Inclusive education recognizes that students, staff and the greater community need cultural knowledge about themselves and others. More than ever before, students need to see themselves reflected in their learning environment, as well as appreciate someone else’s worldview. The ability to see the world from one’s own viewpoint and another’s at the same time allows everyone to perceive the world in three dimensions. For the months of September, November, February and May, the Department of Equity, Diversity and Opportunity has designed a virtual event that will take place to help celebrate the following cultural heritages: Hispanic, Native American, Black and Asian/Pacific, respectively.

The first Heritage month is September, which is focused on the celebration of Hispanic / LatinX history and culture. The attached Heritage Series Flyer includes information on the following virtual events:
• Advocacy of Dolores Huerta (open to students / teachers)
• LatinX teacher panel (open to all staff)
• Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (open to community / staff)
• Power of Language (open to all staff)

Click on this link to access the registration form.

We made it through the first week! Kudos to our parents for doing an AMAZING job at helping our students get into the virtual setting. We appreciate all you have been doing to get your child’s computer working and all your patience with us as we work through this new setting. Students are doing an amazing job staying focused and meeting all of our expectations. Teachers have gone above and beyond in reinventing education this school year. We hope that by now you are familiar with PowerSchool, Schoology, and Microsoft Teams. If you need any help, please reach out to us! Please check out some pictures of our first week!

Tomorrow, we have two community events scheduled. First, from 12 – 6 PM, you may bring your child dressed for school to Elko for a photo opportunity with your child’s grade level counselor and administrator. Have your child get creative with a first day poster or dry erase board for a great photo. Pull up and look for a staff member out front when you arrive. This is a great chance for you to grab your Elko yard sign as well or you can grab it any time school is open.

Also tomorrow, we will have our virtual open house from 6 – 7:30 PM. This is online so please do not come to the building. We will start with a welcome from our administration. The virtual Teams meeting will open at 5:30 so that you can test out the technology. We will start at 6 PM and follow your child’s schedule which can be found in PowerSchool. For a detailed schedule for the evening event, please visit our website or check your e-mail for the link. You will need to ensure Teams and Schoology are working for you.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UVGhmwKTKnC2BSH_bxJNq1zhXvL4h3MgKHCgU4LhLZM/edit

Two quick technology reminders: please make sure your child’s webcam works. If it doesn’t, please visit the school. Students log in with their hcps–___ username and the password for 6th grade students is their lunch ID number. If your student does not remember the password, please e-mail helpdesk@henrico.k12.va.us or check our website for the link to reset passwords: https://pwmanager.henrico.k12.va.us/PMUser/.

Don’t forget to check out our ONE STOP guide for you as an Elko parent/guardian: https://tinyurl.com/elko-btsg-2020. This will be updated as new information comes out and is a live document. If you have any questions, please reach out to us!

Welcome to the 2020-2021 School Year! While students’ class schedules will become available on PowerSchool at 4:00pm today, Friday, August 28th, please know that these schedules are subject to change. Over the next week, counselors must still balance schedules to meet the needs of all students and do their best to not overcrowd any classes. As always, please have your child note the schedule that is active in PowerSchool the first day of school and follow the September 8th active schedule. If there is an issue with your student’s schedule please request a course change at https://bit.ly/32odMCS. Unless a student is missing a class or in the wrong core class, schedules will not be changed until September 21, 2020.

Due to COVID-19, the following fees have been waived by Henrico County Public Schools for the 2020-2021 school year: Laptop Fee, Information Access and Retrieval Fee, PE Fee, and Science Fee. The Online School Payment (parent portal) has been updated to reflect the changes in the fees that have been waived. Go to https://osp.osmsinc.com/henricova/ to access the payment portal, and learn more about creating an account by accessing the document below.

Documents:

• How to Create a Parent Account in OSP, 08-14-20 (.pdf)

Thanks to all Elko families who were able to attend our virtual town hall. If you missed the meeting, please check out the presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1NalnveUL1XyLjw922PPs-qyum1kZ6EfZoRbxe6Ae7aw/edit#slide=id.g90b07c0255_0_7

In realizing the plethora of information coming to you as we start virtually, we have created a ONE STOP guide for you as an Elko parent/guardian: https://tinyurl.com/elko-btsg-2020. This will be updated as new information comes out and is a live document. If you have any questions, please reach out to us! 

If you can stop by Elko Middle, please pick up a yard sign for your family. We hope to increase our sense of community at Elko as we start the new school year. Please display it in your yard or on your door. Thanks for all you do!