Back-to-School Update from PWCS

As parents pack away the bathing suits, sharpen (hundreds of) pencils and shop for back-to-school clothes and teachers edit their syllabi and staple bulletin boards, the school division also reflects on the past year while looking ahead to the new school year.

According to Prince William County School's Supervisor of the Community Relations Office, Irene Cromer, "great things will be happening every day" at Prince William Schools.

Cromer shared some of PWCS's proud achievements with its community members.

Here are some notable statistics:

* Expecting more than 85,000 new students in their 93 schools, maintaining its position as the second largest school district in Virginia

*Hired approximately 600 new teachers

*173,657 job applications were received this past year, including 66,495 teacher applications

*Approximately 10,000,000 square feet of building space cleaned

*School additions at the following schools increased student capacity by 2,100: Potomac High School, Benton, Parkside and Potomac middle schools, Penn, West Gate, Sinclair, Sudley, Mullen, Loch Lomond and River Oaks elementary schools

*Over 11,000 new computers installed,with over 45,000 on the PWCS network (over the last year)

*Over 300 new interactive whiteboards installed, resulting in two-thirds of our schools now having 100 percent of their classrooms with this technology (over the last year)

*Self-Supporting Imaging Center prepared to handle over 4,500 print jobs with almost 18 million impressions (based on last year)

*Information Technology Help Desk prepared to assist with approximately 88,000 calls (based on last year)

*Over 12,000 students attended summer school for remediation, enrichment, extended school year and high school academic programs

*Over 13,300 staff at all levels participated in 848 professional development courses this summer in preparation for the new school year

What the district is expecting on the first day of school:

*15,000 breakfasts and 53,500 lunches will be served

*848 buses on the road to transport about 60,000 students (yes, expect more traffic congestion than over the summer)

Achievements reached since last school year:

*Nearly 90 percent of high school students graduated on time

*The PWCS graduation rate climbed for the second year in a row and now ranks 7th highest among the country's 50 largest school systems (as reported in Education Week)