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The Nest News-3rd Edition-August 31-September 4, 2026

Eagles

INFO YOU NEED TO KNOW

VISION

At Elko Middle School, we are committed to soaring from good to great by cultivating a culture of educational excellence, innovation, and community engagement. Our vision is to empower ever student to reach their full potential—academically, socially, and personally.

We will measure our success by:

Sustaining full accreditation through rigorous academic achievement and continuous improvement.

Expanding extracurricular opportunities that foster creativity, leadership, and collaboration.

Building strong partnerships with local businesses, community organizations, staff and student learning and real-world

THE THEME FOR 2026-2027:

MISSION imPOSSIBLE

PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE

Dear Elko Students, Parents, and Community Members,

I want to extend a sincere thank you for a fantastic start to the school year! Our staggered start for 6th grade was a huge success—our 6th graders had dedicated time to meet all of their teachers and navigate the building before the rest of the school joined.

As we transition into our second week of school, please help us maintain this positive momentum by ensuring your student complies with all school rules and regulations. You can review building expectations below, as well as in the attached Code of Student Conduct.

Additionally, teachers will begin administering diagnostic assessments this week. These assessments help us evaluate student skills and knowledge in each content area so we can tailor instruction and provide the exact support your student needs.

Moving forward this year, one of my main goals is to provide you with regular academic updates, insights, and resources so you can best support your student at home.

Thank you for all that you do for our school. Let's have another great week at the Nest!

Dr. Lyles

ACADEMICS

No academic updates at this time.

SCHOOL OPERATIONS

ATTENDANCE UPDATES

Contacts/Pick-up Lists:

Please make sure your student’s pick-up list is up to date by updating the Contacts listed in PowerSchool. You can do this by logging in to your Parent Portal account. Anyone coming to pick up a student for early dismissal MUST be listed in PowerSchool. If someone is not listed in PowerSchool, we will not be able to call the student down.

EARLY DISMISSAL: The cut off time for early dismissals is 2:30 pm.

Anyone picking up a student must present their driver’s license for identification.

Photos of your license or Virginia Mobile ID cannot be accepted per Henrico County policy.

ALLERGEN INFORMATION

Click here for form to update any food allergies your student may have.

TRANSPORTATION

*Transportation information is forthcoming.

Parent Portal Bus App HCPS families can access The Edulog Parent Portal bus tracking app. This app will empower families, improve communication and foster efficiency. Parents, guardians, and caregivers can follow their student’s bus, receive notifications when a bus enters a user-defined zone, and receive notifications that their student has boarded/disembarked the bus. Download on App Store or Google Play.

Click here to access the Parent Portal Bus App.

TECHNOLOGY

TECHNOLOGY

Securly Home App Now Available for Families!

As a district, HCPS is excited to share that we now offer families access to Securly Home, a free app and web portal that gives you real-time visibility and control over your child's online activity on school-issued devices outside of school hours.

With Securly Home, you can easily:

Monitor activity: View a visual summary of your child’s daily online activities (Stories), access a 30-day history (Activity Feed), and receive real-time alerts for flagged behavior related to self-harm, bullying, or violence.

Set boundaries: Control online activity at home by allowing or blocking specific websites, search terms, and content categories using Rules.

Manage screen time: Set Internet time limits with Offline Schedules, or temporarily pause and resume internet access for each child using the in-app Pause button.

How to get started: Parents who are listed as Contacts 1 & 2 in PowerSchool with a registered email will receive a welcome email from Securly containing your official login credentials. From there, you can download the mobile app or visit https://securly.com to log into the Parent Portal. For troubleshooting and helpful video guides, please visit https://homesupport.securly.com or reach out to Ms. Cappell at jdchyman@henrico.k12.va.us.

CODE OF STUDENTS CONDUCT 2026-27

Click here to view the 2026-2027 HCPS Code of Student Conduct.

CELL PHONE POLICY

CELL PHONE POLICY

Secondary Schools

To ensure a learning environment free from unnecessary disruptions, cell phones and unauthorized electronic devices are required to be out of visible sight, and silenced, or in airplane mode during the school day, and during instruction-related after-school activities (tutoring, homework help, make-up work, etc.), unless being used for instructional purposes with the teacher’s permission. Unauthorized electronic devices include, but are not limited to, cell phones, and smart devices with cellular service or Wi-Fi connectivity.

To further reduce distractions in the classroom, students are required to put their cell phones and smart devices in division-issued storage devices during scheduled class time. This will provide even more consistency throughout and between schools. If a student needs to leave class to visit the restroom, clinic, school counseling office, etc., their cell phone and/or smart device must remain in the classroom. Students will keep their phones and smart devices away in their personal belongings during class changes and at lunch.

Recommended Consequences

First Offense

Device confiscated until the end of the school day, verbal warning and parent/guardian contacted.


Second Offense

Device confiscated, parent/guardian contacted, and parent/guardian must retrieve the device.


Third Offense

Device confiscated, parent/guardian must retrieve the device, and school-level consequences may apply.


