Mercer County Schools

Science Comes Alive With This Hands-On Lab Experience! Students stepped into the lab this week to study anatomy up close through fetal pig dissections. A huge thank you to Anna Lilly and Byron Hope from PVHS for making this unforgettable learning experience possible! Our students are doing BIG things! #FutureScientists #MercerProud #STEMEducation

🎉 Attendance WIN! 🎉
Mercer County Schools is showing up in a big way — chronic absenteeism is down significantly compared to last school year! 🙌

Thanks to our schools, families, and students stepping up, the message is loud and clear: When you Strive for Five, our students thrive!

💛 5 days a week. Every week. Every school.
Let’s keep this momentum rolling and finish the year even stronger!

#StriveForFive #AttendanceMatters #MercerCountySchools #ShowingUpForSuccess

MCELC doesn’t mind these chilly winter days when they get to run, play, and explore in their brand-new Gross Motor room! ❄️💛 Keeping bodies moving and spirits bright!

Mercer County Schools is proud to celebrate the continued success of our partnership with the Smiles Program! 😁 We are truly grateful to have this program in our schools. The positive impact has been remarkable—not only for student health, but for the overall well-being of our classrooms and school communities. By providing convenient, school-based dental care, the Smiles Program helps ensure students receive essential services that keep them healthy, confident, and ready to learn. Families benefit from accessible care, students benefit from improved attendance and comfort, and teachers benefit from fewer health-related distractions in the classroom. This partnership has proven to be a tremendous advantage for our students, our schools, and the learning environment as a whole. We look forward to continuing this meaningful collaboration for years to come! #MercerCountySchools #WeAreMCS #SmilesProgram #StudentWellness #HealthyStudentsLearnBetter #SchoolHealth #StrongerTogether #MCSCommunity

Mercer County Public Schools - YOUR schools!
https://youtu.be/46cZZ44EC5w

🏈 MERCER COUNTY—LET’S GET LOUD! 🏈

We’ve got TWO hometown teams heading to Charleston this weekend for the WV State Football Championships—and we’re ready to turn the Capital City Beaver Maroon and Tiger Blue!

📸 Pictured: Bluefield High’s Coach Simon, Princeton High’s Coach Tanner, PSHS Assistant Principal Josh Wilburn, and BHS Principal Michael Collins—UNITED as Mercer County gets ready to show up BIG.

This is history in the making. This is pride. This is community.
And we want YOU in the stands on Saturday at Laidley Field (noon for the Beavers; 7:00 p.m. for the Tigers) to cheer on our AA and AAA contenders!

🔥 Stay tuned each day as we COUNT DOWN to Championship Weekend with hype, highlights, and hometown spirit.

Let’s pack the roads, fill the stadium, and support our BEAVERS and TIGERS all the way to the title!
Charleston—Mercer County is coming! 🐾💥

#BeaverPride #TigerNation #MercerCountyStrong #RoadToTheTitle #AAChampionship #AAAChampionship

UPDATE with correct bus number: Bus 685 is running about 15 minutes behind this morning, Monday, December 1st. This affects Spanishburg, PikeView Middle and PikeView High.

🎉 What a night for Mercer County football! 🎉 Huge congratulations to the Bluefield High School Beavers and the Princeton Senior High School Tigers on their incredible wins tonight! 🏈💥 Both teams are officially headed to the State Championship — AA for Bluefield and AAA for Princeton — and we couldn’t be more proud of these student-athletes, coaches, and school communities. Your hard work, heart, and determination have brought you to this moment. Mercer County is cheering you on all the way! 🙌🔥 💙❤️ Let’s go Beavers! Let’s go Tigers! 💛🐅 #MercerCountyProud #RoadToTheChampionship #GoBeavers #GoTigers

This season, we are especially thankful for the incredible community partners who help us support Mercer County students and families. A heartfelt thank-you to the City of Princeton, City of Bluefield, and the Community Foundation of the Virginias for generously providing flexible funding to our ICARE program. 🍁💛 Your support allows us to respond quickly to the unique needs of our students and ensures families receive help when it’s needed most. #Thankful #CommunitySupport #MercerCountyPublicSchools #ICARE

🌟 Partnership in Action! 🌟 Mercer County Public Schools is proud of our ongoing partnership with Mountaineer Food Bank to provide the Extra Mile program, which delivers healthy foods right to the doors of many of our students in need. This program continues to grow and adapt—including expanding to meet the unique needs of students and families in Clay County. Today, we had the honor of meeting Jennifer Garner and packing food boxes alongside her and a wonderful team of volunteers. Seeing firsthand how kindness, innovation, and community spirit come together to support children was truly inspiring. 💛 We are sincerely grateful for Mountaineer Food Bank’s unwavering dedication to service—especially to West Virginia’s kids. Thank you for continuing to go the extra mile for our students and families. 🙌 #ExtraMile #CommunityStrong #MercerCountyPublicSchools #ClayCountySchools #MountaineerFoodBank #PartnershipsMatter #ServingStudents #FightingFood Insecurity

Congratulations to the Bluefield Beavers and Princeton Tigers on their big wins! Both teams advance to the state semi-finals next weekend — and both games will be played right here in Mercer County. We couldn’t be more proud of our student-athletes!

