PCPS news

1) School volunteers celebrated in Petersburg 2) PCPS students will go back to school on safer, fuel-efficient buses 3) Youngest students take big step in Petersburg 1) School volunteers celebrated in Petersburg Volunteers are found in every school in Petersburg, working directly with students or assisting with other tasks. This summer, the Petersburg City Public Schools brought its PASS (Partnership […]

August 26, 2008; 5:25 PM • by brenda p

1) School volunteers celebrated in Petersburg
2) PCPS students will go back to school on safer, fuel-efficient buses

3) Youngest students take big step in Petersburg

1) School volunteers celebrated in Petersburg

Volunteers are found in every school in Petersburg, working directly with students or assisting with other tasks.

This summer, the Petersburg City Public Schools brought its PASS (Partnership to Achieve Successful Schools) volunteers together at Vernon Johns Middle School and thanked them for a job well done.

Mr. Kenneth Pritchett, Chairman of the Board of the Petersburg City Public Schools; Dr. Alvera Parrish, Assistant Superintendent; and Dr. Patrick Bingham, Director of Human Resources, expressed their gratitude in words, reminding their audience that the efforts of school volunteers can change lives.

Students showed their appreciation in music and dance, including a solo song performance by Sharde Gannaway of R.E. Lee Elementary, a poem recital by Keiara Price of Walnut Hill Elementary School and even a father-son musical presentation by Marlow and Marlon Jones. The latter is also a WHES student.

2) PCPS students will go back to school on safer, fuel-efficient buses

Dressed in their new uniforms, their backpacks well-stocked with pencils, pens and other back-to-school goodies, the students of the Petersburg City Public Schools will be ready to start school on Tuesday, September 2.

Ready to transport them will be a fleet of school buses that will include four new, Thomas Built C-2’s. The new buses look different from the classic design – for a reason.

Their sloped hoods improve driver visibility and the large, bonded windshield increases the glass area to more than 2,900 square inches, according to information at the Thomas Built website.

Utilizing a V-6 engine, instead of a V-8, the newer, 77-passenger buses are also more fuel-efficient than their predecessors and meet the most recent EPA standards, according to Floyd Miles, Director of Transportation for the Petersburg City Public Schools (PCPS).

The new buses cost approximately $76,000 each, he said.

The PCPS recently retired two 1994 buses and put two other International Coach buses into storage, Miles said, so the new buses will be needed even though some district routes have been consolidated.

3) Youngest students take big step in Petersburg

It is not easy to make the big jump from Headstart or Pre-K into the world of Kindergarten. It’s all about mastering letters and numbers, as well as learning to sit still in your chair, raise your hand and share.

To celebrate all that they learned in the 2007-2008 school year, the students at the Westview Early Childhood Education Center in Petersburg took part in a series of “moving on” ceremonies at the start of this summer. They performed plays, songs and even recited the Pledge of Allegiance. Then each student received a “moving-on” certificate, walking across the Westview stage.

“You have the freedom to choose what you’ll be. Knowledge is power; the more you learn, the farther you’ll go,” sang the students of teacher Freda Curtis’ class — sharing a message applicable to students of any age.

August 26, 2008 5:25 PM 0