As we come to the close of the first semester and 2020, we want to say thank you for your help, understanding and support as we have undertaken the challenge of virtual teaching and learning amid the novel COVID-19 pandemic. We hope our families have a wonderful holiday season, and our students and staff will return refreshed from the much-deserved winter break.

The Ashland City Civitan Club hosted its annual Christmas Anonymous on Dec. 12, and thanks to the community’s generosity, more than 300 children received toys, books, games, coats, stuffed animals, bags of candy and more. Christmas Anonymous has been serving the community for more than 40 years. It provides a helping hand to families who are faced with economic challenges. A special thank you goes out to Soles4Souls and Macy's for providing hundreds of coats and to Darwin Newton and the American Legion for picking up the coats. Sycamore Middle School serves as the site for the Christmas Anonymous store, where families shop for their gifts. Many of our Sycamore High School students, along with Civitan Club members, set up for the store on the afternoon of Dec. 11.

Hannah Collier and Morgan Jackson from Girl Scout Troop 2726 handmade Reading Buddies for the first-grade students at Kingston Springs Elementary School for their Silver Award. The bears were made to encourage reading as well as a needed buddy during COVID-19. Each child adopted a bear buddy, picked out a book and were given a writing journal and pencils to log their adventures together. Hannah and Morgan believe that reading is a very important skill and wanted to motivate young children to learn to read.

Beginning this week, students in the north cluster who utilize Cheatham County School District transportation started using their student ID badges (with barcode) to scan on and off our Cheatham County buses. The purpose of the new ridership program is to be able to verify the location of our students while on a Cheatham County school bus. Our plan is to roll this out districtwide (central and south clusters) after our winter break. For complete details on the program, click here.

Students will return to school on Tuesday, Jan. 5 to begin the second semester of the 2020-21 school year. It is our hope that our elementary and middle schools will start the second semester on the traditional schedule and our high schools will begin on the hybrid schedule. Families will continue to have the all-virtual option. We will continue to monitor and evaluate the COVID-19 numbers in Cheatham County over the winter break. Should there be any schedule changes as we begin the second semester, we will communicate that information with our families as quickly as possible. As always, thanks for your patience and understanding.

With the wintry weather season approaching quickly, we want to remind families of our inclement weather policy. Inclement weather closures are made when we determine that not all students can safely be transported to school. Our buses travel through every part of the county, and road conditions may vary by location. Should we make the decision to close schools due to weather, families will be notified via an automated phone call. The closure will also be posted on the district’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts and website as well as shared with the Nashville TV stations. If possible, we will notify families about school closures or delays the night before. If the decision to close school is made overnight, parents and staff can expect to receive a phone call early in the morning. Our goal is to notify parents by 5 a.m. As of Dec. 17, we have six remaining stockpile/inclement weather days for the 2020-21 school year.

Members of the 2020-21 Aspiring Administrators Academy have been announced. Educators selected for the academy learn more about the leadership roles of an administrator. Through guest speakers and discussions, class members are exposed to a school administrator’s scope of work. Members also have a variety of requirements to meet throughout the program. This year’s members are Tabbi Tomeo (Ashland City Elementary STEM Academy), Nick Waynick and Tya Frelix (Cheatham County Central High School), Seth Reid (Sycamore Middle School), Olivia McKown and Noah Moot (Cheatham Middle School), Regina Cornell and John Harrison (Sycamore High School), Stephanie Gottschalk (East Cheatham Elementary School), Lacie Duffel (Pegram Elementary Fine Arts Magnet School), Ben Howell (Harpeth High School), Bethany Jenkins (Kingston Springs Elementary School) and Alayna Strickland Duffel (Riverside Academy).

We had a great turnout at the December Book Walk! The Cheatham County Literacy Council and Cheatham County School District will host the next Book Walk on Saturday, Feb. 6 from noon to 3 p.m. This Book Walk will be an indoor walk, and the location is to be determined. The books for February will be “The World Needs More Purple People” and “Edward the Emu.” More information will be shared with families as the date nears. The Book Walks, which started this year, are becoming quite popular with our families. The Book Walks are free and all families are invited to attend.

We want to remind our families that they can pay online for just about anything school related (such as school meals, yearbooks, daycare, club/organization events, laptops, etc.) via our RevTrak payment system. We have individual school links on the district website. To access the RevTrak system, click here.

The Cheatham County School District would like to thank and recognize The South Cheatham Advocate newspaper for faithfully serving the Kingston Springs and Pegram communities for 30 years. Owner and editor Dale Graham recently announced she was retiring, meaning the beloved community newspaper will stop publishing at the end of December. Graham did an outstanding job sharing all the news and sports at Kingston Springs Elementary School, Pegram Elementary Fine Arts Magnet School, Harpeth Middle School and Harpeth High School through the years. We thank Graham for her many years of dedicated service and for showcasing the many great things happening in our South Cheatham County schools!

Dec. 18 – Winter Break Begins, 10:45 a.m. dismissal

Dec. 21-Jan. 4 – Winter Break, No School for Students

Jan. 4 – Teachers Return to School

Jan. 5 – First Day Back from Winter Break for Students

Jan. 8 – Report Card Day

Jan. 18 – Martin Luther King Jr. Day, No School