Weekly Reminders
Opequon Elementary: Week of September 19th
Dates to Remember:
Monday, September 19th:
- No Pre-K Classes
- Interims (1st & 2nd Grade)
- "Hats Off to Kindness:" Wear a hat
Tuesday, September 20th:
- "☮️ 💙 & Kindness:" Wear tie-dye
Wednesday, September 21st:
- "We Workout Our Problems with Kindness:" Wear workout clothes
Thursday, September 22nd:
- "The Golden Rule:" Dress for success
- Community OLWEUS Event @ 5:00 PM (War Memorial Park)
Friday, September 23rd:
- "Lets Lift-Off with Kindness:" - Wear blue
- Assembly for all Students with Tony M.
*Orders DUE on October 3rd.
We are raising funds to expand our playground and brighten our school grounds! To help raise funds, we will be kicking-off a Joe Corbi fundraiser at Opequon! The estimated delivery date at this point is November 3rd.
Checks should be made payable to: Opequon Elementary School
🎉 Every item ordered will help us earn funds towards the playground and school beautification efforts.
🎉 Every item ordered will help your child reach their individual goal for this event.
📣 You can help us spread the word about our fundraiser simply by registering your child.
- ✅ Just go to: joecorbi.com
- ✅ Click on “Participant Registration”
- ✅ Use our Org ID # 20288
💰 You can get an instant coupon of up to 50% OFF your first item ordered just by helping us reach out to some of your friends and family who could support us on behalf of your child.
💙 Your coworkers may also want to help. Don’t forget to share your printed brochure with them or if you’re not going to see them in person — add their email addresses when you’re registering your child!
Thank you in advance for supporting our school! 💙
Interim Grades
All parents are asked to check their child's Seesaw portfolio regularly to review student work samples and progress. Schoology is not being used this year for grades as there is a new standards-based report card for 1st and 2nd grade students. Interim progress reports will be sent home on Monday with students who are struggling with grade-level expectations at this point. Please reach out to your child's teacher if you are having issues accessing Seesaw or if you have questions about your chid's progress.
Report Cards will be sent home with all K-2 students on Tuesday, October 25th and Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held on Tuesday, November 1st.
Afternoon Dismissal
- Students will not be released to any adult who does not show proper identification and/or is not listed on the child's emergency card. Please have your ID ready during pickup.
- Any person checking out a child throughout the day must sign out his/her child by scanning the QR code located on the front doors.
- We encourage parents not to check their child out on a regular basis at the end of the day. We do understand that emergencies may arise, but we ask that changes to dismissal plans are made by calling the main office prior to 2:30 PM.
- Parents will not be permitted to sign their child out in the office from 3:00 PM - 3:15 PM. Anyone arriving to Opequon after 3:00 PM will be asked to get in the car rider line and wait in their vehicle. Many of our students are transitioning back to class from specials, and all staff members are working to get students packed up for the day during that time. It becomes disruptive to the environment, and also creates traffic issues in our parking lot, when we have to call students out a few minutes early. If you need to sign your child out prior to 3:00 PM, please send in a note so that the teacher is prepared for their early dismissal.
- Your help in honoring these requests is greatly appreciated.
Notes are required each time for the following:
- Students will be picked up from school early.
- Students will be riding a different bus than normal.
- Students will be picked up by a different adult than normal.
- A parent will be picking up his/her child on a particular day.
- When your child is going home on another bus to a friend’s house, both students must have a note indicating permission with the bus number and must be signed in the office and a copy made for the bus driver.
Any changes made to the child's bus stop, bus number, or other BCS transportation related issue, must be done through the Office of Transportation. They can be reached at (304) 267-3575.
‼️ URGENT REMINDER ‼️
ALL FAMILIES ARE REQUIRED TO COMPLETE AN EMERGENCY CARD IN FAMILYID:
https://www.familyid.com/programs/emergency-card-update-2022-2023-opequon-elementary
West Virginia upgraded their student management system over the summer, and we no longer have access to phone numbers or parent information from the previous school year. This information is essential for our daily operations and for safety.
What's Happening in Our Specials Classes?
