District News

Re-opening Update for Parents 11/20/20

I want to wish all families a Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone enjoys their well-deserved week off from school! Please remember the luxury we have from starting school when we did. Because we did not push our opening even further, we are able to keep our existing school calendar, which includes the entire week off for Thanksgiving, which will not take days from your family! Thank you for understanding and supporting that decision when it was made with you in mind!

Please click the link below for the full update.

Anyone that says learning is “NOT FUN” has NEVER visited FES where Superintendent Hughes observed a game of Around the World using math problems where Katelin Won! PE was super fun using music to make sure students are active, stretching, and learning the need to keep the body moving. Kindergarteners were learning rectangle as a shape through Art and Forth Graders were learning the difference between Pollination and Fertilization. It’s Final…..Learning is FUN in the WCSD and FES exemplified it in EPIC fashion!

An amazing visit to FMS to share in a Cross Curricular activity shared by World Cultures and Agriculture classes lead by Coaches Wassman, Smallwood, and Mayer. They are Educators who coach! The students led the discussion, answered Superintendent Hughes’ questions, and dove deep into detailed Florida Standards. Check the cafeteria photograph that captured social distancing. Alert, FMS may be the leading school with wearing mask or social distancing. Superintendent Hughes estimated 95-98% of students were wearing masks in the hallways. Go Dogs!!!!!

“People learn most when teaching others.” –Peter F. Ducker

WMS seventh grade math teacher Mrs. Makala Ellenburg strives to make learning both straightforward and challenging for her students. During instruction, Mrs. Ellenburg guides students toward standards-based understanding using the AVID note process. She models how to work problems and walks students through the thinking processes involved. She then allows students timed practice opportunities to work problems independently. As they work, she circulates the room, checking answers and awarding tickets to those with the correct answers and work. She then selects students to work out the problems and explain their thinking to their peers. These students also earn tickets for their work. At the end of class, Mrs. Ellenburg holds a prize drawing for all ticket recipients. Mrs. Ellenburg creates an environment for students to OWN their learning while having fun doing it.

Superintendent Hughes made a visit to Brave Country where he served as principal for 10 years, had a chance to see some amazing advanced math coursework that will challenge the best students at the highest cognitive level! EPIC leadership and teamwork happening in these halls! Also, spent some time in the band room welcoming new band teacher Mr. Austin and some of the most talented musically gifted students in the state. Shout out to the Tuba section (instrument Mr. Hughes played in Middle School)!

What are you thankful for? If it includes the Walton County School District, please text your gratitude to 850.204.9667, and we will pass it on to a specific school or employee! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, November 23-27

Re-opening Update for Parents 11/13/20

In the spirit of transparency, I would like to share the Walton County School District’s updated COVID-19 data. Please remember if your child has been exposed while at school, you will receive a phone call home. If you have not been notified, then your child has not been exposed while at school.

Click the link below for the full update.

This week, Mr. Joe Proffitt shared one of his ag class’s tower gardens with Mr. Tommy Martin and students at Emerald Coast Technical College. These aeroponic growing systems can be found throughout campus at WMS, providing an easy way to grow fresh produce, both indoors and out, year-round. The teachers are excited to share this unique gardening experience with students at both schools. And undoubtedly, the products of their learning will be both healthy and delicious.

Paxton High School’s aerospace students send a huge shout out to USAF Colonel Tucker Hamilton for joining them via Microsoft Teams today to lend his expertise to the students’ glider project. Students have been tasked with turning a shoebox into a functioning glider, using cardboard, foam, and other easily procured materials.

Hamilton shared tips for determining center of balance of the glider, adjusting angle of attack, and provided ideas for ways to test the airflow around the aircraft’s surfaces, as well as answering a myriad of questions about his Air Force career as a test pilot. Hamilton is currently the director of the USAF/Massachusetts Institute of Technology Artificial Intelligence Accelerator, and joined students from the MIT campus today.

PHS thanks you for your service and your continued support of STEM education!

In the 2A Region 1 meet South Walton girls finished second and boys finished third. They both ran a solid race with four girls finishing in the top fifteen. Both teams qualified for the state meet in Tallahassee on 11/14. Results on fl.milesplit.com

Re-opening Update for Parents 11/20/20

November 20, 2020

Learning is FUN in the WCSD!

November 19, 2020

Superintendent Hughes has an Amazing Visit to FMS!

November 19, 2020

"Teacher Time" In 7th Grade Math at WMS

November 18, 2020

Superintendent Hughes Made a Visit to Brave Country

November 17, 2020

What Are You Thankful For?

November 17, 2020

Re-opening Update for Parents 11/13/20

November 13, 2020

Loaded up and Ready to Grow

November 10, 2020

Paxton High School's Aerospace with USAF Colonel Tucker Hamilton

November 9, 2020

Congratulations SWHS Cross Country Teams

November 9, 2020