DMS will be having a blood drive on Friday, January 24 from 10am-3pm. Appointments can be made, & walk-ins are also welcome. Parents/family members, teachers from other schools, high school seniors, & community members are all invited to participate. Every donation saves up to 3 lives. Please help us reach our goal! Donors receive snacks & this awesome sweatshirt.
Washington County Public Schools will operate on a two-hour delayed schedule on Wednesday, January 15, 2025. However, buses will only travel on clear roads. As a reminder, students who live on roads that are snow and/or ice covered will have multiple options:
1. Parents can choose to keep their child at home and the building principal will work with that family to make up assignments and missed instruction. Students who live on these roads and do not attend school will be given a weather-related approved absence and it will not adversely affect their school record.
2. Parents who can safely navigate these roads may take their child directly to school.
3. Parents may also drop their child off at the school closest to their home in the morning. A bus will then transport their child to their school of attendance. Use the car rider line at the school by 9:30 a.m. A staff member will take your child to a designated transfer area. Afternoon pickup will be at the child’s home school.
Again, parents who choose not to send their child to school because of road conditions in their area, will have the support of their principal and the School Division. If you are a parent of a teen driver, we completely understand and support you if you decide not to allow your child to drive to school.
The roads that will not be used tomorrow, can be found here: https://www.wcs.k12.va.us/documents/transportation%2Fbus-routes/743711
Childcare will be provided at elementary schools for working parents who need it. Be on the lookout for specific details from your child's school.
After some time off, the DMS Cavalier Basketball Teams play Virginia Middle School tonight at home! Go Cavs!
As you may know, Washington County covers more than 500 mi.², and is serviced by more than 2,000 miles of primary and secondary roads. VDOT has done an excellent job of clearing the vast majority of these roads. However, there are still several roads in the county that are snow and/or ice covered. Based on the current forecast for the upcoming days, it doesn’t appear that there will be much change in the condition of those particular roads.
Since we are able to safely travel a majority of county roads, Washington County Public Schools will operate on a two hour delayed schedule on Tuesday, January 14, 2025. However, buses will only travel on clear roads. Students who live on roads that are snow and/or ice covered will have multiple options:
1. Parents can choose to keep their child at home and the building principal will work with that family to make up assignments and missed instruction. Students who live on these roads and do not attend school will be given a weather-related approved absence and it will not adversely affect their school record.
2. Parents who can safely navigate these roads may take their child directly to school.
3. Parents may also drop their child off at the school closest to their home in the morning. A bus will then transport their child to their school of attendance. Use the car rider line at the school by 9:30 a.m. A staff member will take your child to a designated transfer area. Afternoon pickup will be at the child’s home school.
Again, parents who choose not to send their child to school because of road conditions in their area, will have the support of their principal and the School Division. If you are a parent of a teen driver, we completely understand and support you if you decide not to allow your child to drive to school.
We are providing a list of the roads that won’t be used tomorrow. Those roads can be found here: https://www.wcs.k12.va.us/documents/transportation%2Fbus-routes/743711 We are also giving bus drivers the discretion to avoid other roads if they have a concern. Please be patient as altered routes and longer car rider lines will cause delays to our typical routines. Melting that occurred today may ice over and there is potential for additional snow overnight. We will reevaluate in the morning. If a change needs to be made, that decision will be made by 7:00 a.m.
We will be sending laptops and other instructional materials home with students for the foreseeable future. Due to the number of days we have missed already, we will consider using remote instruction should we have adverse weather in the future. We appreciate your patience as we navigate the snow, ice, and temperatures.
Childcare will be provided at elementary schools for working parents who need it. Be on the lookout for specific details from your child’s school.
It has been another busy day for our road checkers across Washington County. While crews have worked hard this weekend to clear main roads and secondary roads, there are still many backroads across the area that remain snow and ice covered, with the possibility of a refreeze as temperatures drop again tonight. As a result, WCPS will be CLOSED tomorrow, Monday, January 13, 2025. Childcare will be provided at elementary schools. Please be on the lookout for additional information from your child's principal.
Looking ahead at the weather for this week, we are hopeful we will be able to have students and staff return to their classrooms on Tuesday, as conditions are expected to improve and temperatures rise.
In the meantime, if you know the name of any of these roads, put it in the comments.
Our road checkers have been busy surveying roads across the county all day today. While we believe we would be able to have students return to school on a regular schedule tomorrow morning, the expected timing of the winter storm in the afternoon could make safely transporting students home difficult. Accumulating snow is expected to start at noon tomorrow. As a result, WCPS will be CLOSED Friday, January 10, 2025. Childcare will not be provided.
