District News

Re-opening Update for Parents 3/11/21

March 11, 2021

Re-opening Update for Parents 3/11/21

On March 13, 2020, just one year ago, I gathered my team on the Friday before Spring Break to tell them that we would be shutting down schools.  What a surreal experience!  Looking back, it seems like just yesterday, but in fact, one whole year has now passed.  What a year it has been!

I am so proud of our school district.  I am proud of our students and parents for being supportive, helpful, and understanding.  I am proud of our employees for staying vigilant with safety protocols and at the same time focused on academics, and I am also proud of our community support and partnerships.  Walton County is so blessed, and I believe our success speaks for itself.

In the spirit of transparency, the Walton County School District would like to continue to provide our updated COVID-19 data.

COVID-19 Statistics

Latest Data

(3/8/21)

 

Overall Data to Date

(8/17/20 – 3/8/21)

Positive COVID-19 Cases

of School District Students and/or Employees

 

0

483

Quarantined Due to On Campus Exposure

of School District Students and/or Employees

 

6

970

Quarantined Due to Off Campus Exposure (Community/Family Exposure)

of School District Students and/or Employees

 

4

760

Schools Involved in Positive Cases and/or Exposure

 

3

20

Knowing many individuals may travel during Spring Break and that numbers in our destination community may rise, the Walton County School District continues to be focused on tracking and contact tracing both positive cases and/or exposures.  Safety remains our number one priority!  In that regard, we would like to once again remind everyone of our top COVID-19 preventive measures.

  1. Please social distance.  All schools are announcing this reminder at the beginning of the day and during special events.  You may also notice increased signage at schools and at athletic events.
  2. Mask are required for the school bus and are strongly encouraged at school, especially when social distancing isn’t feasible.
  3. Please wash and sanitize your hands throughout the day.  All schools and buses have additional hand sanitizing stations for this purpose.
  4. Please stay home when you are sick.  Staff will continue mandatory screening each day, and students may be randomly screened throughout the day.

 As we begin planning our final nine weeks, we appreciate your understanding as we begin to navigate through our many spring events and school traditions.  Please know it is our wish that all events and plans continue as normal, but as educators charged with the safety of students, please understand that all future event decisions will be individually weighed based on updated COVID-19 data and where we stand in the vaccination process.  Please stay in tune with your school as specific decisions are revised. 

During the last nine weeks, the Florida Department of Education has released their mandated state testing schedule.  We do have greater flexibility in this schedule, and we are able to spread out testing over a larger period of time than in year’s past.  With that, please take notice of your school’s testing schedule, and if your child is out sick during testing, please speak with your school as make up testing will be available.  Another reminder for ILDA parents, mandated state testing must take place on school campus, so please look for your schools to reach out to you soon. 

As always, if you have any questions or concerns related to safety or COVID-19, please do not hesitate to ask!  Here’s to a great final nine weeks!    

Superintendent Hughes Visits ECMS for Hanging On and Gaining On!

March 11, 2021

The Superintendent visited the Technology Department at ECMS.  What amazing acceleration work going on there.  Spanish 2 going extremely well, teachers shouted out to the Superintendent and District for the 1 to 1 devices provided for all MS students this year that had proven to be a Game-changer that has allowed students to ;stay engaged and move faster and beyond normal hours of operation to Hang On Gain On!  The students pictured have already gained at least three certifications this school year and are in target to add an additional (4th) the last nine weeks of school.  They are approaching some advanced Coding Skills that will allow them to continue to excel in the area of technology!  Great work by Ms. Carter and her students.  WOW!  Hanging On and Gaining On is happening in EPIC FASHION for our students!  Enjoy your break; YOU EARNED IT! 

Employment Opportunity

March 10, 2021

Walton County School District is currently accepting applications for the position of Chief Information Officer. Walton County School District offers a wide range of employee insurance and benefit options and is a participating member of the Florida Retirement System. To find out more details about or apply for this administrative position, please visit  https://www.walton.k12.fl.us/employment.

March is National Arts Education Month

March 10, 2021

To celebrate National Arts Education Month, Ms. Estes' 7th grade art class at Freeport Middle School is sponsoring a schoolwide student art competition with an exhibit and prizes.  The theme is "Spring Into Spring."  All 5th through 8th grade students are invited to enter the competition.  1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes will be awarded at each grade level.  The prizes are art sketchbooks, markers, and candy.  This class has worked very hard to create, organize, and promote their art competition.  The art will be on exhibit to the students and staff from Tuesday, March 23 until the end of the month.  This is going to be so much fun!

WCSB Teacher/ESP of the Year and Census Recognition

March 3, 2021

The WCSB was recognized by as an invaluable member of the 2020 Census Community Partnership and Engagement Program last night at the WCSB Meeting.

The WCSB also recognized our Teacher and ESP of the year for 2020-21 with their plaques last night.  

Congratuations to Leslie Coone the 2020-21 WCSD Teacher of the year.

Congratulations to Tanya Durham the 2020-21 ESP of the year.  

Read Across America

March 3, 2021

This week is celebrated at Read Across America week.  Please join us in celebrating by reading your favorites or new adventures.  

FMS Art Department with a New Batch of Japanese Gyodan Clay

March 2, 2021

The Freeport Middle School Art department has made a new batch of Japanese Gyodan clay fake food.  We studied Gyodan, the Japanese art of fake food and became Shokunin, Japanese fake food artists.  Way to go students!!!

MSE collects $1,722.23 for Change for Children!

March 2, 2021

MSE collects $1,722.23 for Change for Children!

 

The collecting and counting is over and according to these 5th grade ac"count"ants, our students collected $1,722.23! Ms. Andrews students collected the most change ($224.24) which earned them a pizza party. Mrs. Dahl's class brought in the most quarters (519 quarters) to make her the 2021 MSE Quarter Queen! Our school participates in the Positivity Project and our focus this week was "Other People Matter". Our students certainly embraced this belief as they worked to raise money for "Children in Crisis", a nonprofit organization that provides a home to abused, neglected, and abandoned children in our community.

"I See What You Did There!" AVID WICOR Faculty Spotlight, Mrs. Alex Parker

March 2, 2021

As an AVID school, WMS teachers design and lead lessons full of WICOR (writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization, and reading) strategies.  Teachers use the WICOR learning model to guide students in comprehending concepts and articulating ideas at increasingly complex levels.  Through WICOR, students build mental toolboxes of strategies they can apply to learning situations both in and out of the classroom.

Last week, while preparing students for the upcoming FSA writing assessment, sixth grade ELA teacher Mrs. Alex Parker led a two-day lesson full of writing, reading, and organization strategies.  First, she taught students how to “PAT” the explanatory prompt they were given to write about, teaching them to text-mark and look for the purpose, audience, and task the prompt required.  Reading the directions carefully to understand these key elements helps student writers better organize their thinking.  Mrs. Parker also gave students a reading purpose based on the prompt, instructing them to text-mark two non-fiction texts, looking for evidence about why and how art can be created from trash.  Teaching students to read for a purpose and mark key details along the way helps aid student reading comprehension in general.  Before turning students loose to write their essays, the teacher showed students various organizational styles for constructing their thoughts, encouraging them to “do the way that works for you.”  She even went a step further and provided students with sentence starters to help them organize their thoughts within paragraphs.

Teachers like Mrs. Parker use WICOR strategies to help students build mental frameworks they can apply to not only the tasks at hand but also to other learning situations.  Across campus, WMS, as an AVID school, strives to develop well-equipped lifelong learners.

 

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