Local News
Town Talk: A conversation with Dr. Chris Ballenger, Superintendent, Warren County Schools
In this Town Talk, we’ll have a conversation with Dr. Chris Ballenger. Dr. Ballenger joined the Warren County School System on July 1, 2020. One of his first challenges was the two high-school graduations, which were a great success and well-received by both parents and students. This success he credits the hard work of his team of staff and teachers who made it happen.
In this conversation with our publisher Mike McCool, Dr. Ballenger outlines the plan for re-opening our schools and addresses some concerns of parents. He said, “As you can imagine, a tremendous amount of thought and planning has gone into the reopening plan for our students. We have progressed through the development of our plan with guidance from the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) and the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE).” He went on, “It is possible that adjustments will be made to our plan as we receive new information and guidance as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve. This year will require the entire school community to be flexible and patient as the school year progresses.”
The WCPS Reopening and Instructional plan can be found on our website along with the WCPS Health Plan (https://www.wcps.k12.va.us/index.php/parents/wcps-re-opening-options).
Town Talk is a series on the Royal Examiner where we will introduce you to local entrepreneurs, businesses, non-profit leaders, and political figures who influence Warren County. Topics will be varied but hopefully interesting. If you have an idea, topic, or want to hear from someone in our community, let us know. Send your request to news@RoyalExaminer.com
This is an overview of the re-opening plan:
The two instructional delivery choices for families for the start of the 2020-2021 school year are the Hybrid Model and the Full Virtual Model.
Hybrid Model:
Grades PreK-4: In-person instruction four days per week and one day virtual. In-person instruction will be supported and reinforced by online learning with students physically in the school buildings four days per week – Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Virtual instruction will occur on Wednesday for all PreK-4 students.
Grade 5: In-person instruction four days per week and one day virtual. In-person instruction will be supported and reinforced by online learning with students physically in the school buildings four days per week–Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Virtual instruction will occur on Wednesday for all fifth-grade students.
Fifth-grade students at E. Wilson Morrison, Hilda J. Barbour, and Leslie Fox Keyser Elementary Schools will report for in-person instruction at identified middle school buildings. Fifth-grade students at A. S. Rhodes and Ressie Jeffries Elementary Schools will continue at their own elementary schools. Classes will be taught by elementary teachers from their home schools.
Grades 6-12: Students will attend in-person instruction one day per week and work remotely four days per week. A flipped classroom model will be used where students use online instructional resources that have been assigned through the classroom learning management system. In a flipped classroom model, students use online instructional resources that have been assigned through a learning management system. Teachers support online learning with face-to-face instruction. The face-to-face time is structured to include activities, practice with feedback, and collaborative tasks or projects
Teachers will support online learning with in-person instruction one day per week utilizing an A or B day schedule that is structured to include activities, practice with feedback, and collaborative tasks and projects.
Teachers will provide virtual lessons to students that are working remotely on a daily basis. Students are encouraged to attend the virtual lesson every day that a student is not being provided with in-person instruction.
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
PreK-5 | PreK-5 | Remote Learning for All Students | PreK-5 | PreK-5 |
WCMS A Day | WCMS B Day | Remote Learning for All Students | SMS A Day | SMS B Day |
WCHS A Day | WCHS B Day | Remote Learning for All Students | SHS A Day | SHS B Day |
Full Virtual Model:
Students will participate in full-time remote learning, including both interactive, teacher-led live instruction and independent learning tasks. Families interested in registering their child for full-time remote learning must contact their child’s school by Tuesday, August 18, 2020, to select the virtual model.
- This virtual option is available to all students in grades pre-kindergarten through 12.
- Students will be assigned to a WCPS teacher and receive a learning device that will enable students to access the division’s learning management systems.
- Teachers will provide daily instruction via a learning management system so that students are provided quality instruction.
- Teachers will also assign daily/weekly lessons through the learning management system and support students through in-person and virtual meetings.
