GREAT news...bus riders are no longer required to wear face masks! The CDC lifted the requirement on 2-25-22.
Ware Shoals School District implemented The Stop It App. Stop It is an anonymous reporting app to submit safety issues, bullying and other concerns in your school. Use the links below to download the app and search for your school. It is that simple, so download today!
For Apple devices use https://apps.apple.com/us/app/stopit-app/id719179764
For Android devices use https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.stopitcyberbully.mobile&hl=en_US&gl=US
Ware Shoals Primary is in search of a Computer Lab Manager. If you are interested, please complete a classified employment application and submit it to Mr. Morrison, Principal by February 15th. The application may be found on our website or at this link:
https://core-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/474422/Classified_Employment_Application.pdf
We are in search of a District Safety Coordinator. See the job posting on our District Facebook page.
The board recently voted to increase substitute pay. Daily rates range from $80-$120 and hourly from $10.67-$13.33. A complete list of rates is on our district's Facebook page. If you would like to sub for us, contact Kelly Services and join our team!
https://www.facebook.com/kellyservices
We will be taking advantage of the Test To Stay program. We received a shipment of rapid tests yesterday, and we thank DHEC for supplying us with them! We continue to encourage vaccinations, masking indoors, handwashing, social distancing, and staying home when sick.
https://scdhec.gov/index.php/news-releases/dhecs-test-stay-program-keeps-more-students-school-state-health-officials-encourage
This week we welcome spectators back to watch our Hornet basketball teams play. The nurses report that our COVID cases are beginning to decline, and we are almost back to full capacity with our faculty and staff. We still encourage wearing masks and social distancing to the extent possible. We have four remaining home games and one away game. Come support our Hornets!
Calhoun Falls @ Ware Shoals 2/2/22 (makeup game)
Ware Shoals @ Calhoun Falls 2/4/22
SSC @ Ware Shoals 2/7/22
High Point @ Ware Shoals 2/9/22
Dixie @ Ware Shoals 2/10/22 (makeup game)
Tonight's Varsity Basketball games/Senior Night will be Live Streamed from our NEW "Live Sports" button on our District's webpage. The Live Stream feed will begin promptly at 6 pm tonight. Please reference the attached image to access future sporting events FREE! Go Hornets!
The Palmetto State Teachers' Association honors each district's Teacher of the Year by making a banner and presenting it at school, along with words of thanks and encouragement. Chuck Watson, PSTA rep, came to see our TOY today...Dr. Kem Owens. Thank you, PSTA, for honoring Dr. Owens!
Message from Ware Shoals School District...We are aware that winter weather is being predicted for some areas, but reports we've received for our area from the National Weather Service lead us to believe that we can safely operate on a normal schedule. We will monitor conditions through the night, and if we experience freezing rain or snow that would make travel dangerous, you will get a call and text by 5:45 to notify you of an eLearning Day.
Today, Dr. Brannon Traxler, Dir. of Public Health for DHEC, held a video chat to review changes in guidance for schools regarding quarantines. The "requirement" that students without symptoms test on day 5 to return to school on day 6 is now a "recommendation" when testing is not feasible.
Since testing is not feasible at this time due to a shortage of resources, students who were to test to return this week may return tomorrow if they are symptom-free and agree to wear a mask at school the rest of this week.
https://www.facebook.com/wspatv/videos/1386468225127863
We realize there are quite a number of students who were expecting to test today and tomorrow to come back to school from being quarantined. Unfortunately, we have only 2 of our 5 nurses who are able to report to work today and tomorrow and the volume is too great to handle along with taking care of the usual daily tasks of a school nurse.
We will allow for the use of at-home rapid tests. DHEC recommends that we proctor those tests, so they can be done at home via FaceTime with one of our nurses or with an administrator.
If that is not possible, you may submit a test done at home but you will have to complete a DHEC form that will be available from the school nurse. It can be found on our website under the COVID tab. The form is called "At-Home Rapid Test Result Attestation."
Complete guidance for at-home rapid testing is on pages 24-25 of the most recently released guidance booklet for schools, also available on our website under the COVID tab.
Please let us know if you have any questions.
We still have dangerous areas on some of our back roads. Tomorrow’s temperature doesn’t reach above freezing until nearly 9am.
We will be on a 2 hour delay for staff and car riders or bus riders whose parents can get them to school. Our buses will be on a 3 hour delay, so expect those students to arrive between 10:30 and 11:00.
When we report our schedule online to TV stations, we won’t have the option to put all that information (2 & 3 hr delay, depending on transportation), so we will report a 2 hour delay.
Wherever you’re coming from, please drive safely! Allow extra time for travel. Even some of our highways have runoff, which will result in black ice until the temperature gets sufficiently above freezing.
Ware Shoals School District would like to take a moment to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
A vaccine clinic will be held at First Baptist Church next Wednesday, January 19, from 9-4. Vaccines and boosters will be administered for ages 5 and up. The flyer has a QR code for pre-registering, but that's not required.
High Point Academy hosts our varsity boys' and girls' basketball team on Friday (Jan. 14). They are only allowing two parents for each player, no other spectators. $7 tickets can be purchased at the door.
Diana Pet Food is hosting a community update on Saturday, January 22nd from 10AM-12. Come out and enjoy breakfast while learning about DPF.
Have questions about school attendance and the pandemic? Get answers this Thursday, January 13, 6:00 pm, in an informative Q&A webinar hosted by the SC Department of Education and the Carolina Family Engagement Center.
See more here: https://tinyurl.com/387nc7uc
Please join us in welcoming SRO Bryan Snow to Ware Shoals Primary. The Laurens County Sheriff's Office received a State School SRO grant to fund an officer for WSPS, which is located in Laurens County. All schools now have a full-time SRO, and we are so thankful!
The bus that is transporting students to remediation is running late due to a downed tree on Nation Road. The Highway Patrol is on scene to assist with removal of the tree. The bus may be an hour or more late picking some students up.