Dear PCPS Students, Staff, Families, School Board, and Community,

 

Happy last day of school! 

 

As we prepare to wish our students a happy, safe, and productive summer, I want to briefly reflect on our progress and achievements this year, and thank you for your work, dedication, and unyielding support.

 

We remained focused and intentional in our effort to transform and expand opportunities for learning so that every student graduates with a life filled with choices: The choice to be Enrolled, Enlisted, Employed, or an Entrepreneur. Together, we moved Petersburg City Public Schools forward in service to our students. 

 

This year, Cool Spring ES, Walnut Hill ES, and Petersburg HS were designated as fully accredited by the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), based on the required evidence submitted to the VDOE, as prescribed in the Standards of Accreditation. 

 

One of our key priorities was our work to reduce chronic absenteeism by 3% to ensure that more students were present in school and classrooms each day. We tracked student attendance and chronic absenteeism data, we empowered our schools and attendance teams, and we celebrated and recognized schools that had the highest reduction in student chronic absenteeism each month. Congratulations to the schools that were recognized and received the traveling trophy this year: Petersburg HS, Walnut Hill ES, and Pittman Academy. Today is the last day of our school year, and I cannot wait to see who wins the trophy for May 2026 at the next School Board Meeting. 

 

We also continued our focus on our core business of teaching and learning. This year marked our first full year of implementation of our PCPS Instructional Framework and our high-quality instructional materials, such as Kiddom, MyPerspectives, Studies Weekly, and enVision. I want to thank our principals, teachers, and instructional support staff for embracing this new instructional work. Your commitment helped to create the opportunity for students to receive more engaging and rigorous instruction. 

 

Our PCPS students have had an exceptional year. Throughout the year, they have been recognized by local, state, and federal organizations for their achievements in academics, attendance, Career and Technical Education (CTE), fine arts, speech and debate, and athletics. From creating award winning artwork to achieving on the field and on the court success, our students have demonstrated their tenacity, grit and excellence.

 

We have continued to make strides in our school lunch program. The PCPS nutrition staff, in partnership with Taher, Inc., have continued to provide our students with various nutritious lunch options. Throughout the year, we have introduced students to different culinary dishes and collected their feedback so that we can continue to make improvements. We remain committed to building and maintaining a nutrition program that provides nutritious meals that our students enjoy. We have big plans for next school year, so, please stay tuned. 

 

Another major accomplishment was our School Board adopting and approving our division’s five-year strategic plan, "Petersburg Forward 2031.” This comprehensive plan will guide our work, the direction of our division, and our financial investments as we continue our work to move Petersburg City Public Schools forward.

These are just a few examples of our progress and achievements, together, this year. While we have more work to do, we should recognize the work that we have done and the progress we have made. 

 

Thank you so much to our School Board, staff, families, community partners, and the entire Petersburg community for your partnership and support of our students and schools. I wish you a safe, restful, and well-deserved summer break. 

 

Warmest Regards,

 

Yolonda C. Brown

Superintendent