School Schedules:
Daily Schedule for E. Wilson Morrison, Leslie Fox Keyser, and Ressie Jeffries
8:00 A.M. School day begins
1:30 P.M. School day ends
Daily Schedule for Hilda J. Barbour and A. S. Rhodes
9:00 A.M. School begins
2:30 P.M. School day ends
Middle and High School Schedules
9:00 A.M. School day begins
3:05 P.M. School day ends
High School Schedule for 2020-2021
For the 2020-2021 school year, we are going to utilize a 6 period day for the entire school year. As we begin the year classes will be broken into two sections. Each school will have two in-person instruction days, each section will be assigned one in-person day. As soon as it is safe the two sections will be combined to create one in-person class that will meet together for the remainder of the year. This change was made to make the best use of limited in-person time and to create an opportunity for daily instruction.
Mitigation Strategies – Minimizing Exposure
- Designate six feet of spacing between desks and student seating
- Reduce the number of students assigned to each classroom
- Increase circulation of outside air, where possible
- Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces as much as possible
- Deep clean and disinfect entire school on Wednesdays
- Monitor arrival and dismissal of students to discourage congregate settings
- Ensure students report directly to classrooms and designated areas
- Designate, where possible, hallways and stairwells as one-way
- Check the temperature of students daily as they enter school
- Require daily health checks performed by the parent prior to coming to school
- Require staff and students to wear face coverings at all times at the middle and high schools
- Encourage staff and students at the elementary schools to wear face coverings while in school. Staff and students will be required to wear face coverings when physical distancing is not attainable.
- Require frequent hand washing and utilization of hand sanitizer for all students
- Provide hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes for all classrooms
- Ensure students have their own learning materials and supplies
- Reduce class interactions and hallway traffic, group gatherings and movement throughout buildings
- Minimize exposure to other students by keeping the same groups as much as possible
- Install water bottle filling stations are being installed in all schools
- Limit access to schools to essential personnel and students. Parent conferences will be by appointment only. Visitors will be required to wear face coverings and submit to temperature checks.
- Increase virtual field trips and cancel in-person field trips and assemblies to ensure there are no large gathering of students
- Provide breakfast and lunch to elementary and middle school students in their classrooms
Transportation
- Face coverings are required for students to ride the bus
- The spacing of passengers, personal safety materials for operators and passengers with coverings being required of both, frequent cleaning and disinfection of buses
- Parents/guardians are asked to not send their child(ren) to their bus stop if he/she has a fever, a cough, or shortness of breath or feels ill. This will lessen the chances of an entire bus load of children and bus driver being put at risk
- Parents/guardians are asked to speak to their children about social distancing at bus stops. If possible, students remain in their parents’ cars until the bus arrives at the bus stop
- When the bus arrives at the bus stop, students are to enter one at a time
- Load to back of the bus first; unload front of the bus first
- At schools, unload and load one bus at a time
- Each bus will have a seating arrangement; students will sit in the same seat daily
- There may be no more than 1 student per seat; if students are siblings or live in the same household, they may sit three to a seat
- Students are not allowed to ride a bus home with a friend or make last-minute bus changes until further notice due to capacity rules on school buses. If riding a different bus in the afternoon than in the morning is part of a student’s regular schedule, for example riding to a caregiver’s house on a daily basis, would be allowed if there is sufficient space on the bus. This plan must be approved with the school’s principal and the Transportation Director at the beginning of the school year
- If a bus driver suspects a student is sick when he/she enters the bus, the school will notify the parent if not at the bus stop. If the parent cannot be reached, the student will be given a face covering and socially distanced in his/her own seat at the front of the bus. The principal of the school will be notified that a possibly ill student is on the bus. The principal and/or staff will meet the bus when it arrives at the school in order to care for any sick child
- Buses will be sanitized after each run and at the end of the day
- Any route changes will be communicated to parents through the school messaging system
Child Nutrition
- All staff will wear face coverings and gloves during food preparation and service.
- Grab and go breakfasts will be available at elementary, middle, and high school so students can go directly to their classroom on arrival.
