Kanawha County Schools -

🤩 As promised, here are some action shots from yesterdays Exceptional Spring Games! 😁 Big Smiles 👌 Perfect Weather 🤟 Tons of Memories Made Thank you again to everyone who made the 2025 KCS Exceptional Spring Games a success!

Mrs. White, a second grade teacher at Nitro Elementary, saw an opportunity to boost her students’ confidence with topic sentences, so Mrs. Keeling, a third grade teacher at NES, said, “Let’s mix things up!” 💡✏️ They paired up the 2nd and 3rd graders to work on an opinion writing piece together… and — it was awesome! 🙌💬 The room was full of thoughtful conversations 🧠🗣️, big ideas 💭, and lots of smiles 😄. The 3rd graders did such an amazing job explaining things to their younger buddies 💛 — total role models! We are so proud of all these young authors and the way they lifted each other up! 🥹👏 This is what teamwork, learning, and fun look like! 📸✨

💙 April is Autism Awareness Month, and we’re taking a moment to shout out some of the amazing people making a difference in Kanawha County Schools — our Autism Itinerants! KCS has four Autism Itinerants that travel from school to school, supporting students with autism, working with teachers and families, and helping create learning environments where every student can shine. ✨ Whether it’s coming up with personalized strategies, helping with communication tools, or just being a steady source of support, they’re making an impact every single day. 📸: Featured in this post is Kerri Martin. Our last Autism Itinerant Spotlight will be out Wednesday!

🥳 Sissonville Middle School is home to WQBE's March 👩‍🏫Teacher of the Month! 🤩 👏 Congratulations, Mrs. Settle — a well deserved honor! Thank you to 97.5 WQBE-FM for highlighting so many incredible teachers throughout the school year! 🤝👍

Massage Therapy students from Carver Career and Technical Education Center hit it out of the park with the Charleston Dirty Birds! ⚾💆‍♀️💆‍♂️ They had the opportunity to work with 4 staff members and 24 athletes—giving our students some real-deal, hands-on experience in sports massage. From pre-game prep to post-game recovery (and even injury therapy!), they learned a ton and had a blast doing it! 🙌🎓💪 Huge thanks to the Dirty Birds for letting us be part of your game day routine. 🐤💙✨

🎩✨ Central Elementary’s third graders brought history to life today during their Wax Museum! 🏛️👧🧒 Each student chose a historical figure, researched their life and impact, and then became that person—costume, props, and all! 🎭📚 From Jackie Robinson ⚾ and Rosie the Riveter 💪 to Annie Oakley 🎯 and George Washington Carver 🥜, the variety was amazing! Parents and visitors got to press a “button” and watch the characters come to life as students shared fun, thoughtful presentations in character. 🎙️🔘 Check out these incredible photos of our young historians in action! 📸👇 You might just spot Flo-Jo 👟💨, Jerry West 🏀, Philo Farnsworth 📺, and even Michael Johnson! Way to go, third grade—you made history unforgettable today! 💙💛

🏀 April Madness Fun at SES! 🎉✨ Mrs. Fisher’s third grade class at Sissonville Elementary crushed it with the best attendance at the school in March 👏🎯 and earned themselves an awesome reward—a basketball game 🏀 against some of their favorite SES staff members! 🙌 The whole school came out to watch 📣👀 and the third graders did NOT disappoint. The staff may have had the height ⛹️‍♂️🧍‍♀️, but the third graders had the moves 🕺💃! Quick passes, smooth dribbles, and teamwork was on point! 🤝🔥 The game ended with a score of 26–10, in favor of the staff 🏆— but don’t be fooled, the real MVPs were those third graders! 💪💙 But when it comes to the 👟 shoe game...there was no contest — third graders brought the heat with some 🔥 kicks. 📷: Sissonville Elementary School

📐✏️ Take a look at what’s happening in Mr. Ferguson’s accelerated math class at Capital High School! These students are tackling triangle proofs right now—just one part of a fast-paced curriculum that lets them complete both Algebra 1 and Honors Geometry during their freshman year. This kind of head start means they’ll be ready for AP Calculus or College Algebra by their junior year—opening the door to even more opportunities down the road. 🚪📚 It’s exciting to see them challenge themselves and grow every day. 💡🎓

🌟 BIG adventure for our littlest learners! 🌟 Preschoolers at Alum Creek Elementary went on their very first field trip — and wow, was it a blast! 🚌💨 They picnicked under the sky, explored the great outdoors like tiny scientists 🧪🌿, and got their hands messy with some fun experiments. It was a day full of giggles, curiosity, and wide-eyed wonder. We’re so proud of these brave little explorers! 💛 📸 Check out some of the adorable moments below!

💙 April is Autism Awareness Month, and we’re taking a moment to shout out some of the amazing people making a difference in Kanawha County Schools — our Autism Itinerants! KCS has four Autism Itinerants that travel from school to school, supporting students with autism, working with teachers and families, and helping create learning environments where every student can shine. ✨ Whether it’s coming up with personalized strategies, helping with communication tools, or just being a steady source of support, they’re making an impact every single day. 📸: Featured in this post is Beth Tomczak. Check back throughout the month to meet the rest of the AUI Team!

