Although some school districts to the west of us are closed tomorrow Monday, August 30, 2021 due to weather conditions, the Walton County School District has collaborated with our local weather experts to determine that we will remain open.  We hope everyone, including the counties in our surrounding area, remain safe.  Please reach out to your individual schools if you have any concerns or questions.  Thank you. 

Seventh grade students in Mrs. Sandy Thorson's class are starting their school year learning the importance of owning their learning.

To introduce a unit on the nature of science that will continue through September, Mrs. Thorson offered students learning scales and goals to self-assess their prior knowledge and learning along the way. She presented students with a five-point scale (like FSA), emphasizing that they should aim to learn at the highest level 5, but that a level 3 should be the minimum that she will accept from them or that they should accept for themselves. She also encouraged students whose learning might only be at a level 1 or 2 right now, as their growth will evolve as new concepts are introduced.

She asked students to look at the provided learning scales and goals and self-evaluate, asking how many concepts they already know. Then she asked them to take a look at how far their learning will likely advance as they explore the new unit.

Mrs. Thorson encouraged her science students to build knowledge about nature of science concepts from their notes, textbook, and digital resources all along the way. She emphasized that though she will deliver the content in as many creative ways as possible, the load of the learning should fall on the students and that they should self-assess all along the way.

At Walton Middle School, our teachers work hard to create the right conditions for students to learn, then we partner with them, holding them accountable for the success they find along their own paths.

Grade level teams at West DeFuniak have been busy collaborating and creating learning targets for students. These Professional Learning Communities will be meeting throughout the year to support student achievement. As always, WDE is aiming for greatness!

On August 17, 2021, the Walton County School Board approved the 2021-22 Substitute Salary Schedule recommended by Superintendent A. Russell Hughes. The salary schedule, effective August 18, 2021, provides increased hourly rates of pay for most instructional and non-instructional substitute positions. The percent increases range from 15.6% to 38.9%. Superintendent Hughes and the Walton County School Board recognize the important role substitutes play in providing services to our students and schools and hope the increased rates of pay will help retain current substitutes as well as attract more substitute applicants.

Walton County School District is currently in need of substitutes in all areas. If you are interested in earning extra money while providing a much needed, valuable service to our students, please contact Jami Brown at (850) 892-1100, ext. 1354 or [email protected] for more information. The 2021-22 Substitute Salary Schedule along with other useful information for substitutes may be viewed at https://www.walton.k12.fl.us/substitutes.