- At elementary and middle school, lunch will be served in the classroom with a teacher present.
- Bagged lunches may be brought from home. No drop-offs of food items. If a student forgets lunch, they will be provided a school lunch for the day.
- Visitors will not be permitted in school cafeterias.
- Students participating in virtual learning will have the option to pick up 5-day meal packs once a week.
Technology
PreK – 2nd Grade:
Email applications will not be accessible by students. Accounts will be created for Classroom and LMS accounts only.
Grades 3 – 8:
Email applications will be set to work within our WCPS domain only. Incoming emails from sources outside of the school system’s domain will be blocked to the student’s email account.
Grades 9 – 12:
Email applications will be open for outside communication with restrictions on threats as monitored by SysCloud.
Connectivity:
Students will require high-speed internet access for virtual learning. We recommend at least a home internet to be at least 5 Mbps per student. If parents do not have access to high-speed internet at their homes the following options are available:
- Available internet options: Please check the internet options for your area. WCPS keeps a detailed list of currently available internet services in our area. WCPS will update this information as new services are available.
- Wifi hotspots: These will be available at the school library for check out. Please note, they will not work in every area of the county. If this option does not work, please return your hotspot to your school library.
- Drive up hotspots. WCPS is working on adding new hotspots in areas that have poor internet access.
Technology Support:
Parents may require tech support for virtual learning. The technology department will provide support for parents regarding Chromebooks, login information, and any other school related technology needs. These supports will include:
- Documentation: These may include directions on how to login into accounts, common troubleshooting tips, and standard WCPS technology practices.
- Help Desk: This may include contact information through web, email, and phone, support hours during both business hours and after hours. If a tech needs to handle a device we will provide a drop off location for parents to leave the device with us for repair or device exchange.
Grading
All students will be required to complete work assignments and participate in class activities, regardless of hybrid or distance learning choice.
Teachers must be mindful of the transition back to school and the likely instructional gap/loss students may have. Varied instruction and opportunities for attaining the content must be presented for struggling learners and accelerated learners.
Participation and Attendance
Participation in school, no matter the mode of instruction, is required. Participation and attendance will be monitored.
- Full Virtual Model:
- After 5 days of no interaction, school administration will attempt to make contact with the parent/guardian and develop a plan to address the issue
- After 10 days of no interaction, school administration will refer the student to the Warren County Schools Truancy Officer
- Hybrid Learning:
- After 5 unexcused absences, school administration will attempt to make contact with the parent/guardian and develop a plan to address the issue
- After 10 unexcused absences, school administration will refer the student to the Warren County Schools Truancy Officer
Tracking Student Attendance in Various Instructional Delivery Models
In-Person | Remote – Online | Remote – Other | |
Time-based | Physical presence during the scheduled instructional day | · Virtual presence for a synchronous online lesson
· Login time to a learning management system · Activity log on a learning management system · Total time log on a learning management system · Phone call or real-time online chat · Time-stamp for posts or submissions |
· Submission of a time log
· Phone call · Face-to-face meeting (may be an option for divisions have students come in for packet or work collection/drop-off) |
Task-or Product- based | Participation in classes/ submission of coursework | · Participation in a synchronous online lesson
· Demonstrated evidence of engagement with peers for collaborative work · Engagement on a discussion board · Email exchange · Phone call · Submission of task or assignment · “View” tracker for asynchronous online lesson |
· Submission of task, product, or assignment |
Summary
This educational plan for Warren County Public Schools is designed with commitments to a high-quality educational experience while maintaining a safe learning and work environment for our students and staff. Extensive work has been completed after the release of the Virginia Department of Education “Recovery, Redesign, and Restart” document. This document provides key components and considerations for our reopening plan. Please note that our plan may be altered due to evolving conditions and recommendations.
Chamber News
Front Royal Welcomes CBM Team of Supreme Lending with Enthusiasm and Optimism
Front Royal, Virginia, celebrated a significant business merger that marks a promising future for local economic development. The CBM Team, a longstanding local business entity, has officially joined forces with Supreme Lending, expanding its reach and capacity to serve the community more effectively.
