Dear PWCS Families, Employees, and Community,

Last Saturday, 73 of our students who are a part of the PWCS Growing Our Own Teachers program, and their teacher leaders, participated in the annual Educators Rising Student Leadership Conference and Competitive events. Educators Rising Virginia is a career and technical student organization focused on training and teaching future educators in middle school, high school, and college. PWCS had six first-place winners, from Gainesville, Osbourn Park, and C.D. Hylton High Schools, and two second-place winners, both from Charles J. Colgan Sr. High School. First-and-second-place winners are eligible to represent PWCS and Virginia at the Educators Rising National competition in June. We are immensely proud of our future teachers, our program graduates who return to our classrooms, and our teacher leaders for their amazing contributions to our schools.

Speaking of contributing to our schools, our School Board is seeking two student representatives for the 2023-24 school year. Student representatives are non-voting members who serve a crucial role in amplifying the voices and perspectives of our student body. Interested candidates may find more information at our School Board Representative Application Process website, and will need to fill out a School Board Representative Application by Sunday, April 2.

In celebration of National School Social Work Week, I am elated to share that the Virginia Association of School Social Workers has named Tara W. Funches, school social worker at Graham Park Middle School, the 2023 School Social Worker of the year for the northern region of Virginia and the School Social Worker of the Year for the state. As I shared last week, the work of school social workers is crucial, and they are often unsung heroes to students. Congratulations, Tara, and thank you for the work you do empowering and advocating for our students and their families each day.

Congratulations to the Brentsville District High School girls' basketball team and Patriot High School boys' basketball for their participation today in their respective state championships at Virginia Commonwealth University. I am proud of these student athletes. In recognition of National Athletic Training Month, I would like to express my appreciation for the athletic trainers who support our student athletes.

The Naming Committee will begin the process of naming “Rosemount Lewis” Elementary School through virtual community input sessions held on March 22 and 29. I encourage interested community members to attend a virtual session to provide naming suggestions for the school.

As a reminder, I invite you to share your feedback on the prospect of utilizing the preventative security screeners demonstrated at our previous Safety and Security Briefings. Please submit your comments or questions on our official form by March 31. More information about security scanners may be found on our website.

Sincerely,

LaTanya D. McDade, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Prince William County Public Schools