🎓👏 Huge shoutout to our 11th grade students across Kanawha County Schools for knocking out the SAT School Day assessment! 👏🎓 The SAT is a big milestone — it’s a nationally recognized college and career readiness test from the College Board and is accepted by colleges and universities here in West Virginia and all over the country. Students put in the time and effort to prepare, and we’re so proud of how they showed up and gave it their all. 🙌 We also want to give a big thank you to our teachers and staff who helped get students ready and kept spirits high on test day. 💙 📸 Check out some of the highlights: ✅ Students and staff rocking their SAT School Day shirts ✅ Riverside students with a free pretest breakfast courtesy of Tudors ✅ Nitro High’s cookout celebration after the test 🌭🍔 ✅ SAT Proctor Bingo at Capital High — yes, it’s a thing, the nerves are high for teachers on SAT Day too 🎉 Way to go, Class of 2026 — your hard work is noticed, and your future is looking bright! 🌟

No class today? No problem! 👇 🌟 We are excited to share our April Powerful Partners tip sheets for middle school students. 🌟 💪 Powerful Partner activities provide an opportunity for schools and guardians to work together to help students continue to develop their 🧠 academic skills while they are away from school. ✍️These are suggested enrichment opportunities and are completely optional. You can view all the April tip sheets by clicking here 👇 🔗 https://bit.ly/powerfulPartners

🚨 Calendar Reminder 🚨 Tomorrow, Friday, April 18th is a PL Day! No school for students.

🎉 Leadership Day at Pinch Elementary! 🌟 Today, Pinch Elementary celebrated their annual Leadership Day, and this year’s theme was all about LEGACY! 💫 👧👦 Students took the lead, delivering inspiring speeches about the legacies they’re building and giving presentations on the legacy of many inspiring West Virginians like: ✈️ Chuck Yeager 🧠 Katherine Johnson 🎬 Jennifer Garner 🎶 The 5th grade choir sang several beautiful songs throughout the event! This year's guest speaker was, KCS Superintendent Dr. Tom Williams, who shared a heartfelt message about what it means to leave a lasting legacy. He reminded students that even the smallest acts of kindness can create a big impact over time. 💖🌱 📸 Check out some highlights from this inspiring day below! 👇

*April 7th Regular Session Board Meeting* The Kanawha County Schools Board of Education will host its monthly regular session meeting at 5 p.m. today (4/17). The meeting is open to the public. This meeting will be livestreamed, and can be viewed at the link here 👇 https://kcs.kana.k12.wv.us/district/board_of_education/k_c_s_livestream The agenda is available on the KCS website 👇 https://kcs.kana.k12.wv.us/common/pages/GetFile.ashx?key=6BrgDPfp

🎉🐎💛 Congratulations to the KCS students who earned the West Virginia Golden Horseshoe Award this year! 💙📚 This is a huge honor that recognizes your incredible knowledge of WV history. 🌄🏫 We are proud of you and you should be proud of yourselves as well! Your name's will be in West Virginia history forever as a 2025 knight of the Golden Horseshoe! 👏🏆 🌟🐴 Up Next: The Golden Horseshoe ceremony on Tuesday, June 10, 2025 at the West Virginia Culture Center.

🎉🏅 KCS Exceptional Spring Games - April 28th! 🏅🎉 Join us for an unforgettable day of fun, competition, and celebration at the KCS Exceptional Spring Games on Monday, April 28th at the University of Charleston Stadium at Laidley Field! 🌟 Schedule of Events: 🕘 9:00 AM – Parade Lineup 🎉 9:30 AM – Parade of Athletes 🎤 10:00 AM – Opening Ceremonies 🏃 10:30 AM – Let the Games Begin! Come cheer on our amazing athletes! 💙 Let’s fill the stands with support for our exceptional students!

👏 Cedar Grove Elementary welcomed Senator Jim Justice to their school today! He stopped by to meet the Bot Squad, a CGE robotics teams that qualified for the 2025 VEX Robotics World Championship! 🏆🤖 Senator Justice and State Superintendent of Schools Michele Blatt watched the team in action and took time to speak with students about the importance of education. And of course — Baby Dog came along too and was a big hit with everyone! 🐶💙 🏆🤖 In addition to the Bot Squad, The Coding Corgis from Chamberlin Elementary School are also heading to Dallas to compete in the VEX World Championship! Good luck to both teams when they take the world stage in May!

🎉 We are SO proud of our amazing students who competed in the 2025 West Virginia State Social Studies Fair! 🧠📚 Your hard work and creativity were on full display, and you represented KCS and your school with pride! 💙💛 A huge shoutout to all of our participants — and a round of applause for the students who placed at the top of their categories! 🥇🥈🥉 You knocked it out of the park! 🌟👏 Way to go, KCS students! We’re always cheering you on! 🎓🙌🔥 📷: Event photo courtesy of the WVDE

📣 Congratulations to Clay Dusenbury of GWHS — your 2025 Charleston Youth Poet Laureate! 🏆 ✨ The National Youth Poet Laureate program, is a celebrated initiative recognizing young poets who use their words to inspire their peers to make a difference. On Saturday, the University of Charleston honored Clay and an incredible group of young poets for their creativity, passion, and civic expression through poetry. 👏 Shoutout to the KCS finalists: Dwayne Ruffin (SCHS) and Mariam Hamdan (SCHS) 🎖️ Honorable Mentions + Special Recognitions were awarded to an additional 12 talented students across the region! These poets are using their voices to inspire change. 🔥📝