Nike Foster, Executive Director of the Front Royal/Warren County Chamber of Commerce, and Mayor Lori Cockrell welcomed the CBM Team to our community. The event underscored a vibrant community spirit and the potential for economic growth. Byron Biggs, Chairman of the Chamber, highlighted the merger as a symbol of positive evolution in the local business landscape. It is now poised to extend its influence beyond Virginia.
Mayor Cockrell shared personal anecdotes, reflecting on the profound local ties and the exceptional character of the individuals involved, particularly noting the entrepreneurial spirit of Cory Michael, a former student of hers and now a regional manager for Team CBM. Her words painted a picture of a community that values deep personal connections and collective growth.
The merger promises substantial benefits to Front Royal, bringing enhanced services and opportunities for home ownership that were previously out of reach for many residents. This union is a merger of two companies and a fusion of cultures and aspirations, aiming to enrich the local community while maintaining the cherished CBM brand identity.
Attendees left the event with a sense of excitement and anticipation for the future, confident in the continued prosperity and communal strength of Front Royal.
Local News
Congratulations to Warren County High School Seniors – Class of 2024
Royal Examiner presents the Warren County High School Class of 2024. Congratulations to these wonderful seniors on their hard work and deserved accomplishments! We wish you the best in your next big endeavors. Photos courtesy of Victor O’Neill Studios and Tolliver Studios, LLC.
If your Warren County senior is not listed, please send in their Name and Senior Picture to news@royalexaminer.com.
Local News
Fairfax Police Officer, Son of WC Deputy Jim Williams One of This Year’s Fairfax Valor Awards Recipients
At the Thursday, April 11 Fairfax County Valor Awards ceremony, Fairfax County Police Officer Cody Williams, son of Warren County Sheriff’s Office Deputy and Bailiff Jim Williams, and two colleagues were among the 2023 honorees. We asked proud father Jim about the incident late last year that led to his son and fellow officers’ recognition. This is what he told us:
“On December 25th, Christmas Day, at 9 p.m., members of the Fairfax County Police Department Reston District Station responded to a shot person call. According to his wife, the homeowner had accidentally shot himself while cleaning his handgun. Officers Cody Williams, Andrew Craven, and Anthony Galindo arrived on the scene to find the homeowner unresponsive. The gunshot wound was to the victim’s left calf, resulting in an extreme loss of blood. Williams and Craven applied two tourniquets, and Galindo performed CPR. The victim was transported to the local hospital. He was able to make a full recovery.”
We were also informed of comments by Fairfax Police Chief Kevin Davis, who made an analogy to his officers’ Christmas Day call and the 1947 Hollywood movie classic “It’s a Wonderful Life” starring Jimmy Stewart. As fans of that great and timeless film will recall, it had its own Christmas day event of a somewhat miraculous nature involving a Guardian Angel. And indeed, it will be “a Wonderful Life” for the injured man and his family moving forward due to the prompt actions of their “guardian angels” Officers Williams, Craven, and Galindo, among others at the scene.
We found this background on the Fairfax Valor Awards website:
“The Fairfax County Valor Awards recognize the remarkable achievements in service of our community’s dedicated first responders. Since 1979, members of our police, sheriff, fire and rescue, and public safety communications have been honored for exceeding the call of duty with their lifesaving acts. The Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce is proud to host this prestigious event.” In attempting to get photos of the Christmas Day “guardian angels” from even sponsor the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce, we were informed individual shots were not taken due to the number of recipients from the past year. This year, a total of 240 awards were presented, including 84 Lifesaving Awards, 131 Certificates of Valor, 22 Bronze Medals of Valor, and 3 Silver Medals of Valor.
Congratulations to Officers Williams, Craven and Galindo for a Christmas Day first response well done, and one that at least two Reston residents may remember as their very own Christmas miracle, circa 2023.
