Prince William County Public Schools

Rita Everett Goss was appointed to serve as the Associate Superintendent for Teaching and Learning starting July 1, 2015. Before this appointment she was Associate Superintendent for Eastern Elementary Schools for four years and principal of Parkside Middle School in Manassas for four years. She has 20 years of experience in PWCS as an elementary principal, assistant principal, and classroom teacher. Mrs. Goss brings a unique combination of elementary and middle school skills to her position. Using that background, she will lead efforts to prepare elementary school students for the academic and social transition to middle school.

Mrs. Goss earned her Bachelor of Science in Education degree and master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction from George Mason University. As principal of Dumfries Elementary School, she led efforts to meet the federal No Child Left Behind benchmarks, resulting in the school making Adequate Yearly Progress each year that she was principal. Her focus on literacy led the school to close the achievement gap in reading and receive more than half of a million dollars in federal grants under the Reading Excellence Act and Reading First initiatives.

Mrs. Goss was one of the first elementary principals to pilot Baldrige in Education, the Instructional Consultation Team (ICT) model, and the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme. Later, under her leadership, Parkside Middle School became the first middle school to implement Baldrige in Education and dramatically decreased discipline referrals by more than 80% with the implementation of Effective Schoolwide Discipline. Student achievement on the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) tests increased at Parkside Middle School under her tenure.

She is a published author and a national presenter on transforming teacher education and the use of quality systems in schools.