What's New

Virginia Municipal League Announces Essay Contest for Seventh Graders

The Virginia Municipal League is sponsoring an "If I Were Mayor" essay contest for seventh graders. The essay should describe what the student would do if he or she were elected mayor. Regional winners will receive a plaque and a $150 cash prize. One statewide winner will receive a $250 cash prize. For more information, see the VML website.

Smyth County Students Can Get Free Flu Shots in October

The Mount Rogers Health District and Smyth County Public Schools will offer free flu shots to Smyth County students during October. In order for your child to receive a shot, please complete this parental consent form and return it to your child's school by Sept. 23.

Note that the flu nasal spray will not be available this year. The federal Centers for Disease Control have advised that the nasal spray will have limited effectiveness during the 2106-2017 flu season; therefore only flu shots will be available this year.

Smyth County Schools Health Department Provides Info on Flu and Cold Prevention

The Smyth County Schools Health Department has published information on protecting your child from flu and colds this season.

Smyth County Schools Set Family Life Education and Guidance Parent Preview Dates

School	Date/Time
Atkins Elementary School	Sept. 23, 2016
Chilhowie Elementary School	Sept. 13, 2016 from 4:00—7:00
Chilhowie High School	Oct. 25, 2016, from 8:00 am—4:00 pm
Chilhowie Middle School	Oct. 20, 2016
Marion Elementary School	Oct. 20, 2016
Marion Middle School	March 16, 2017
Marion Senior High School	Oct. 20, 2016
Northwood High School	Sept. 19, 2016
Northwood Middle School	Sept. 14, 2016
Oak Point Elementary School	Sept. 8 and 9, 2016
Rich Valley Elementary School	Sept. 15 and 16, 2016
Saltville Elementary School	Sept. 20, 2016
Sugar Grove Elementary School	Sept. 27, 2016

The Guidance and Family Life Education curriculum for Smyth County Schools will be available for parent preview on the dates and times listed below. Family Life Education instruction will begin after the completion of the preview days and is taught throughout the school year. An appointment to review the materials on another date or at another time can be made by contacting the school if these dates are not convenient. If parents do not wish their child to participate in all or part of the FLE curriculum, they must opt out by coming to the school and signing the appropriate opt-out form with a school administrator. This form must be updated annually. Please contact your child’s school with any additional questions.

Back-to-School Notifications

The Code of Virginia requires local school divisions to make a variety of information available to the public. Much of that information is already included in the Student Handbook or through links or postings on this website. Here are links to recently added information:

• Learning objectives for classes (Standards of Learning)
• Postsecondary education and employment data published by the State Council of Higher Education
• Laws regarding the prosecution of juveniles as adults
• Services for students identified as hearing impaired or visually impaired
• Virginia Sex Offender Registry

Schools Adopt New Procedure for Screening Volunteers

Smyth County Schools have adopted a new screening procedure for school volunteers. Details…

Public Service Announcement Regarding Stopped School Buses

Recently, Smyth County Public School bus drivers have reported an increase in the number of vehicles illegally passing stopped school buses. As a school division, we are committed to ensuring the safety of our students. We are asking our community to share this commitment. We would like to remind our community members that all motorists are required to stop when a school bus is loading or unloading children. All of our drivers are required to complete a pre-trip inspection to ensure all safety devices are working properly. All motorists should be aware that in the event these safety devices are not functioning, you are still required to stop when a bus is loading or unloading children. Drivers are required by state law to stop in all directions when the red lights on the bus are flashing and/or the stop sign is out unless they are travelling on a divided highway. There are penalties for failure to stop for a stopped school bus. Penalties may include:

• Reckless driving charge
• Jail time up to 12 months, fine of $2,500 (or both)
• 4 points on your license

Our students are our most precious resource, and we take the responsibility of ensuring their safety seriously. Central Office staff, school administrators and bus drivers work together to coordinate our bus stops and have as many students as possible load and unload on the passenger door side of the road. This is not always possible and as a result, some students actually have to cross the road when they are loading and dismissing from the school bus. When a bus is stopped and its red lights are flashing, a child could potentially have to cross the road in front of traffic. Please consider all of the above mentioned safety rules to ensure the safety of our students.

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Get School Closing Announcements, Other School Info by Email or Text

School closing announcements and other advisory messages from the Smyth County School Board are available through the free Nixle Community Information Service. If you don't sign up for Nixle, you can view the most recent messages in the table at the right. Refresh your browser to load the most recent messages.

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©2016 Smyth County School Board

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