And thanks to our own WCSO Deputy Jim Williams for alerting us to this nearby Happy Ending Christmas story. And also a nod toward our own first responders in Warren County and the Town of Front Royal for all they do daily for us. You’re ALL Valor Award winners to us!!!
Community Events
Valley Chorale Announces Upcoming Spring Concerts in Middletown and Front Royal
The Valley Chorale presents “Wishing On a Song – Music in the Key of Hope”, a spring concert exploring aspirations of love, home, spirituality and compassion that unite and uplift us all. With styles ranging from light classical and sacred to vocal jazz, spirituals and pop, The Valley Chorale strives to capture the hopes that unite us.
The Valley Chorale is known throughout the Shenandoah Valley for innovation and excellence, with piano, cello and percussion accompaniment, and their concerts are often a heart-warming experience for all. They welcome babies and tots, so no need to hire a babysitter.
Tickets can be purchased on their website TheValleyChorale.org — $15 for age 21+ (free under age 21) or at the door for $17.
SATURDAY, MAY 4, 3:00 – 4:15 PM
Belle Grove Plantation (Bank Barn), 336 Belle Grove Road, Middletown, VA
SUNDAY, MAY 5, 3:00 – 4:15 PM
First Baptist Church, 14 W. 1st Street, Front Royal, VA (Community Reception to follow)
For further information, visit the website: TheValleyChorale.org: follow them on Facebook; email them at TheValleyChorale@gmail.com or call at 540-635-4842.
(From a Release by The Valley Chorale)
Local News
Gifted and Exceptionally Motivated Former Students of Mountain Vista Governor’s School Inducted into Foundation Hall of Fame
On the evening of Saturday, April 27, beginning at 5 p.m. in the cafeteria at Warren County High School, the Mountain Vista Governor’s School Foundation hosted a donor reception followed by an induction of two former MVGS students into their hall of fame. In the names of those former students, two scholarships will be awarded in the amount of two hundred dollars each to students in need.
One of nineteen regional governor’s schools in Virginia, Mountain Vista Governor’s School for Math, Science, and Technology, is present at two locations, on Laurel Ridge Community College’s Warrenton campus and the Middletown campus. MVGS draws and actively seeks out gifted, exceptionally motivated students from the thirteen base schools it serves in Clarke, Frederick, Warren, Culpeper, Fauquier, Rappahannock, and Winchester. Splitting their time between their base schools and MVGS, these students, in Middletown or Warrenton, depending on the counties in which their base schools are located, are given a chance to take advanced courses, including ones in humanities that, if they opt for dual enrollment, may help them skip the first two years of college. Government funding allows MVGS to welcome students into its tuition-free program. But if the students desire dual enrollment in connection with Laurel, wherein they receive college credit for their courses, then tuition becomes necessary. Attendance at MVGS involves an application, and there is a limit to the number of student places that can be filled in during any given school year.
Saturday evening was a showcase of rising talent in the MVGS system, as well as testimonies to the caliber of its program as two former students who benefited from MVGS and have gone on to have brilliant careers were given the opportunity to speak about how much they value their educational history at the governor’s school and how it uniquely prepared them to excel. The Foundation, separate from the school itself, is concerned with fundraising on behalf of the school so that students can be supplied with the tools and other resources they need to receive their education. Because of those assets made accessible by the Foundation, the two students who spoke were effusive about what a great foundation they had for future success. The rigor they underwent prepared them to maximize the challenges ahead.
A good example of the type of excellence students are encouraged to achieve in the program is the artificial intelligence project undertaken by Tamara Otten, which was displayed at the event. Tamara will soon take her project to an international competition in Los Angeles. She is exploring the possibility that AI could be trained to detect filtered images. This has ramifications for mental health as young people would then be able to discern that many of the images that they are being bombarded with on the Internet are not genuine. Therefore, they should not compare themselves to those unrealistic standards. In Tamara’s mind, this is just the beginning.
