Lowndes County Schools

We are proud to announce that Dewar Elementary School has been honored as a 2025 Military Flagship School by the Georgia Department of Education—one of only 25 schools in the state to receive this recognition! With over 230 military-connected students, Dewar stands out for its year-round commitment to creating a welcoming and supportive environment. From Deployment Club Breakfasts and personalized check-ins to signature events like Purple Up Spirit Week and the Veterans Day Parade, DES goes above and beyond for our military families.

📢 Viking Parents! Don't miss this FREE workshop! 🌐💡💻 Learn how to create a tech ready home with the help of Protect Young Eyes! 📅 Tuesday, March 25 ⏰ 6:00 PM 📍 LHS Performing Arts Center. 🔗 Register here: bit.ly/PYELCS

📢 Viking Parents! Don't miss this FREE workshop! While we can’t eliminate all digital risks, we can create a home that is confident and prepared for today’s online world. 🌐💡💻 Learn how to create a tech ready home with the help of Protect Young Eyes! 📅 Tuesday, March 25 ⏰ 6:00 PM 📍 Lowndes High School Performing Arts Center. 🔗 Register here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/protectyoungeyes/1620771

Good Afternoon, Viking Family, We hope that you have stayed safe and warm and enjoyed the snow the past two days! We’ve been closely monitoring weather and road conditions following the winter storm and remaining in contact with Lowndes EMA, Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office, and other local officials. As the snow and ice have began to melt from the roads and conditions have improved, we will be reopening all schools and system offices tomorrow, Friday, January 24th. We look forward to welcoming your student back to school tomorrow!

Good morning, This is Sandra Wilcher, Superintendent of Lowndes County Schools. The safety of our staff and students is always our top priority. With the current forecast and road conditions, we do not consider it safe for buses and vehicles to be on the road Thursday morning. According to Lowndes EMA, the forecasted temperature at noon is 32 degrees. Between Noon and 1 PM, the temperature is expected to rise above freezing and peak at 36 degrees around 4 PM., dropping back to freezing at 7 PM. The wind chill factor will stay below freezing all day. This gives us only about 6 hours of above-freezing temperatures. Six hours will not be enough time to allow all the snow and ice to melt and dry out. The hazard could be increased if the snow melts and the freezing results in black ice, which is less visible, creating a false sense of security; ice creates more dangerous driving conditions than snow. Lowndes County EMA and the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office continue to encourage residents to stay off the roads until icy conditions dissipate, which is likely to be Thursday afternoon or later. Follow Lowndes EMA for updates. In the meantime, enjoy Winterland and stay safe and warm! We look forward to seeing everyone on Friday!

Hahira Middle School hosted a special breakfast this morning to honor military families, show appreciation, and share valuable resources available to students with parents who serve. We are grateful for their sacrifices and proud to support our military families!

Lowndes High School Special Olympic athletes were presented with their hard-earned letterman jackets in a special ceremony yesterday led by their teachers, coaches, and fellow Viking athletes. These students represent LHS with sportsmanship, determination, and Viking pride, and we are incredibly proud of their accomplishments. Congratulations, athletes! #OneLowndes #BetterTogether

Looking for English classes? Sign up for this ten-week English program for Parents of Lowndes County ESOL students! ¿Buscas clases de inglés? ¡Regístrese en este programa de inglés de diez semanas para padres de estudiantes de ESOL del condado de Lowndes! https://olalanguageschool.corsizio.com/event/673f4f026cb83e2a7451d018?fbclid=IwY2xjawGtklxleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHf0hA2FaW97gSJ_Gf6PmgV8Rn5428_lbBPojopFW_erS_0zwQ7a8IRUawg_aem_dW3wEDE0405jcsYtsgzYlg

We have been in communication with EMA during the night. There are some areas inside the City of Valdosta that have experienced flash flooding, and some roads are closed in the city. The safety of our staff and students is always our top priority. With the primary impact being inside the city, we have adjusted transportation routes and are having school. As we have with other weather impacts, students who are not able to safely travel to school will be excused. Please refer to Lowndes EMA social media for updated list of road closures and travel with caution. The latest information we have about impacted roads to avoid due to flash flooding is as follows. Inner Perimeter is flooded at VHS across all lanes. Patterson at Drexel Park. Berkley Road. Country Club at 3 mile branch (Williamsburg). St Augustine between Melody Lane Circle K and Cookout. St. Augustine at River St. and Hightower Creek. River St at Saunders Park. Bemiss Rd at Guest Rd is closed. Intersection of Saint Augustine Road and US 84 Eastbound Lanes: Flooding affecting lanes heading into downtown. Flooding affecting eastbound and westbound lanes of US84 near the intersection of Leon Street. Please exercise caution and avoid these areas until conditions improve. Never cross a road with water covering it. We will continue to stand with one another and remain South Georgia Strong.

