Prince William County Public Schools

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    • February 6. 2019

    Board Briefs
    • February 8, 2019

    Board Briefs Meeting Summary
    School Board Meeting of February 6, 2019

    View the agenda on the Electronic School Board webpage.
    Watch the School Board meeting on PWCS-TV.

    Positively PWCS:

    Each School Board meeting begins with presentations about the good things that our schools are accomplishing. These presentations are intended to focus on how we are preparing our students academically and socially for success in college and careers.

    • Supervisor of Career and Technical Education (CTE) Doug Wright, Chef Ron Evans from the Potomac High School Culinary Program, and Dan Longo from the Forest Park High School Project Lead the Way Program shared about the CTE programs that are offered at their schools.

    The School Board Approved:

    Citizen Comments:

    Citizens addressed the School Board on the following topics:

    • Elementary School Counselors and National School Counselor's Week;
    • Middle School and High School Counselors;
    • Services for students with Dyslexia;
    • Black History Month;
    • Equity of schools;
    • Presentation by Pennington students to their School Board member, Gil Trenum;
    • Boundary changes;
    • Request for Woodbridge High School updates; and
    • Teacher and staff pay raises.

    Student Matters:

    • Sasan Faraj, student representative, summarized key discussion points from his meeting with the Forest Park High School (FPHS) SCA. Students at FPHS discussed school lunches, Summative and Formative Grading, and a desire for schools to focus on learning rather than testing.

    Staff Presentation Topics:

    Superintendent's Time:

    • Last Friday I had the opportunity to visit and surprise our school division's Teacher of the Year and Principal of the Year. Gail Drake, IT Curriculum and Dual Enrollment Coordinator at Battlefield High School, is our Teacher of the Year. Hamish Brewer, principal at Fred Lynn Middle School, is our Principal of the Year. Both will compete in the Washington Post regional competition. We will recognize all our nominees, as well as National Board-Certified Teachers, at a ceremony rescheduled for February 25. Congratulations to our winners and all the nominees.
    • Congratulations to Henderson Elementary School, which has been recognized by the Virginia Mathematics and Science Coalition. The children's engineering program at Henderson Elementary has received a 2019 Programs that Work Award.
    • Minnieville Elementary School has been selected as one of three finalists for the prestigious DuFour Award, which recognizes the top performing Professional Learning Community School world-wide. The DuFour Award was created in 2015, in recognition of Dr. Richard DuFour, an architect and champion of PLC at Work®, a proven process of sustained school improvement, designed to help educators share in the bold commitment to ensure all students learn at high levels.
      • Minnieville's principal, Nathan Provencio, also published an article about Professional Learning Communities in the winter 2019 edition of "All Things PLC", a national magazine. The winning school will be announced during The Summit on PLC at Work, which will take place Feb. 19-21.
    • I am proud to share the success that PWCS is experiencing with our dinner program. This school year we have 12 schools serving dinner, with more than 60,000 dinners served so far this school year. About six more schools are planning to become involved, as well. Congratulations to Adam Russo, director of School Food and Nutrition Services, and his staff, for providing additional opportunities for our students to access nutritious meals at school.
    • As you know, the partial government shutdown affected many of our families in PWCS. As published recently in The Washington Post, Eric "Bean" McKay, a Hylton High School student, engaged Lidl (Lee-duhl) through social media. He convinced Lidl into donating a lifetime supply of peanut butter to him. He decided to pay if forward, donating a portion of this donation to furloughed workers. We are very proud of Bean for his generous spirit.
    • I know many people who have expressed concerns over missed school time due to inclement weather. At this point, PWCS has more than 11 days of hours remaining before we fall below state minimums, so we do not have to make up any days at this time.
    • In closing, I would like to note that February is School Board Appreciation Month. Our students and schools have sent their appreciation through the various displays of artwork, cards and gifts you see here tonight in the Board Room. I send my sincere thanks and appreciation to each of our school board members for the work they do on behalf of our students, staff and schools.

    Policies:
    First Readings-No action is required on first readings.