We have put much thought and discussion into this decision, but based on conversations with multiple meteorologists, we feel this is the safest option for our students and staff.
Be safe and stay warm!
SCHEDULE UPDATE: We have had multiple snow squalls in different parts of the County this evening. Unfortunately, it’s snowing again now. As a result, Washington County Public Schools will be closed tomorrow, Thursday, January 9, 2025. Childcare will still be offered at elementary schools. Please be on the lookout for information from your student's principal. Stay warm and be safe!
A reminder that WCPS will operate on a 2-Hour Delay tomorrow, Thursday, January 9, 2025, due to expected wind chill temperatures in the single digits. Childcare will be provided at all elementary schools for working families who need it. Please be on the lookout for additional childcare information from your student’s elementary school.
We are looking forward to starting the second semester and welcoming our students and staff back to their classrooms. Stay warm and be safe!
SCHEDULE UPDATE: While we were excited and planning on welcoming back our students to start the second semester today, due to unexpected heavy snow flurries that have covered many roads throughout the county, some of which have black ice, WCPS will be closed Wednesday, January 8, 2025. Childcare will still be provided at elementary schools. That information will be provided by each principal. Stay warm and be safe!
WCPS will operate on a 2-Hour Delayed Schedule on Wednesday, January 8, 2025. Childcare will be provided at all elementary schools for working families who need it. Please be on the lookout for additional childcare information from your student’s elementary school.
Our biggest obstacle for tomorrow is parking lots and drop off lines. We have worked those hard this afternoon and will hit them again in the morning. For parents and students who will be driving, please take extra care in those areas.
Due to expected sub-zero wind chills, we will operate on a 2-Hour Delayed Schedule on Thursday, January 9, 2025, as well. We understand how inconvenient delayed schedules can be for families so we are providing this advance notice to give everyone ample time to make arrangements.
We can’t wait to see our students and staff back in their classrooms tomorrow (Wednesday)! Stay warm and be safe!
The basketball games scheduled for tonight have been cancelled.
Due to deteriorating conditions in many parts of the county overnight, WCPS will be closed today, Tuesday, January 7, 2025. Because of these conditions, childcare will not be available. Stay safe and warm!
WCPS will operate on a 2-Hour Delay on Tuesday, January 7, 2025. We have had multiple folks checking roads across the county this afternoon -- kudos to VDOT for getting roads in such good shape! As a result, our current plan is to operate on the two hour delayed schedule. We will reevaluate roads in the morning as temperatures are predicted to fall, with the potential for roads to ice over. Childcare will be provided at all elementary schools for working families who need it. Childcare will also be available in the event that we need to close in the morning (a decision will be made by 7:00 a.m.) There will be no virtual option tomorrow. Please be on the lookout for additional childcare information from your student's elementary school. Be safe and stay warm!
Jolly, the 6th-grade elf, snuck her way onto the DMS morning news. She accidentally “spilt the tea” even though we have zero tolerance for drama. And she’ll finish out her stay in an igloo to prepare for her return to the cold temperatures at the North Pole. She will definitely be missed at DMS, but we know she will be busy!
Jolly, the 6th-grade elf, was still hanging in there, after being shaken up in the dice container. But she did suffer a broken arm and lost an earring. She won a sleigh riding competition against the Christmas bear. She sat with a teacher (skeleton) waiting for the class to get quiet. She stayed up all night watching the jellyfish & sipping coffee creamer, and she made Domino’s pizza for the kids.
There is a lot going on tomorrow! It's the end of the nine-weeks and the semester! It's a 2-hour early dismissal day! It's Ugly Christmas Sweater Day! And best of all...it's DANCE DAY!
Special Agent Travis Howard from the Virginia State Police High-Tech Crimes Division provided a Lunch & Learn session for Damascus Middle School students on Wednesday, December 18. He talked with them about online safety issues, an important topic for today's students!
The DMS Cavalier Basketball teams play Chilhowie at home tonight! Go Cavs!
Come out to cheer on the DMS Cavalier basketball teams as they play the E.B. Stanley Falcons at home tonight!
On Friday, December 6, DMS welcomed Deputy US Marshal A. Johnson to another exciting Career Café. Mr. Johnson spoke with students about the important role of US Marshals in our justice system. After discussing the unique aspects of working in federal law enforcement, he talked about the Marshals’ varied responsibilities. These include helping to find missing children, protecting federal workers and employees within federal courthouses, and finding fugitives and bringing them to justice. Students were engaged and asked many questions to learn more about vocational opportunities in the future.
