West Point Public SchoolsWest Point Elementary SchoolWest Point High SchoolWest Point Middle School Revised 2016-2017 Bus Routes The 2016 Annual Report is now available.  The link to the report is under the About Us tab above.  Copies of the report will be sent home with students during the first week of school.  Hard copies of the report are available in each school office and at the School Board Office. The only school division in the Commonwealth of Virginia We are pleased that West Point Public Schools has been recognized by the Virginia Board of Education as the only school division in the state to receive the Highly Distinguished Title I School Division designation. This recognition demonstrates the ongoing commitment of staff, parents, students and community members to the academic success of all students. This is the fourth consecutive year West Point Public Schools has earned this prestigious honor. WPPS Celebrates Highest SOL Pass RatesFORT BLISS, TX – Sgt. Maj. Michael Arnez made waves today at the local German club after sources reported overhearing the 23-year Army veteran yelling at a freshly-commissioned second lieutenant to “use more big words.”

“With all due veneration sir,” the sergeant major was recounted as explaining to petrified junior officer 2nd Lt. Marius Valjean, “I comprehend that you attended West Point, a respected institution of erudite higher learning if ever there was one, but you are not discoursing in a fashion that befits a gentleman of your class and rank.”Laptop Bottom Case Replacement Arnez went on to tell the officer that he had reduced his past participle and used improper grammar in a dissertation with a comrade. Led Path Lights Indoor“‘Where were you at last night’ is simply an inappropriate clause to be spouted from the lips of an officer,” he said.Indoor Lighting For Video Interview 2nd Lt. Valjean, who received a baccalaureate degree in English from the United States Military Academy this past June — making him the only employed person in America with such a degree — was speechless in the face of the rhetorical torrent spilling from the grizzled senior enlisted man.

“I didn’t really understand what was happening,” his friend and drinking partner 2nd Lt. Victor Frollo narrated on his behalf. “At first the sergeant major came up and I thought that he was going to yell at me for having my hands in my pockets or that we both had clearly not shaved before going out tonight, but instead he goes tearing into poor Marius for ‘misuse of conjunctions.’” “Sir,” continued the veteran sergeant major, who has a degree in Business Administration from American Military University. “I must plead with you to take this with you in order to better improve your interpersonal dialogues.” With that, Sgt. Maj. Arnez slapped a well-thumbed copy of Roget’s Thesaurus into 2nd Lt. Valjean’s chest. “Do read this tome for your professional development. But please never ever say ‘behoove’, that’s a sergeant major’s word only.” The sergeant major proceeded to castigate the two junior officers for drinking their beer straight from the can, rather than pouring it first into a suitably shaped glass as is appropriate for young gentlemen of ‘good breeding.’

Arnez then replaced his monocle from where it had fallen on its string and retired from the conversation, muttering: “Deary me, what do they teach in these confounded schools nowadays?”Home / BAMF of the Week / Before I arrived at West Point at the age of 17, I had a very clear image of what a cadet was supposed to be.  I pictured an athletic stud who was disciplined beyond reproach.  A guy who could run all day, ruck all day, lift any weight, and conquer any obstacle.  And when I showed up, that’s pretty much what I saw all around me.  Honestly, at 5’8”, I felt like I was one of the weak links, as everyone else pretty much looked like a cross fit athlete.  And then there were the girls. The girls were all studs in their own rights, but in an environment dominated by alpha males, 88% of whom had captained a team in high school, they simply weren’t looked at the same way.  They couldn’t run quite as fast, couldn’t do as many pushups, and in my day, they didn’t have to box like the men did.

