Happy Friday! Here is your Friday Update for Aug. 15, 2025.

We hope everyone had a great first week of school. Remember, attendance matters! Students who miss 10% or more school days, an average of just two days a month, are considered chronically absent. If students miss 2-4 days in August, they are five times more likely to be chronically absent. Students who are chronically absent perform 20% below students who attend every day. On average, they score 24% lower in reading and 31% lower in math. Set your student up for success by helping them build good attendance habits.

If your child is showing or caring for animals they have entered in the Shenandoah County Fair, please contact your school office or agriscience teacher for a copy of the Fair Activity Permission Form. Forms must be completed and returned to the school by Friday, August 22. Students participating in these activities will be marked present for the days they miss.

With the school year beginning, our school buses are back out on the road. Please watch this informational conversation between Shenandoah County Sheriff Timothy Carter, Captain Whitney Mauck and SCPS Transportation Supervisor Lucas Long about school bus safety and traffic laws: https://youtu.be/yUPJGBuCRlI?si=NL63SEedpxIPvO4S

Have a great weekend!

At our August Shenandoah County School Board meeting Thursday evening, we recognized the Ashby-Lee Elementary School teams who placed the top three spots in both the Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 Stock Market Game™.

ALES fourth and fifth graders competed against hundreds of teams from across the state under the guidance of Gifted Resource Specialist Ashley Showalter. After taking a deep dive into the stock market for about two weeks, the students analyzed their investment portfolio on a weekly basis to decide as a team if changes to their investments were necessary. The teams were ranked based on the returns on their investments for each session, and ALES swept the top three spots in their region for both the fall and the spring at the elementary level!

Our Sandy Hook Elementary School students and staff are getting to experience the new Lu Interactive Playground in their PE classes this year!

Funded by a Moore Educational Trust Grant awarded to PE teacher Johnathan Baker last year, the Lu Interactive Playground is an interactive projection and computer system that uses different games and activities to allow students to immerse themselves in the physical activity while making it fun and educational.

Prior to the first day of school, Mr. Baker and his fellow PE teachers gave Sandy Hook staff a crash course in how the system works, including ways in which they can collaborate on things like sight words, math problems, SOL standards and more. Teachers will be able to share what they are working on in the classroom with the PE staff so that they can incorporate them into the Lu Interactive Playground's applications to help reinforce the lessons while the students play the games and stay physically active!

Nothing beats the First Day of School! We are so excited to welcome our students back and begin what promises to be a great 2025-26 school year!!

Ashby-Lee Elementary School celebrated their newly renovated courtyard with a ribbon cutting before their Open House on Thursday!

With SCPS School Board Members Dennis Barlow and Kyle Gutshall, Superintendent Melody Sheppard, the ALES admin team, Mrs. Bauserman and the Massanutten Regional Governor's School team who helped come up with the project idea and submit the Moore Educational Trust Grant application for it, members of the C&S Landscaping of Virginia crew who completed the project, representatives from the Mt. Jackson-Edinburg and New Market Rotary Clubs, and staff in attendance, they cut the ribbon for the beautiful Buzzing With Literacy Courtyard!

Happy Friday! Here is your Friday Update for Aug. 8, 2025. We are so excited to welcome students back to school next Tuesday, Aug. 12. Before we kick off the school year, here are a few reminders:

All SCPS students will receive one breakfast and one lunch per day at no charge again this school year. Should students wish to purchase additional meals, there will be a charge for the additional meals. Students and staff can add money to their accounts by either going to the cafeteria or going online to www.myschoolbucks.com and adding funds there.

Please have patience as you drop off and pick up your child next week, both at the bus stop and at the school. Our staff work hard to ensure that bus routes and drop-off/pick-up routines are as efficient as possible, but delays often occur during the first week as everyone adjusts to the new school year.

Additionally, we have launched a new look on the SCPS website www.shenandoah.k12.va.us with more pictures and easier navigation. Check it out when you get a chance!

We look forward to seeing you next week and beginning the 2025-26 school year!

As we continue to mourn the loss of Triplett Tech Principal and Director of CTE Todd Lynn, we have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love from his students, coworkers, friends, and the entire Shenandoah County community. A celebration of Todd's life is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 23, at 10:30 a.m. at Crosslink Community Church, 4904 South Valley Pike in Harrisonburg, with a potluck meal to follow at Sunset United Methodist Church, 127 S. Sunset Drive in Broadway. All who loved Todd are welcome to attend.

https://www.grandlefuneralhome.com/obituary/todd-lynn

Thank you to everyone who came out to our Open Houses yesterday! It was great seeing our students and families on campus as they met their teachers, got important information, and reconnected with classmates and staff. First day of school is Tuesday, Aug. 12!