The evening also featured an auction of student-created artwork and a bag raffle. The members of what was an intimate gathering went home with leftovers of Devin Smith’s culinary art. Smith is an expert chef known for his involvement with Reaching Out Now, another organization reaching young people, specifically in Warren County.
Local News
As Opening of Youth Center Draws Near, the Reaching Out Now Family Looks to the Past for Inspiration
As Samantha Barber and Toby Hire sat, side by side, holding hands on April 26 in a yet-to-be-furnished room of the Raymond E. Santmyers Student Union and Activity Center in Front Royal, Virginia, there was a very real sense of water, which is stopped by nothing. “Water is my serenity,” Samantha said in this conversation with the Royal Examiner. It maneuvers its way around any obstacle in its path, if not eroding the obstacle altogether, and that is precisely what the Reaching Out Now (RON) family, of which Samantha is the president, has done in its endeavor to provide Front Royal and the wider Warren County region with a youth center, opening soon, where students can come to play, relax, have fun, develop strong bonds of friendship, and explore what they want to do with their futures.
The youth center is necessary, and the stakes are life and death. The brilliant lives and tragic early departures of Harlee Hire and Nathan Jenkins, the first to suicide and the second to a boating accident, inform the RON family of their mission to reach young people. There is this awareness that life is incredibly fragile, and the only way to face it is through community. It is as simple as asking: “Are you okay?” That is precisely what RON intends to do through the youth center so that young people in Harlee’s position do not fall through the cracks.
Harlee loved water. And by all appearances, she could overcome any obstacle. Through tears, “She was a great friend,” her mother Toby said as Samantha gripped her hand. Harlee practiced radical encouragement. It was not uncommon to hear her yelling shameless compliments like: “Your butt is looking fine today!” And even in the early months of 2022, after her friend Nathan’s boating accident in January and before she attempted suicide on May 10 and officially passed on May 11 and the Honor Walk donation of her organs on May 13 at UVA, she clung tenaciously to life. “I am going to do this, Miss Sam,” she told Samantha at a fashion show RON was hosting. And she walked down the runway.
“It is a sacrificial gift,” Samantha said of the youth center. “Nathan would have loved this,” Susan Jenkins said, standing outside the Santmyers building in May of 2023, and as soon as she said it, it began to rain. Indeed, a little fall of rain can hardly hurt me now, to quote the musical production of Les Miserables. There is a very real sense that both Harlee and Nathan continue to live through the youth center as the RON family remembers them and strives to reach young people in their position. Especially Harlee’s. While it is impossible to predict an accident like the one that occurred for Nathan, Samantha, and Toby both feel strongly that intervention is possible in the case of young people who are struggling with mental health issues.
In fact, May will be Mental Health Awareness Month for RON as they host three different athletic events in memory of Harlee and Nathan through their Safe at Home program. On May 9, a varsity girls’ softball game will be held at Skyline High School at 6 p.m. They will host a community baseball day on May 11, between 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the Bing Crosby Stadium. And on May 25 at Skyline High School from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., they will host a community softball day. In order to get tickets, go to reachingoutnow.org
There is no need to be perfect. Samantha is frank about the impact this trauma has had on her health. “You have rheumatoid arthritis,” a doctor told her. He explained that she had internalized so much psychological pain that it had a very real manifestation in her physical health. But this is just one more obstacle that can be overcome through the support of friends offering real, physical comfort. You can be broken, Toby said. It is okay. It is the broken kids that RON wants to reach. If you are in trouble at school, we understand, Samantha emphasized. If you have weed in your backpack, we understand. This is not a matter of selecting the crème de la crème of students who are already gifted and exceptionally motivated. It is a matter of reaching all the kids and helping them understand their potential.
In the unfurnished room at the youth center, a room named in honor of Nathan and intended to be a game room, the Nate (DAWG) Game Room, Samantha, and Toby agree wholeheartedly that there is nothing wrong with just playing games if you are not playing them alone. Toby said this is the most connected yet disconnected age. The goal of the youth center is to help young people connect authentically.