Congratulations to Walton Middle School art student Bethany Waites for having her artwork selected as the Walton County representative in the Art in the Capitol Competition. Bethany's artwork will be displayed in the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee during the 2022 Legislative Session. 

In July of 2016, the Florida Legislature passed, and Governor Rick Scott signed, House Bill 701 establishing the Art in the Capitol Competition, a statewide visual arts competition for Florida students in grades 6 through 8. Each school district is required to hold an annual art competition with artwork judged by a selection committee consisting of art teachers. The winning art from each district is then displayed in the Capitol. 

On Monday, November 8, 2021, Principal Jason Campbell and Superintendent A. Russell Hughes congratulated Bethany and her art teacher, Brittany Grant, for this achievement. 

This is the fourth consecutive year that the Art in the Capitol Competition winner from Walton County School District has been a student at Walton Middle School, with art teacher Brittany Grant.   

COVID Update November 5, 2021

In the spirit of transparency, the Walton County School District (WCSD) will continue to update our stakeholders with COVID-19 data for the 2021-2022 school year. 

We are happy to report yesterday’s single day data at 0%.  As we continue our mitigation strategies below, we want to thank all of our stakeholders – parents, students, teachers, staff, administrators, and our school board – for working together to keep our schools safe. 

Walton County School District COVID-19 Mitigation Strategies for the 2021-2022 School Year

1. If a person is sick (students, teachers, staff, and visitors), they should stay home.
2. Face covering is optional for all, including the bus.
3. Hand sanitizer is available at various areas inside the school.
4. Social distancing from others is encouraged as much as possible.
5. Signs will be displayed to remind those in schools about social distancing, as well as the use of hand sanitizer, washing of hands, and face coverings.
6. Cleaning and disinfecting school facilities/buses which are occupied by students will be done daily.
7. Adequate mitigation supplies are on hand at all schools/facilities (hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, masks, etc.).
8. COVID-19 vaccination is optional for all students and employees.
9. COVID-19 contact tracing is occurring in all schools/facilities (2021-2022 WCSD Decision Tree for employees and students).
10. At this time non-essential visitors and volunteers are not allowed to enter schools. This mitigation strategy will be revisited in the next few weeks.

*Please keep in mind that although COVID positive cases may represent a student or staff member within the WCSD, it does not necessarily indicate that the virus originated within the WCSD.  It is also important to note that a portion of the positive cases involve individuals who may have never entered the school setting while sick due to proper quarantining. 

The Walton County School Board recognized the Walton County Presidential Scholar Nominees in the areas of Academics and Career Technical Education at the November 2, 2021, school board meeting.

The Commission on Presidential Scholars accepted nominations from counties across the state of Florida for the 2021-22 cycle of its Presidential Scholars Program. The mission of this program, established in 1964, is to recognize and honor superior high school seniors. Students are selected on the basis of outstanding scholarship in one of two categories:

1) Students are nominated for the academic component based on SAT/ACT scores.

2) Students nominated for the Career and Technical Education (CTE) component are students who demonstrate excellence in career and technical education.

Mr. Weston Corbin from Walton High School was recognized as the Academic Scholar Nominee for Walton County and Miss. Alyssa Sutton from South Walton High School's Magnet Innovations Center/STEAM School was recognized as the Career Technical Education Scholar Nominee for Walton County.  These two students will have the honor of being evaluated at the state level for a chance to be named as one of Florida's Presidential Scholars.  Up to 20 state nominees, 10 male and 10 female, will be chosen for the academic portion. Up to five state nominees will be chosen for the CTE portion. The state nominees will be invited to apply in mid-to-late January 2022 for the national program.

In addition to the above named Walton County nominees, congratulations to all school nominees especially to Haylee Hayes from Paxton School and Sophia Bock from South Walton High School who were selected, respectively, as the second and third Academic Scholars for Walton County.  Also, congratulations go to Emily Casey from Walton High School and Alexandria Grau from Freeport High School who were selected, respectively, as the second and third Career Technical Education Scholars for Walton County.

Additional information about the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program and the Commission on Presidential Scholars is available at http://www.ed.gov/psp