Fourth Offense

Device confiscated, parent/guardian must retrieve the device, school-level consequences may apply, and the student shall be banned from possessing a cell phone and/or electronic device at school for the remainder of the school year.

DRESS CODE

Dress Code The HCPS dress code policy permits any student to wear any religiously, ethnically, or culturally specific or significant head covering or hairstyle, including hijabs, yarmulkes, headwraps, braids, locs, and cornrows. All students will be subjected to the same set of expectations regardless of gender, gender identity, or gender expression. These expectations should also carry to clubs, and extra-curricular activities. Staff are prohibited from applying the dress code by direct physical contact with a student or a student’s attire and from requiring a student to undress in front of any other individual. This policy complies with the Code of Virginia.

The administration of every school has the authority to notify students and parents/guardians of modifications to the dress code for spirit days and other school celebrations, as particular items pose a disruption, or as other circumstances warrant. Students may not wear the following items unless otherwise stated:

Students may not wear the following items unless otherwise stated:

Hoods (on heads), hats, or face masks (that covers more than the mouth and nose) inside school buildings, during regular school hours, unless required for religious or medical reasons.

Sunglasses (worn indoors), unless prescribed by a physician.

Clothing must reach the tip of the thumb when hands placed at the sides (arms straight with palms flat).

Messages on clothing, chains, jewelry, and personal belongings that pertain to drugs, alcohol, tobacco, sex, gangs, vulgarity, or messages that negatively represent a religion, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, transgender status, or people, or that could cause a substantial disruption to the learning environment.

Spiked jewelry, chains, and items which could cause student injury. • Beachwear (which includes bathing suits and trunks) and sleepwear.

Clothing that reveals undergarments.

Clothing that is see-through, revealing the midriff (while sitting or standing), or resembles undergarments.

Bedroom slippers or shoes with wheels.

The administrative team in each school shall have discretion regarding dress code decisions. Parents/Guardians of students who violate the dress code may be contacted to provide appropriate clothing for their child(ren), if necessary.

BELL SCHEDULE

Click here to view Bell Schedule for the 2026-2027 school year.

DEPARTMENT UPDATES

COUNSELOR'S CORNER

COUNSELOR'S CORNER

SCHEDULE CHANGES

Schedule change requests will not be accepted until September 9th - 23rd. More information to come about how to send requests.

Tamika Stacy Registrar

Phone ext. 20007

tcstacy@henrico.k12.va.us

Sarah Fish 7th Grade

stfish@henrico.k12.va.us

Gracyn Rawls 8th Grade

glrawls@henrico.k12.va.us

Corey Hancock 6th Grade

clhancock1@henrico.k12.va.us

Jorli Swingen

Director for School Counseling/ EL & last name A- B Jkswingen@henrico.k12.va.us

EVENTS

Elko Middle School Presents...

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL

BACK-TO-SCHOOL NIGHT

BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT

9.9.2026-Back to School Night 4:30 pm-6 pm

Back to School Night is an opportunity for parents to meet our teachers and tour the building if they were unable to attend Open House. Please note that Back to School Night is designed for introductions and school walkthroughs, not individual parent-teacher conferences.

STAY IN THE KNOW WITH ALL THINGS ELKO & HCPS

Elko Middle School Website


HCPS Careers


HCPS-Online Services & Resources

COMMUNITY OPPORTUNITIES: THE OPPORTUNITIES BELOW ARE FOR OUR ELKO/SANDSTON COMMUNITY

There are no updates at this time.

VOLUNTEER PROCESS

VOLUNTEER PROCESS

If you would like to become a volunteer, please complete the online volunteer/mentor application via the link below.

Click here to access the HCPS Volunteer Form.

UPCOMING EVENTS

September 4th- Teacher Student Holiday-Schools Closed


September 7th- Labor Day-Schools Closed


September 28th- Student Holiday-Teacher PD Day


October 28th- 1/2 Day-Staff Clerical Day

ELKO ATHLETICS

ELKO ATHLETICS

Elko Athletics week at a glance: 8/31/26-9/4/26

ELKO LEADERSHIP TEAM

Tyrus T. Lyles, Ed.D.- Principal-ttlyles@henrico.k12.va.us

Quantina Jackson- Associate Principal- qtjackson@henrico.k12.va.us

Sharne' Francis- Associate Principal- sjfrancis@henrico.k12.va.us

Akeela Tyson-Assistant Principal- altyson@henrico.k12.va.us

Blake Carrey-Assistant Principal- abcarrey@henrico.k12.va.us

Jorli Swingen- Director of School Counseling-jkswingen@henrico.k12.va.us

Kendra Amis-Athletic Director- kdamis@henrico.k12.va.us

Jennifer Jenkins-Administrative Aide- jrjenkin@henrico.k12.va.us

Torre Siler-Administrative Aide- tsiler@hennco.k12.va.us

Abby Thomas- Administrative Aide- elreed@henrico.k12.va.us

Jocelyn Woodson- Administrative Aide- jrwoodson1@henrico.k12.va.us

Kristina Harris-Administrative Aide- kvharris@henrico.k12.va.us