Dear Parents and Guardians,
We hope that you and your child are having an enjoyable summer! We are looking forward to welcoming our Colts for the 2022-2023 school year in August! Our goal at Ward is always to make school an enjoyable place where our students feel welcomed and challenged. Our theme for the year is “4 Houses…1 School!” We are looking forward to continuing our work to make our school an environment where our students feel welcomed and cared for.
During this school year, we are continuing to implement our house system to build community and connections with our students, teachers, staff, and parents. We are excited about the ways that we will continue to expand our house system this year for our school community, with House Breakfasts for parents and students, house celebrations, house competitions, house pep rallies, and more! Our House System will truly be the biggest focus of this school year and will drive many of the activities that we do.
If you are new to our school, here is some information about our house system. The house system is an idea adopted from Ron Clark Academy. This system gives students an opportunity to expand their connections outside of their classroom walls and across the whole school community. Ward’s four Houses are attached to our four WARD Expectations: Wonder and learn, Be Aware, Be Responsible and Display Quality Character. Staff and students have worked together to develop their house names, symbols/animals, and chant. New students will be assigned to their house in September during our first school gathering!
In addition to our House System, here is some more information that you may find helpful for the coming year:
- Our school day is from 7:40 a.m.-2:10 p.m. with student drop-off beginning at 7:20 a.m. and the tardy bell ringing at 7:40 a.m.
- We will continue with our Hug Zone drop-off in the mornings. Students and parents can give good-bye hugs in the mornings before students report to class in front of our school.
- Dismissal will begin at 2:05 p.m.
- We will continue to use our parent pick-up procedures from last school year where students will be escorted to their vehicles in the afternoon for pick-up.
- If you need to pick-up your child early from school, please be sure to be at the school for early pick-up before we begin our afternoon dismissal which is no later than 1:45 p.m.
- We will be welcoming volunteers and visitors back into the building! Please be sure to read the Peek at the Week and teacher newsletters for volunteer opportunities!
- Please use the Power School Parent Portal to access & complete online county forms. If you need instructions for setting up a Parent Portal account, go to henricoschools.us/online-services & scroll down to the Power School Parent Portal section for directions.
- We have 2 early dismissal days this year: January 27th and March 31st. Dismissal will be at 11:05 on these days.
I invite you to get involved and be a part of the Ward community to make this a great year! You can contact me with any questions or concerns at 804-795-7030 or email tlchatman@henrico.k12.va.us. Please continue to check the website for WES updates at https://ward.henricoschools.us/. Please also follow us on Twitter: @Ward_Colts and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/WardElementarySchool. Enjoy the rest of your summer and we look forward to seeing you in August!
Sincerely,
Dr. Tiffany Chatman, Proud Principal