They were simply weaker.  That’s just the way we looked at it, and West Point wasn’t really a place for weakness. Over time, though, a funny thing happened.  Some of these total stud guys started quitting.  Yeah, they were physical specimens, but between the ears, they just didn’t have it.  But lots of my “weaker” female classmates hung in there.  By the end of plebe year, things had changed.  More and more, it had less to do with physical ability and more to do with moral courage and personal discipline. By the time we graduated from that God-forsaken place, you had no choice but to love every last one of your classmates – man and woman, stud and less than, cool cats and weirdos alike, because to get through that place requires more intestinal fortitude than I can explain to anyone who didn’t go there. We went our separate ways and shortly thereafter, I found myself at Ranger School, which is another terrible place.  Things that happened to me at Ranger School in no particular order: lost 55 pounds, fell off a mountain, got stress fractures in both of my feet, scorpion bites, spider bites, minor muscle tear, shit my pants due to food poisoning, went to the brink of being a heat casualty but got saved by a massive rainstorm, got fire ant bites on my penis

, saw magical creatures of the forest because of sleep deprivation, and sank a boat.  Nevertheless, I graduated as a member of class 7-99 in the prescribed 62 days.  I vowed I would never step foot in that fucking place again. God has a sense of humor and after several years of leading infantrymen, I found myself back at Ranger School, this time as a member of the cadre.  I’ve never been around a more professional group of people.  They have one standard.  Which brings me to today.  Two women from West Point are about to graduate from Ranger School. I’d be lying if I told you I thought it would happen.  When I heard everyone failed Darby, I shrugged and said, “Of course they did.  When I heard everyone failed the second time, I said, “Of course they did. What did anyone expect?” When “feminists” ranted in the New York Times that they were being picked on by an unprofessional cadre and that’s the reason they weren’t passing, I said, “That wouldn’t happen. 

The cadre wouldn’t diminish themselves like that.  There is only one standard.  And then I heard a handful were getting a third shot.  Lots of men immediately started freaking out saying they were getting special treatment.  If the cadre believes in a student, and the student is willing to accept a Day 1 recycle, they can get another shot. That’s the way it was when I was there.  That’s the way it is now.  It was telling that all of the women didn’t get the third shot.  If they had, everyone would know it was bullshit.  The cadre had gone to bat for them. A few capitalized on that third shot.  They made it to Mountains.  I heard through the grapevine that they had received solid peer scores.  This was also awesome news.  You see when you arrive at Ranger School, you kind of show up with friends.  But something magical happens as you go through it – the more you suffer, the more you start hating the weak links.  You literally start hating them.  It doesn’t matter if you drank every weekend together before Ranger School, if a guy was a spotlight Ranger or didn’t pitch in, they were going to get peered out. 

Officer, Bat Boy, 82nd…it didn’t fucking matter.  If you were good, you were staying.  If you weren’t, we kind of wanted you to die. That didn’t happen to these women.  Their squad valued them. I found myself starting to root for them, but I also knew mountains was a sonofabitch.  The constant climbing breaks you physically in a way that the Darby phase simply doesn’t.  I was pretty sure the journey was about to end.They drove on yet again. Two women had made it to Florida, the final phase.  Florida is an odd phase – very few people fail at that point, but the summer heat is brutal and the chances of being a heat casualty are high. But the heat didn’t stop them. Two women have endured over 120 days of abject misery to pass the most elite leadership course in the military.  Two members of the long gray line are now Ranger Qualified. And I’m proud of them beyond comprehension, but more than that, I’m blown away.  I’m blown away, because I know how hard that school is. 

I know how much it takes out of you.  I know how many times you feel like you might not make it, and you have to make the decision to just keep putting one foot in front of the other.  I know how many times I wanted to quit.  And I also know that these two ladies are not men.  They don’t have my frame.  They don’t have my muscle mass.  They don’t have my testosterone levels.  Which means they hurt more than I did.  Which means they had to dig deeper than I did.  And they made it anyway.  And they suffered for four months to do it. And that means they’re tougher than I am. And that’s exactly who I want leading our soldiers. Now, I don’t know what all of this means for the infantry, or by extension the SOF community.  I am well aware that these are different things than passing a course. The Army will figure that out in time. But what I do know is that the hate being leveled at these Rangers is unacceptable.  We want leaders who push themselves beyond their limits.