Pence Press
December 21, 2020 - January 4th, 2021
Holiday Wishes: COVID Style
First, we would like to thank everyone, and we do mean EVERYONE, for the role that you've each played in helping to provide an education for our students this year. Parents, students, faculty, and staff have all made a commitment of their time, energy, efforts, and emotional support towards providing students the best they can given the challenges COVID has placed upon us. During the Holidays, the Pence administration certainly feels blessed to be just a small part of this effort. We wish each of you a merry holiday season.
Stay safe and healthy.
Sincerely-
John Childs, Candice Ray, & Teresa Shank
WSPMS Administration
Athletics Update
8th Grade Boys and Girls Basketball
Pence Knights-
8th grade basketball tryouts for the upcoming season will begin following the holiday break. This will be a unique season with plenty of challenges for us to overcome. However, we are optimistic that we will still be able to offer an abbreviated season for our student-athletes. Please refer to the following information containing the guidelines, requirements, protocols, and time frame that we will be following for those interested in participating.
-Tryouts will begin on Monday, January 4, 2021 and will be run from 3:40 PM to 5:30 PM. -Rides need to arrive on time for all athletes.
-Masks will be required to be worn by all athletes, even while actively participating while Rockingham County is still in the “red” in regards to the number of active COVID cases in the county.
-Athletes are required to have their own water bottles.
-Athletes must have an up-to-date VHSL physical dated on or after May 1, 2020 to participate.
-Students who are in school that day, may use the locker room while maintaining appropriate distancing to change clothes for tryouts/practice for that day.
-Students not in school that day, need to arrive dressed and ready for tryouts/practice.
-Shorts, basketball shoes, and a t-shirt are appropriate for basketball tryouts/practice.
-We recommend that students have sweats and/or a jacket to wear home as they won’t be changing after tryouts/practice.
-We will be having a short season with the first game being held very quickly. Therefore, coaches may be making team cuts as soon as Tuesday, January 5th (after tryouts that day), so the team can be prepared for the first game.
-Coaches will be keeping no more than 12 players on the team.
-The first game will be played on Wednesday, January 13, 2020.
-We will be having a 6 game schedule amongst the county schools, with each team playing each other twice. Games will be held at 4:30 PM on Mondays and Wednesdays with the girls and boys playing at separate locations.
-There are spectator limits placed upon us by the state of Virginia. For those athletes making the team, we will be communicating the logistics of how we plan on adhering to the guidelines with those families along with other protocols and procedures.
We understand that there will be some challenges for families in regards to getting their athletes to and from tryouts, practices, games, etc. Our coaches will work with you on these challenges, but communication is key. We encourage families to talk to each other to coordinate ridesharing when needed. It is especially important that athletes are able to be present for tryouts for coaches to be able to fully evaluate them when choosing a team.
The ability to be able to hold the season and compete in games will continue to be evaluated by the county during the pandemic. If it is deemed necessary, the county may decide to cancel, halt, or postpone the season. If you have any questions, please reach out to the school.
Stock Market Game Success!!!
1st in the JMU Region and 2nd at the State Level
Ninja Penguins
Aiden Morgan, Pranav Menon, Colden deBrun, Chase Smith
2nd in the JMU Region and 3rd at the State Level
Trinity of Capitalists Ethan Lassiter, Harrison Suter, Issac Fitzwater, Blake Moats
RCPS Revised Calendar for 2020-2021
At the Rockingham County Public School Board meeting on Monday, December 14, the School Board made adjustments to the 2020 - 2021 school calendar. The end of the first semester was changed from Thursday, January 28, to Tuesday, January 26. Wednesday, January 27 and Thursday, January 28 are now teacher workdays. Friday, January 29 will remain a teacher workday.
Additionally, the early release dates on February 12 and March 5 for professional development have been removed and will now become full school days. The delayed start on April 30 for professional development will become a full school day as well.
Importance Of Doing Asynchronous Work At Home
As we have gotten into the rhythm and routine of the second phase of this unique school year under COVID restrictions, I want to take a moment to address one particular area of school that needs some extra attention and effort from many of our students, which are the asynchronous days. While students only receive "live" instruction twice weekly, the other 3 days are still designated school days for students to participate in learning activities, lessons, and structured practice to reinforce skills.
Again, let me stress, these 3 days should be viewed as school days for students. Please help us by encouraging your students to develop a routine on these days where they are on their computers and logged into schoology conistently. We recommend that you help them establish set times desginated for school in a good learning space for them in the home. We know that this may be a challenge for some families due to various circumstances. In these cases, we still encourage you to be in communication with your student(s), checking on their progress in Schoology and PowerSchool, and trying to encourage engagement when you can find the time.
Sincerely-
John Childs
Chromebook Home Support information
The county has updated the at home support links on our RCPS webpage which now point directly to the Help Desk. Moving forward parents/students will login to the Help Desk with student Google credentials and should be submitting tickets with the *Student Ticket* help topic.
Students/parents will provide the exact same information as before and the only other information they will need is their child's password. (They should have this on the beginning of the year student account information sheet.).This change should help our staff more efficiently manage at home support requests will allow for two way communication between our staff and families that can be referenced even after tickets are closed.
SURVEY for PE
This needs to be completed before returning from Holiday Break
STEM Opportunities
Our Instructional Technology staff is excited to provide your students some optional STEM enrichment opportunities that can be done at home, now or during the holiday break (or later!) Our plans are to add more courses for students throughout the year. There are three currently aimed at grades 4+ using Chromebooks that we would encourage for your middle school students.
Would you help us please by sharing this opportunity with your students?
This document provides all the necessary details: https://bit.ly/stemenrichment
Thanks so much!
Interim Grade Reports
School Pictures - Feb 11-12 More info coming soon!
Curbside Meal Pick-Ups And The Weather
Parents should be encouraged to visit take-home meal sites if their children "normally" receive ISTH meals, but didn't because of inclement weather. It is expected that ISTH meals would be sent home as usual on days following closure to provide food for the days students are not in school. Individual closure circumstances may present unique challenges and these "general" guidelines would need to be changed.
Meals
Drive up meal pick-up times have been adjusted. They will still be on Mondays and Thursdays, but will only run from 3:45 PM until 5:30 PM.
Thank you!
Share your pictures for the yearbook.
Share your photos of you and your pet during our "bring your pet to school" day or take one after the fact. You can upload your photos directly to the yearbook site: http://www.hjeshare.com/eShare/?code=pencems ! (If it asks your for a code, it's pencems)
Also, be sure to preorder your copy today! https://www.yearbookordercenter.com/general/homepage?portal=true (if it asks you for a code- it's 13754)
Grab Some New Pence Gear!
About Us
Wilbur Pence Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1j84fxh9NC/?igshid=1ugnqkq1hn27l
WSPMS WEBSITE including "Parent Resources" & "Student Resources"
http://wspms.rockingham.k12.va.us/
Email: jchilds@rockingham.k12.va.us
Website: http://wspms.rockingham.k12.va.us/
Location: 375 Bowman Road, Dayton, VA, USA
Phone: 540-879-2535
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/penceknights/