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Elko Middle School

September 7, 2026

4th Edition - September 8 - 11, 2026

“The Nest News” 4th Edition, dated September 8–11, 2026, features a fierce blue-and-white eagle, cloudy sky, and yellow alert envelope; bold and energetic.

View The Nest News 4th Edition Smore Newsletter

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

A digital sports mascot logo featuring a determined eagle with blue wings and crossed arms against a blue background, with the word 'EAGLES' below.

THE THEME FOR 2026-2027 SCHOOL YEAR

MISSION imPOSSIBLE

PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE

Dear Elko Students, Parents, and Community Members,

Thanks for another great week at Elko. No Principal's updates this week.

Enjoy your Labor Day weekend.

Dr. Lyles

PLEASE READ ALL OF THE NEWSLETTER & EVENTS

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ACADEMICS

2026-27 VALLSS 6-8 Parent Communication

Please use the language in this document when communicating with families about the VALLSS assessment. You may want to communicate all of the information below or a portion of the information.

As part of the requirements set forth in the Virginia Literacy Act, students in grades 6-8 that did not pass their Reading SOL at the end of the 2025-26 school year will participate in the Virginia Language & Literacy Screening System (VALLSS). VALLSS is designed to provide teachers and families with a better understanding of why students may be experiencing reading difficulties. The VALLSS assessment will help to identify relative strengths and weaknesses with code-based and language comprehension skills. The data from this assessment will be used to guide instruction for improved reading outcomes.

VALLSS consists of six required component:

  • Students will engage in an oral reading fluency task. They will read a short fiction text and a short nonfiction text out loud with their teacher. This will assess the student’s words read correctly per minute.
  • Students will complete a spelling test which contains 20 words.
  • Students will demonstrate their knowledge of word reading by reading words in isolation on a word list.
  • Students will demonstrate their ability to apply phonics skills by reading a list of nonsense words.
  • Students will demonstrate their understanding of prefixes, suffixes, and base words by completing the 12 item morphology component.
  • Students will demonstrate their comprehension at the sentence level by completing the 16 item sentence comprehension component.

As part of the Literacy Act, students that take VALLSS will have a Student Reading Plan for the 2026-27 school year. VALLSS data will be shared with families and used to set reading goals for each student’s Reading Plan. We look forward to partnering with you to increase reading outcomes for your child.

APPOINTMENTS WITH ADMINISTRATORS

Thank you for your continued support of Elko Middle School. Most days at Elko are extremely busy as we ensure our students and staff remain focused on educating the whole child.

We understand that parents and guardians may occasionally have concerns and wish to meet with an administrator. To ensure we can give your concerns the dedicated time and attention they deserve, we ask that you please make an appointment in advance.

You can schedule an appointment by contacting the administrator directly via email or by calling our main office at 804-328-4110.

To meet with Dr. Lyles: Please reach out to our Office Manager, Anita Croxton, at acroxton@henrico.k12.va.us (or via the main office line).

Below is the contact information and grade level assignment for each of our administrators:

SCHOOL OPERATIONS

FALL PICTURES INFORMATION

A graphic with the blue text 'Picture Day' and a grey camera icon with yellow sunburst rays.

FALL SCHOOL PICTURES

SPORTS PICTURES

  • Date: October 15th (AFTER SCHOOL)
  • SPORTS TEAMS- FOOTBALL, GIRLS BASKETBALL, SOCCER, & TENNIS
  • Order Online Code: FM516636
  • Strawbridge Website

ATTENDANCE UPDATES

Parents, if you are dropping off sports equipment for your student, all equipment should be dropped off by 2:30pm. Students can also bring their equipment with them to school and put their belongings in the locker room when they arrive.

TECHNOLOGY

The official logo for Common Sense Media featuring a green checkmark inside a circle alongside the black text.

Digital Citizenship Lessons Launching at Elko!

This week, Elko Middle School is kicking off our annual Digital Citizenship curriculum! As part of our school safety plan and division commitment to balanced technology use, all students will participate in three advisory lessons this semester focused on internet safety, AI ethics, screen-time balance, and maintaining a positive digital footprint.

To encourage screen-free reflection, students will complete brief paper exit tickets for each lesson and enter weekly prize drawings on our morning announcements for their participation! We encourage you to ask your middle schooler what they are learning and keep the conversation going at home.

If you have questions about our digital citizenship program, please contact our Innovation Learning Coach, Ms. Cappell, at jdchyman@henrico.k12.va.us.

DEPARTMENT UPDATES

COUNSELOR'S CORNER

A bright yellow banner reads 'Welcome to the School Counselor's Corner' with colorful paper doll figures at the bottom.

Schedule Changes

September 9th to 23rd is the schedule change request window. Parents can request their students schedule be changed by filling out a google form. When a request is submitted both admin and the counselors will review the request and determine if the change can be made. Fill out the google form here.

8th Grade Specialty Centers

Highland Springs High School will host an information session with all specialty centers in attendance on Saturday, September 12th, from 11 - 2 pm. (Information Sessions)

All specialty centers will host individual open houses, you can see those dates here: Specialty Centers Open Houses Schedule

Level Up Elko - starting Wednesday, September 9th, 7th and 8th grade students can sign up to hear from specific specialty centers during Advisory. Currently we have 7 specialty centers signed up to visit our students and hopefully more to come! Students will be able to signup on a google form on the School Counseling Schoology starting Wednesday the 9th.

ELKO'S SCHOOL COUNSELING STAFF:

Tamika Stacy

Sarah Fish

Gracyn Rawls

Corey Hancock

Jorli Swingen

EVENTS

BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT

ATTENDANCE SPIRIT WEEK

SEPTEMBER AWARENESS MONTH

ELKO PRESENTS... HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, JR.

FALL RESOURCE FAIR

Click here to view this informational flyer about the Fall Resource Fair in Spanish.

LIFE READY EXPO

lick here to view informational flyer for this event.

HENRICO ALUMNI AND FRIENDS INAUGURAL 5K FUN RUN/WALK

A gold medal with a blue ribbon, featuring the text 'Henrico Alumni & Friends' and 'Henrico Education Foundation'.

On September 19th at 9:00 a.m. at Deep Run Park, join us for the inaugural 5K Fun Run/Walk. To launch its new program – Henrico Alumni and Friends – the Henrico Education Foundation invites you to participate in a battle of the high schools! Wear your school colors and get as many friends and family members as you can to participate. You can win bragging rights AND a super cool trophy for your high school to display all year. If you are not in a high school yet, that is OK – pick one to support or one you may feed to.

The goal is participation and FUN. ALL are welcome – past, current, future, and prospective students, their families, and everyone in between. This event is stroller- and pet-friendly, too!

Participants will experience:

  • Food Trucks
  • Music
  • Mascot Mayhem
  • Kids Zone Activities
  • A Bit of Exercise
  • Special Participation Awards!
  • And a Whole Lot of FUN!

How do I sign up? Click here to join the fun and walk.

STAY IN THE KNOW WITH ALL THINGS ELKO & HCPS

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

There are no updates at this time.

VOLUNTEER PROCESS

A graphic illustration features raised hands in purple, black, and teal above the text 'VOLUNTEER'.

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 7th: Labor Day-Schools Closed
  • September 28th: Student Holiday-Teacher PD Day
  • October 28th: 1/2 Day-Staff Clerical Day

ELKO ATHLETICS

Elko Athletics week at a glance: 9/8/26-9/11/26

Click here to view Elko Athletics Fall Sports Schedule for the 2026 season.

ELKO LEADERSHIP TEAM