Our Mercer County Schools Attendance Officer visited several local businesses today to ask for their support in promoting good school attendance.

A big thank you to Jimmie’s Restaurant, The Tea Shack, The Hatter's Bookshop, The Emporium, Mercer County Adult Basic Education, King’s Tire, and Daydream Games for proudly displaying our attendance poster.

Together, we can help our students #StriveForFive! 📚💛

Band members from Glenwood, Princeton, and PikeView Middle Schools spent part of their lunch break learning about the Marshall University plane crash while attending the annual Middle School Honor Band.

Lee Ann Lykens shared the story of that tragic night and explained the meaning behind the Memorial Fountain — a powerful reminder of resilience, remembrance, and the Thundering Herd community.

A meaningful moment of learning woven into a day of music. 💛🎵

Happy Thanksgiving!

📣 ReachOut Is Here for You — Even During the Holiday Break! 💙 As we head into the holiday next week, we want to remind our students and families that ReachOut is available 24/7 — day or night, even when school is closed. If you’re feeling stressed, overwhelmed, lonely, or just need someone to talk to, ReachOut is always just a message away. You’re never alone. Help is here whenever you need it. Please share this reminder, and encourage your child to save the contact options in their phone. 💛 You matter. Your feelings matter. We’re here for you — anytime.

Mercer County leaders came together at the Granada yesterday for Live2Lead professional development! We had a strong turnout of leaders from across our community — including our public schools, local businesses, and support organizations. Superintendent Edward Toman also presented an inspiring session on leadership, adding valuable insight to an already powerful event. Thank you to everyone who participated and continues to invest in strong leadership for Mercer County!

Our former student & teacher Argonauts visited Glenwood, Bluefield Middle & Montcalm High to spark interest in the JASON Learning Argonaut program! Students heard about past expeditions to Boston, Houston & Portland. The next destination is unknown—applications open soon!

Principals Dr. Lacosta Hodges and Kelli Stanley and teachers Jessica Reed and Jenna Prudich were honored to attend sessions facilitated by Dr. Anita Archer, a leading expert and one of the foundational researchers behind Explicit Instruction. Dr. Archer’s work has shaped evidence-based teaching practices across the nation, and we are grateful for the opportunity to learn from her directly. Her guidance continues to strengthen our commitment to high-quality instruction for every student in Mercer County. 💙 Thank you, Dr. Archer, for sharing your knowledge and passion with our team! #MercerCountySchools #ExplicitInstruction #ProfessionalLearning #AnitaArcher #GrowingTogether

For National Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week, Mercer County Schools partnered with Joanne Stafford from WVU Extension to bring a special Dollar General Healthy Eating class to our MCTEC culinary students. With transportation to grocery stores often a barrier for many families, learning creative, practical ways to prepare healthy meals using accessible ingredients is essential. Students took part in a hands-on cooking demonstration featuring healthy, budget-friendly recipes and learned about nutrition, food safety, and smart grocery shopping. They also received recipe handouts to try at home. 🍽️ We’re grateful for this partnership and the opportunity to equip our students with real-world skills that support healthy living and informed choices. #NationalHungerAndHomelessnessAwarenessWeek #SeeCareShare #HealthyEating #WVUExtension #MCTEC #MercerCountyPublicSchools #ICARE #McKinneyVento

As part of National Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week, our Grow Your Own students participated in an interactive lesson led by our ICARE Facilitator, Alysha Crawford. Students learned about the signs and challenges faced by children and youth experiencing homelessness and discussed practical ways they can support their future students with compassion and understanding. 💜 We were also joined by Candace Harless from the Mercer County Coalition for Healthy Communities, who spoke about stigma, the importance of awareness, and how small acts of care can make a meaningful difference. We’re proud of these future educators and grateful for the partnerships that help us prepare them to See the need, Share support, and Care for every student. #NationalHungerAndHomelessnessAwarenessWeek #SeeCareShare #GrowYourOwn #FutureEducators #MercerCountyPublicSchools #ICARE #McKinneyVento