Kanawha County Schools Newsletter

• Gazette-Mail Op-ed: Success of excess levy warrants continuation

• LETTER: Kanawha needs to continue excess levy on Nov. 8

• KCS teacher receives "Golden Apple" award
• Capital students learn life skills creating and selling Cougar merchandise
  

• George Washington High School's quiz bowl team marches toward academic success

• Kanawha County Schools marks National School Bus Safety Week

• Local elementary students lead workshop to encourage girls in STEM
  

• Local students learn about manufacturing from Belle Chemical Company

• School raising money to build ‘Buddy Bench’ for fondly remembered teacher

• Herbert Hoover High School woodshop students create pieces for the community

• Manufacturing company visits West Virginia school to discuss careers

On the 2022 General Election ballot, Kanawha County voters will have the opportunity to vote for a new excess levy that would allow Kanawha County Schools to focus on priority areas of: staff retention and school positions, safety and security, additional HVAC/roofing needs, and facility/extracurricular needs at the middle school and high school level.

The excess levy funding on this year’s ballot will fund initiatives beginning July 2024 – July 2029 and would NOT result in an increase to taxes. Our current excess levy ends in July 2024.

The excess levy on this year’s ballot includes funding for the following priorities:

• Professional, service and substitute wages, including specific funds for custodians, counselors and art teachers
• Extra staff including seven additional counselors, five additional nurses, fourteen additional special education teachers and aides and more
• Safety and security improvements across the district including secure entrances at every school that does not have one
• HVAC and roofing improvements at 10 schools with the greatest need
• Facility and extracurricular needs across the county including tennis courts (with pickleball striping), baseball/softball turf, raises for coaches, scoreboards and more

Leading up to election day, we will be sharing facts about the excess levy. Your first stop should be: https://kcs.kana.k12.wv.us/excesslevy. You can also click on the "KCS Excess Levy" tab at the top of our website home page. There is a great amount of information on this page, including specific one-pagers for each of our eight high school feeder areas.

We have received several questions about the 2024 excess levy, so we sat down with Dr. Williams to get some answers! Take a few minutes to learn more about the excess levy on the 2022 General Election ballot.

Our area local school improvement council (LSIC) meetings with board members have concluded. Each area did an incredible job facilitating events that showed off student talent and allowed for productive discussions about how to improve our schools.

Please don’t stop now! If you attended a recent LSIC, there will be more meetings at your school this school year. Keep giving feedback. If you missed your area LSIC, you can always reach out to your school to find out when the next meeting is and how you can give feedback.

Thank you again to all students, staff and guardians that attended!

We're hiring! KCS is hiring for a variety of positions, including but not limited to: teachers, substitute teachers, aides, Third Base assistants, nurses, service personnel and more.

• Job postings
• Substitute teaching information
• Alternative certification information
  
  

Consider joining the KCS Team. If you have questions, you can call our office at 304-348-7753, ext. 110.

• December 14, 2022 PL Day: PHYSICAL
• January 17, 2023 PL Day: SOCIAL
• February 13, 2023 PL Day: OCCUPATIONAL
• April 10, 2023 PL Day: INTELLECTUAL

The KCS will be holding another FAFSA Fair for parents of KCS high school seniors on Monday, December 5 from 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm. There are now three locations to choose from: University of Charleston, WV State University, and the Maker's Center! Sign up for an appointment to complete your FAFSA with the assistance of a financial aid expert at https://bit.ly/3TAHVIu or contact your student’s school counselor!

We are excited to announce a new webpage for all of our Powerful Partners tip sheets! Each tip sheet has some simple grade-level activities that can be done at home with no technology. They are meant to simply supplement what students are learning in school and provide additional opportunities for families to work with students as we continue to support learning.

View all of the October Powerful Partners activities here!

Niesha Shank from Herbert Hoover High School was named "Secondary Art Educator of the Year" at the WV Art Education Association Conference!

KCS participated in the WV Book Festival by handing out free books to attendees.

Students at DuPont Middle School have been working hard to fundraise for a school-wide garden project. They recently planted a variety of fruit trees, grapes, and blueberries. In the spring they plan to add multiple raised beds, a vining area for pumpkins and cucumbers, an herb garden, and so much more!

As part of October's Professional Learning Day, several KCS teachers and staff members participated in the Adobe Creativity Institute at Nitro High School.

Participants learned why teaching with creativity is important and how it is possible across all subjects and at all ages. They also learned how to design lessons that foster creativity using tools such as graphics, videos and websites. Participants left with resources and an action plan to support their own learning goals and empower their learning community.

The building and construction classes at Carver are making 16 picnic tables for Campbells Creek Park to replace ones destroyed in the recent flood.

KCS seniors had the opportunity to attend the annual college fair and talk with dozens of representatives about next steps!

Throughout the month of October, we featured spotlight stories from GW area schools.

• Alum Creek Elementary
• George Washington High School
• Holz Elementary
• John Adams Middle School
• Kenna Elementary
• Overbrook Elementary
• Ruthlawn Elementary
• Weberwood Elementary

Click here to see the October spotlight stories.

Each month we will be featuring schools from a different high school area, so be sure to follow along on our social media channels for more good news and spotlight stories!

In November we will be featuring schools from the Nitro area.

View the GW area alumni profiles.