John Harper, Jr. a long time Life Member of the NAACP, was honored by the local School Board when they named the new Dumfries school ‘Covington-Harper’ Elementary School. Ms. Covington and Mr. Harper are former representatives of Potomac and Neabsco districts.
The Prince William NAACP Education Committee is committed to ensure that every disadvantaged student and student of color graduates ready for college or a career by ensuring access to great teaching, fair discipline, equitable resources and challenging curriculum.
After careful examination of the Prince William County Public School (PWCS) 2014-15 School Profile data, the Prince William NAACP Education Committee targeted six (6) schools in eastern Prince William County located on the route 1 corridor. The schools targeted were schools accredited with warning. These schools include:
Belmont Elementary Fred Lynn Middle Freedom High
Dumfries Elementary Rippon Middle
Potomac High (Although Potomac was listed as Accredited with Warning on the online School Profile Data Sheet, we found out at the principal’s meeting that Potomac HS had gained their accreditation for 2014-15)
The purpose of the meetings was to meet with the principal and other administrative staff to identify the strategies that were in place to strengthen family and community engagement and to offer support to enhance and develop the following strategies:
Increase attendance at local school meetings (Advisory Council, PTSO, etc.).
Provide support and advocacy for parents and guardians of minority students with Teachers and Principals.
Increase enrollment for minority students in gifted programs, Honors/AP courses, specialty programs (IB, Cambridge, Environmental Sciences, etc.), and decrease participation in Special Education classes.
Facilitate visible participation and support and provide feedback to PWCS on issues that impact the delivery of high quality education to the minority student population.
The League of Women Voters, a non-partisan organization, is holding a forum on August 24th from 7- 9 PM at the Central Community Library located at 8601 Mathis Avenue in Manassas. The topic of the forum is “Schools and Discipline: A Discussion on Stopping the School to Prison Pipeline.” As this is an extremely important issue to the African American community, we hope you will attend the discussion. Click here for a flyer containing additional information.
Following is a note from the President of the Prince William NAACP:
Dear Members and Friends,
We hope that you will make room in your schedule to support the State of Black Northern Virginia 2016 event on June 4th from 1:00-3:00 at Macedonia Baptist Church in Arlington VA, sponsored by the Northern Virginia Coalition and the Virginia Leadership Institute (VLI). In addition to providing networking opportunities, this event will address three key areas:
“Accessing the Right to Vote in the 21st Century”
“Entrepreneurship and Business Development” Panel Discussion
“Disparities and Inaccessibility in Health, Housing, and Education” Panel Discussion
These areas address four of the six NAACP 21ST Century Game Changers. If you are interested in working to resolve disparities in Education, Economic Sustainability, Political Representation, or Health outcomes, then this event will provide an opportunity to Get Connected, Get Informed, and Get Involved. Please click here to see the flyer for additional details and registration information.
The Prince William NAACP Education Committee understands that it is the responsibility of all not just the school divisions’ responsibility to support the academic success of our children. Addressing the achievement gap in schools is a communicative and collaborative effort between school division and school leaders, teachers, parents, community members and leaders, and students.
One of the principles of Closing The Achievement Gap is Academic Supports and Interventions. Providing appropriate academic support is essential to the success of all students. Academic support entails a variety of instructional methods, educational services and school resources that help accelerate student learning.
Dr. Lacey presents at the Committee Forum.
The Prince William NAACP Education Committee held its second Closing The Achievement Gap Education Forum on April 28, 2016. The guest speaker, Dr. Renee Lacey, Director of Non-Traditional Education Opportunities for Prince William County Public Schools (PWCS) oversees student management and non-traditional education programs for students in grades K-Adult education. The outcome for the forum was to help parents, community members and leaders, and organizations identify resource programs that support academic success for children in PWCS.
Dr. Lacey explained the functions of the support programs provided by PWCS. These programs include:
Adult Education Computer Based Instruction (CBI)
Night School The GED Program
Summer School Virtual High School
Dr. Lacey is also director of the Office of Student Management and Alternative Programs (OSMAP). It is the responsibility of OSMAP hearing officers, as designees of the Superintendent, to conduct long term suspension and expulsion hearings brought forward from schools within the division.
Dr. Lacey’s presentation was outstanding and provided a wealth of information that empowered attendees to be advocates for their children and will help our organization educate more parents and community leaders.
Our goal is to help eliminate the achievement gap. Currently the GAP exists between the performance of White and Asian students and that of Hispanic, Black and other minorities in the subjects of reading, math, and science. The PW NAACP will continue to work with, monitor, and hold accountable Prince William County Public School’s progress in all areas.
Following are some images taken during the forum: (Click image for large view.)
Ms. Sedalia Ledbetter, Chairperson of the Education Committee.
Community participation in the Education Forum
Another audience scene during the Forum.
COMING SOON!
We look forward to seeing you at our next CLOSING THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP THROUGH FAMILY AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Forum.
The PW NAACP Education Committee is conducting a ‘Closing the Achievement Gap’ Education Forum on Thursday, April 28, 2016 from 7:00 to 8:30 pm at Chinn Center Public Library Community Room, 3065 Chinn Park Drive Woodbridge Va. The forum is open to Parents, Educators, Community Leaders, Organizations and Church Leaders. The guest speaker will be Dr. Renee Lacey, Director of Non-Traditional Education Opportunities in Prince William County Public Schools. Come out and participate in this important forum. Click here for a flyer containing complete details on this event.
The Woodbridge Campus of Northern Virginia Community Collige is holding an event entitled “Unsung Heroes: Understanding our Past to Prepare for the Future”. The event will take place on Monday, February 29th from 11 am – 1:30 pm in the Black Box Theatre in the Arts and Sciences (WAS) building. Click here for the message received by the president of our NAACP unit.
As stated in the message, the College is seeking 4-6 panel members who have one of three backgrounds – or a combination of both: (1) an individual who was actively involved supporting the Civil Rights Movement and/or in creating policy change during the Civil Rights Movement; (2) an individual who has a wide knowledge of the historical context of events that led up to the Civil Rights movement; or (3) an individual who is actively involved today in policy related matters that specifically impact people of color.
The goal of the panel discussion is to have the NOVA Woodbridge students become knowledgeable of the issues and policies that lead up to the Civil Rights Movement. In addition, we hope that the panel discussion will make students more cognizant of similar issues that are happening in today’s society and give the students ideas on how they can get involved with these issues to create positive change.
The panel will be moderated by a faculty/staff member and there will be a short Q & A session with students and other members in the audience.
In addition to requested President Brower participation, the College requested that he inform them of anyone who would be a great panelist. Please contact president Brower if you or someone you know can be a great panelist.
The PW NAACP Education Committee is conducting a ‘Closing the Achievement Gap’ Education Forum on Thursday, April 28, 2016 from 7:00 to 8:30 pm at Chinn Center Public Library Community Room, 3065 Chinn Park Drive Woodbridge Va. The forum is open to Parents, Educators, Community Leaders, Organizations and Church Leaders. The guest speaker will be Dr. Renee Lacey, Director of Non-Traditional Education Opportunities in Prince William County Public Schools. Come out and participate in this important forum. Click here for a flyer containing complete details on this event.