Van Devender Middle

The Vandy Book Fair is one week away! We are excited to have families in the building from 11am to 6:45pm to share important information with you about your student's learning. There will be materials provided to increase reading and writing skills at home through Title 1 parent engagement. Plus we have the amazing book fair for families to visit. The book fair will also be open for student purchasing until November 15th. We can't wait to see you all!

Vandy's Fall Book Fair begins in 2 weeks. Families can shop the fair on November 4. Student shopping will be November 6-15. We will also provide families with materials for doing writing and reading activities at home. Use the QR code to get a sneak peek at the Book Fair.

Hello, this is Mr. Echard principal of Van Devender Middle School. There will be a school closure meeting held at Van Devender Middle School on Monday October 21st at 6:00pm in the gymnasium. This meeting is open to the public and will allow the community to voice their thoughts and concerns about potential closing of Van Devender Middle School. If you would like to speak at this meeting you will need to show up by 5:30pm to fill out a speaker card. Typically, speakers will be given 5 minutes to speak but the time could be shortened to 3 minutes depending on the number of speakers. Please contact the school with questions.

Hello Vandy 8th grade parent and guardians, Our 8th grade students will be going on a field trip tomorrow Friday October 18th. The students will be traveling to downtown Parkersburg to Bicentennial Park close to the Blennerhassett Hotel. They will be going on the “Haunted Tour of Parkersburg”. Students must return a signed permission form along with the $10 in order to attend. The permission forms were sent home with your students earlier this week. Contact the school if you are unable to cover the student fee. Students not attending will be working on missed assignments and iReady lessons. Please contact Mr. Tupitza with questions or concerns about the trip.

The football game against Wahama tonight has been cancelled by Wahama. There will not be any practice this evening.

The Vandy Fall Book Fair begins in three weeks. This will be a big fair with lots of amazing books so you can promote reading at home and at school. Families can create an eWallet account for your student so they can make cashless purchases at the fair. You can also share the eWallet with other family members who can add funds to help your child buy more books. Family shopping at the fair will be November 4th from 11am - 6:30pm during parent/teacher conferences.

We are excited to share a special video that showcases the excellence, dedication, and pride within our Wood County Schools community. This video highlights the incredible work of our teachers, coaches, staff, and students, and reflects our commitment to providing a high-quality education for every child. Thank you for being part of our amazing district! Watch the video: https://woodcountyschoolswv.com/wcs-shines

Vandy's Fall Book Fair will be open to families starting on November 4 during parent/teacher conferences. Visit with your child's teachers, received strategies for engaging with your child's learning, and visit the book fair. The book fair will remain open until November 15th for student purchases.

Vandy Picture Packets were sent home on October 3rd. Picture day will be on October 10th. Please contact the school with questions.

The Van Devender Local School Improvement Council (LSIC) meeting will be held at 3:20pm in the Van Devender Cafeteria on Sept. 24. LSIC's give parents the opportunity to be involved in their child's educational process and work alongside the principal, teachers, service personnel and community to improve student and school performance. Elections will be held to select participants to serve as voting members for a 2-year term. We hope to see you there.

Dear Wood County Schools’ families: Thank you for your courage, patience, and understanding this week as our school personnel and law enforcement agencies worked together to keep our schools safe. We are fortunate for the relationship between our school system and law enforcement. Wood County Schools would like to express gratitude and appreciation for the law enforcement agencies throughout our county and state who provided support to Wood County Schools this week. Thank you to the Parkersburg Police Department, Wood County Sheriff’s Department, Vienna Police Department, Williamstown Police Department, and the Capitol Police. -- Christie M. Willis -- Superintendent

Update: The person responsible for making the threat towards Van Devender is now in police custody. There is no threat to students at this time.

Wood County Schools has been informed of a potential threat involving Van Devender Middle School. The Parkersburg Police Department is actively investigating the situation. We will provide additional information as it becomes available.

Wood County Schools is aware of an online threat targeting various school systems across West Virginia. We take every threat seriously and are actively monitoring the situation. The safety of our students and staff is our top priority, and we are working closely with local law enforcement to ensure that all necessary precautions are taken. We will continue to keep our community informed as we gather more information. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Good morning, this is Mr. Echard principal of Van Devender Middle School. I wanted to put a quick message out about school dismissal. Students will be dismissed from school at 3:15pm. Students walking home will exit the building through the main front doors by the office. Students being picked up by parents or guardians will exit the building through the gym doors and walk down the track to the Lincoln Parking lot at the end of the Vandy School parking lot. Students riding buses will report to the gym and sit in the bleachers until their buses arrive. Students are not permitted to use any other doors to exit the building. We need to keep the traffic flow in the parking lot to a minimum at arrival and dismissal times for the buses. The lane next to the fence in the parking lot is for buses only at arrival and dismissal times. The parent drop-off lane is the lane next to the street. Thank you for all that you have done to make first drop off successful. Always remember to be kind, work hard and represent.

Tomorrow is our first day of school. Students can enter the school building starting at 7:10am when our first bus arrives. Students will enter the building through the parking lot doors and go into the gym. 6th grade students will sit on the right side of the bleachers, 7th grade students will sit in the middle section of the bleachers and 8th grade students will sit on the left side of the bleachers. Breakfast will be available to all students starting at 7:10am in our cafeteria. Students will enter the cafeteria through the mini gym and across the courtyard. Breakfast will end at 7:45am. Students arriving late will need to be issued a pass in order to get breakfast after that time. The first class begins at 8:02am. Students are not permitted to use their cell phones for texting, talking or social media when entering the building. They are permitted to listen to music on their device when they are waiting for school to start but the phone must be put away and out of sight. Students will place their phones, bags and backpacks in their lockers after they are dismissed from the gym in the morning. They are not permitted to have their phones, bags or backpacks until the last bell rings at the end of the day. Feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns. We look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow morning.

Good afternoon, This is Mr. Echard principal of Van Devender Middle School. This evening is our open house. The doors will open at 5pm for 7th/8th grade students. 7th/8th grade students will enter through the parking lot doors and enter the gymnasium. They will be able to get their schedules, visit with our boosters, and get information on the boys/girls club. Directly after this, 7th/8th grade students and guardians will sit on the bleachers in the gym and get some information from our Title I team. Please remember that Coplin Health Systems will be providing free sports physicals for our students and Escape Youth Ministries will be providing food for all participants from 5:00-6:45. We look forward to seeing everyone this evening. Always remember to Be Kind, Work Hard and Represent.

Good afternoon, This is Mr. Echard principal of Van Devender Middle School. This evening is our open house. The doors will open at 4pm for 6th grade students. 6th grade students will enter through the parking lot doors and enter the gymnasium. They will be able to get their schedules, visit with our boosters, and get information on the boys/girls club. Directly after this, 6th grade students and guardians will sit on the bleachers in the gym and get some information from our Title I team. Please remember that Coplin Health Systems will be providing free sports physicals for our students and Escape Youth Ministries will be providing food for all participants from 4:45-6:45. We look forward to seeing everyone this evening. Always remember to Be Kind, Work Hard and Represent.

Good evening! We want to remind you about our back-to-school open house tomorrow, Monday, August 19th. Our elementary open house will be from 4 to 6 p.m. and our middle, high, WCTC and Caperton will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Students' first day back to school will be Wednesday, August 21st. We're excited to see you and kick off a fantastic year!

Say “hello” to two-way messaging in the Wood County Schools app! The same district app now offers class streams, class announcements, and parent-teacher chat. Look for your personalized invitation to begin using this feature in our app after 8/21. Download for Android https://aptg.co/tLf49D Download for iPhone https://aptg.co/tXzp7c