outside Deliveries: Elko Middle School does not permit outside food to be delivered or brought in for students to consume during lunch (e.g., commercial delivery services or restaurant drop-offs).
Packed Lunches Welcome: Students may bring a lunch prepared at home to eat in the cafeteria.
OUTSIDE DELIVERIES FOR STUDENTS
To maintain a focused, safe, and distraction-free learning environment, students should not bring gifts such as stuffed animals, flowers, balloons, or candy to school on special occasions (e.g., Valentine's Day). These items can create safety hazards in crowded hallways and cause significant disruptions during instructional time.
DEPARTMENT UPDATES
SCHEDULE CHANGES
Schedule change requests will not be accepted until September 9th - 23rd. More information to come about how to send requests.
Tamika Stacy Registrar
Phone ext. 20007
Sarah Fish 7th Grade
Gracyn Rawls 8th Grade
Corey Hancock 6th Grade
Jorli Swingen
Director for School Counseling/ EL & last name A- B
EVENTS
9.9.2026- Back to School Night 4:30 pm - 6 pm
Back to School Night is an opportunity for parents to meet our teachers and tour the building if they were unable to attend Open House. Please note that Back to School Night is designed for introductions and school walkthroughs, not individual parent-teacher conferences.
COMMUNITY OPPORTUNITIES
THE OPPORTUNITIES BELOW ARE FOR OUR ELKO/SANDSTON COMMUNITY
VOLUNTEER PROCESS
If you would like to become a volunteer, please complete the online volunteer/mentor application via the link below.
UPCOMING EVENTS
September 4th- Teacher Student Holiday-Schools Closed
September 7th- Labor Day-Schools Closed
September 28th- Student Holiday-Teacher PD Day
October 28th- 1/2 Day-Staff Clerical Day
ELKO ATHLETICS
ELKO LEADERSHIP TEAM
Tyrus T. Lyles, Ed.D.-Principal-ttlyles@henrico.k12.va.us
Quantina Jackson- Associate Principal- qtjackson@henrico.k12.va.us
Sharne' Francis- Associate Principal- sjfrancis@henrico.k12.va.us
Akeela Tyson-Assistant Principal- altyson@henrico.k12.va.us
Blake Carrey-Assistant Principal- abcarrey@henrico.k12.va.us
Jorli Swingen- Director of School Counseling-jkswingen@henrico.k12.va.us
Kendra Amis-Athletic Director- kdamis@henrico.k12.va.us
Jennifer Jenkins-Administrative Aide- jrjenkin@henrico.k12.va.us
Torre Siler-Administrative Aide- tsiler@hennco.k12.va.us
Abby Thomas- Administrative Aide- elreed@henrico.k12.va.us
Jocelyn Woodson- Administrative Aide- jrwoodson1@henrico.k12.va.us
Kristina Harris-Administrative Aide-kvharris@henrico.k12.va.us