Good afternoon, We are excited to have our staff return to work on Monday, October 7th, to prepare to welcome our students back on Wednesday, October 9th. Due to storm damage, most schools and facilities will not have internet access. With Monday and Tuesday used as planning days, we are confident in our ability to continue providing quality education for our students with or without the Internet. Though most of our facilities sustained minor damage, our staff has been hard at work to prepare for safe student returns. Please be patient with us as we reestablish phone access before students return. Email will be the most efficient contact method at this time. As we assess bus routes on Monday, we will contact families where bus routes need to be adjusted. We look forward to seeing our One Lowndes family back together next week! #OneLowndes #BetterTogether Sandra Wilcher, Superintendent

Good afternoon, I continue to be humbled by our community's resilience and thankful for the way you serve one another well. Over this past week, we have all experienced hardships, from loss of power to loss of homes. As we continue to recover, we want to reestablish our routines and have students and staff return to school and work as soon as it is safe. As of last night, we have power restored to all but one of our campuses. We anticipate full power restoration this week. Our staff have worked diligently this week to clear access to our campuses and address any damages so our buildings are ready for our One Lowndes family to safely return to school. Our primary concern remains road access due to downed trees and powerlines. We are working with EMA and county officials to determine which roads are safe to access, specifically for buses and car riders. I will provide an update by noon on Saturday. If you have not completed our Hurricane impact survey, please do so when you are able to access the internet. We are truly South Georgia Stong, and I am prouder than ever to serve this school system. We are #BetterTogether. Sandra Wilcher Superintendent https://forms.gle/DNNWsnnzW5i3ZBXS7

Viking Family, As we recover from the impact of Hurricane Helene, we want to do everything we can to be mindful of the needs of our ONELowndes family. We are all ready to get back to school and back to our normal routines. We also want to be respectful of what each of you are living through as it relates to storm recovery. If you’ve been displaced, we will make arrangements for you to stay enrolled at your home school if at all possible! We thank you for taking a few minutes to let us know your situation, so we can make informed decisions on returning to school and support you as we return to school. The community has many resources available, and information can be found on the EMA Lowndes Facebook page. We will also share resources on our social media as we become aware of those available. Please only complete ONE survey per household. This does not replace the requested community Crisis Track website reporting requested by EMA. https://forms.gle/2xwM4DVSD5L4DkkT7

Good afternoon Viking family, Our community has just experienced the largest disaster ever known to us. As our community begins the lengthy recovery process, I am mindful of the devastating losses experienced by many of you and how hard teams are working to clear roads and restore power in our area. We have been in constant communication with the true heroes of our community to include both power companies, first responders, and Lowndes EMA. We have started the assessment process of our buildings and our entire county as we are mindful that even once our buildings can open we have to be able to safely transport children to school. Knowing that safety is our top priority, Lowndes County Schools will be closed next week. At Gov Kemp’s press conference today, he shared his commitment to supporting our community and discussed the massive amount of resources already deployed to our area. We will continually assess where we are with our facilities and community to determine when our schools can reasonably reopen. I consider our schools a vital part of this community with our students relying on schools for not only academics but connections with peers, hot meals and a sense of belonging. I assure you as we continue the recovery process, and as soon as it is safe to do so we will reopen and look forward to seeing our One Lowndes family back together. Please follow EMA Lowndes on social media, and we will continue to share resources on our social media pages as well. I’m thankful for a community that rallies together. We are South Georgia Strong and we are Better Together. Sandra Wilcher, Superintendent Lowndes County Schools

Viking Family, As a follow up to our return plan, we are excited to share that the first day of school for students for the 2024-2025 school year will be this Friday, August 9th. We look forward to seeing your student soon!

Viking Family, We are excited to get the school year underway following our weather-related delay. We understand the challenges and disruptions this delay may have caused, and we appreciate your patience and understanding! Our teachers and staff will return to work tomorrow, August 7th. Elementary, Journey, and Middle School Open Houses will be moved to Thursday, August 8th, at the same time previously scheduled. Lowndes High School Ignite will be a drop-in event for 9th graders and new students on Thursday from 3:30 - 5:30 pm. The Lowndes County Schools Work Session is canceled, our regular Board Meeting is still scheduled for August 12th at 6:00 p.m. All schedule changes will be posted on our social media for your convenience.

Welcome to the #OneLowndes Family! Over the past two days, all new Lowndes County Schools Employees came together for orientation where they became acquainted with everything they need to know as a Viking. We are thrilled to welcome over 100 newcomers to our team and look forward to kicking off a new school year with them.

Congratulations to the newly named 2024-2025 Miss and Mr. LHS, Rebecca Keown and Cason Hasty! 🏆 🎉 Miss and Mr. LHS serve as ambassadors for Lowndes High School, and we know that these two exceptional students will represent our school well! We also extend our congratulations to the other finalists: Ryan Bellflowers, Jayden DiTomasso, Jonah Kim, and Nicole Taylor. Being selected as one of the six finalists from a pool of over 3,000 students is truly an honor! #OneLowndes

Morale was high at Moulton-Branch Elementary School yesterday afternoon as students gathered for an exciting pep rally to encourage them for the Georgia Milestones testing that began today! Students competed against teachers, performed a proficiency dance, and cheered each other on as each class ran through a sign to signify BUSTING THAT TEST! 💥💯👊

Celebrating #PurpleUp for military kids! 💜 Hahira Elementary School welcomed military students and their families yesterday morning for a special celebration. After enjoying breakfast, families were invited to place a pin on a map in the front of the school showcasing everywhere the military has taken them. Everyone was excited to see the unique places their classmates have lived before calling Moody and Lowndes County Schools home! 📍 🗺️ 💜

HAPPY WELCOME WEDNESDAY! Lowndes County School Board members Robert McGeehan, Erin Price, Eddie Smith, and Fred Wetherington lined the halls of Lowndes High School this morning, joining in on the weekly Welcome Wednesday fun, greeting students and staff as they entered. High fives, handshakes, and warm welcomes were the best way to start our day!