Library with Mrs. Bixler
Art with Mr. Gibbs
Music with Mrs. E. Freeman & Mrs. Smith
P.E. with Mrs. Hudson
Technology with Mr. Price
Counselors' Corner with Mrs. Patton & Mrs. Williams
WV State Standards & BCS Curriculum Maps
We invite you to learn more about state standards and curriculum within Berkeley County Schools. This page is designed to share standards, curriculum plans and resources across a variety of programmatic areas.
Opequon CARES
MySchool Bucks
Create an account in MySchool Bucks to pay your PTO dues online!
https://www.myschoolbucks.com/
In order to use MySchoolBucks to pay for school related items, you will need to create an account.
*Please note: should you have problems signing into the website, do not call the school, please call Parent Assistance @ 855-832-5226.
Want to Volunteer or Chaperone a Field Trip?
Register with SecureVolunteer
Berkeley County Schools uses SecureVolunteer to process background checks for volunteers. SecureVolunteer is a completely web-based/paperless system. You will receive e-mails from clientservices@bib.com when you submit your information to SecureVolunteer and when your background check is complete. Thank you for volunteering for Berkeley County Schools.
The background processing fee for the Secure Volunteer Background check is $19.95.
Procedures for Volunteers & Chaperones
School district procedure requires that individuals serving as chaperones for all overnight field trips and some daytime activities must have Level 1 approval, which requires a criminal background screening. To apply for Level 1 approval, volunteers must first apply online via Berkeley County Schools’ volunteer registration system (Secure Volunteer).
Registrations are processed in 3-5 days, sometimes longer at the beginning of the school year and then must be submitted to the Berkeley County Board of Education for approval. Once approved, the volunteer’s name will appear on the Level 1 Approved Volunteer list at the school(s) for which they registered.
For information on volunteer/chaperone procedures, please visit: https://www.berkeleycountyschools.org/domain/4586
Excused Absence Notes
Car Riders:
As a reminder, parents are asked to adhere to the times listed below for student drop-off and pickup. We are starting to experience significant traffic issues due to cars arriving too early:
- K-2 parents should not arrive earlier than 8:00 AM in the morning and should not arrive earlier than 3:00 PM in the afternoon.
- Pre-K parents should not arrive earlier than 7:40 AM in the morning and should not arrive earlier than 1:50 PM in the afternoon.
Student Personal Items
The school is not responsible for items that are lost and/or damaged during the school day or on the bus. If any toys or electronic devices are visible or make noise during class, the item will be sent to the office and will need to be picked up by a parent or guardian.
Thank you for your cooperation!
Student Birthdays & Holiday Celebrations
Teachers may request healthy food items to be sent in for a class or for school celebrations. (Due to special dietary student needs and/or medical needs, all food must be store-bought with an ingredient and nutrition label on the packaging.) Two schoolwide parties will be held – a holiday party prior to winter break and a Valentine’s Day Party. If your child does not celebrate holidays, please make sure that information is provided to their classroom teacher.
Any food items used for instructional purposes will require a signed permission slip on file for each student. If you have not signed an "Instructional Snack Permission Slip," please reach out to your child's teacher for that information.
Staff Contact Information
If you need to contact us, please call the office at 304.267.3550 or email the following personnel:
- Dr. Arch, Assistant Principal: carch@k12.wv.us
- Dr. Ematrudo, Principal: kematrudo@k12.wv.us
- Mrs. Eyler, School Nurse: hannah.stauffer@k12.wv.us
- Mrs. Fontaine, Secretary/Registrar: lfontaine@k12.wv.us
- Ms. Foulk, Financial Secretary: lisa.foulk@k12.wv.us
- Mrs. Patton, School Counselor: kpatton@k12.wv.us
- Mrs. Williams, School Counselor: jgwilliams@k12.wv.us
A list of all staff members' email addresses can be found here: https://www.berkeleycountyschools.org/domain/660
About Us
Email: kematrudo@k12.wv.us
Website: berkeleycountyschools.org/opequon
Location: 395 East Road, Martinsburg, WV, USA
Phone: (304) 267-3550