Walton County - School District

September is Attendance Awareness Month! Studies show students with excellent attendance have higher GPA's, are able to retain more advanced concepts, and are 50% less likely to drop out of school! Let's start strong and KEEP THE CHARGE by getting to school!

Superintendent Hughes delivered an inspiring invocation at the ribbon cutting ceremony for Seacoast Collegiate High School. Seacoast Collegiate High School is a Charter school operating in Walton County. Seacoast has a partnership with Northwest Florida State College. The campus is located just south of South Walton High School. Enrollment is set to be open to WCSD students. Guest Speakers included state and local politicians.

August 29th is an early release day. September 1st is Labor Day and all campuses and offices will be closed.

On Friday, August 29th the Walton County School District, in partnership with the Walton County Sheriff's Office and Emergency Management, will host a full-scale active assailant exercise. You can expect increased traffic and law enforcement presence around Paxton School. This exercise will take place after students leave campus for early release. The safety of our students is our first priority, and while we hope to never need this level of response, we want to ensure all community partners work together and are prepared.

Preparing the Whole Child starts early by instilling a love of music, art, and imagination. Kindergarten students at FES enjoy time at "Specials" while their teachers collaborate as a grade level to develop a consistent plan for success.

Did you know? Florida officially designates August 21 as Fentanyl Awareness & Education Day—a crucial step toward educating our communities about the dangers of fentanyl and its devastating impact. Fentanyl is an unbelievably potent drug making it lethal in the most micro of doses. It’s 50–100 times stronger than other opioids like heroin or morphine. Florida ranked second highest in the nation for fentanyl-related overdose deaths. So, let's KEEP THE CHARGE by educating our children and saying NO to drugs of any kind!

For more information, visit the CDC's Toolkit: https://www.cdc.gov/overdose-prevention/php/toolkits/fentanyl-prevention-awareness-day.html

Being EPIC means Preparing the Whole Child for a Life of Success, and that starts early! At Van R. Butler students were building in Ms. Bigler's class while others made beautiful music in Mr. Brown's class. And of course, you have to get the blood flowing on the playground!

Congratulations to these Construction Career Day Scholarship recipients honored at tonight's board meeting. These students, from Paxton School, will be able to use the scholarship for further training via college, vocational school, or an apprenticeship program.

Superintendent Hughes is Keeping the Charge everywhere he goes this year! 25-26 is already proving to be the most EPIC school year yet with incredible accolades for our students.

Walton County School District Leads the Charge in Early Learning Walton County, FL — August 14, 2025 — The Walton County School District is proud to announce that every public Pre-K program in the district has received an “Excellent” designation in Florida’s latest Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) Provider Performance Metric – the states highest available evaluation. Walton County is one of only five school districts in the entire state of Florida to earn this distinction across all public Pre-K providers. The Florida Department of Education’s VPK Performance Metrics evaluate providers on measures such as classroom quality, student achievement, and learning gains. Earning “Excellent” at every public school site underscores WCSD’s strong commitment to early learning and to ensuring that every child enters kindergarten with the tools needed for long-term academic success. Research consistently shows that children who attend high-quality Pre-K programs are more likely to meet grade-level standards in reading and math by third grade, graduate from high school, and pursue postsecondary education or career training. “EPIC starts with our youngest learners,” said A. Russell Hughes, Superintendent of Schools for the Walton County School District. “When we invest in world-class early education, we invest in the future of our community. I am incredibly proud of our teachers, staff, school board, and families for Keeping the Charge and creating a Pre-K experience that sets the stage for a lifetime of success.” The Walton County School District is home to five public Pre-K programs: Bay School, Freeport Learning Center, Paxton School, Mossy Head School, and the WISE Center. Each of these schools have a dedicated staff of certified teachers using state-approved curriculum.

If you haven't been down Walton Road recently, you should make it a point to pass by the site of the new district office! We have gone vertical!

What a CHARGE it was to see everyone at orientations! Now it's time to CHARGE into the 25-26 school year! We can't wait to see you all on Monday, August 11th!

You may ask "what do you during the summer?" The question really is what do we do year around. When children are involved and out facilities need of care, our Facilities Department will take CHARGE on a Saturday, or any other day, and make it happen for children and schools. They help KEEP THE CHARGE through DC POWER! Ask them what makes them take such EPIC Pride in what they do? Their response is simple - IT’S THE CHARGE!!!!

This year we are Keeping the Charge Through DC Power! DC power flows in one direction, from negative to positive! This year is a time to recharge, reinvigorate, charge others, and to CHARGE!! Watch out - here we come!

EPIC DAY is almost here! Friday we welcome our teachers back with a whole new theme...what will it be!?! Stay tuned tomorrow for live updates from FHS to find out the theme for the 25-26 school year!

The countdown has begun to the beginning of the 25-26 school year! Administrators from across the District met last week for an all-day seminar to ensure that everyone is on the same page when it comes to ensuring our students have an EPIC year! We're looking forward to welcoming teachers back at the end of the week!

With nearly 150 drivers, the Transportation Department hosts it's own EPIC Day dealing specifically with the issues and training relative to our bus drivers. The day started with an address from Transportation Director Dennis Grey, and featured guest speaker and social media rockstar Cor'Darius Jones or "Mr. Bus Driver" as well as opportunities for training both online and in person. Bus drivers ran simulated routes that presented challenges they may face during the normal year. Are you interested in joining our EPIC team? Head on over to www.walton.k12.fl.us/employment and apply today!

Can you guess how many computers there are in the District?! Leave your guess below! Every summer our Technology Department refreshes and repairs thousands of student and faculty computers to ensure that they are free of any bugs or old files. It's like a new computer!!!

Progress does not happen by accident. Excellence is not achieved via happenstance. Professionalism must be modeled. Innovation does not occur by whim, and Collaboration does not occur serendipitously. It is manufactured in the dual furnaces of intention and passion. Each year, leaders from every school in the District gather for Manufacturing Day, a practice A. Russell Hughes began when he took office nine years ago.

Progress on Purpose!