Prince William County Public Schools

Go to Top of Page

The National School Climate Center (NSCC) defines school climate as the "quality and character of school life" as experienced by students, families, and staff. School life, the NSCC notes, spans multiple dimensions: Safety and Security, Interpersonal Relationships, Teaching and Learning, the Institutional Environment, and Social Media. Given the multifaceted nature of school life, maintaining a positive school climate can benefit students not just academically, but also behaviorally, socially, and emotionally.

Goals and Strategies

90% Of Students Will Report Satisfaction With The School Climate, Belonging, And Wellness Domains On The PWCS Divisionwide Climate and Culture Survey

5% decrease in students who are chronically absent

10% decrease in dropout rates for all student groups

10% decrease in students receiving exclusionary discipline for all student groups

Develop and implement the PWCS Heals Initiative as its comprehensive plan to provide social and emotional support to staff and students.

Beginning in 2020, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) requires all public schools to develop Social Emotional Learning (SEL) standards for all students. Research demonstrates that SEL can improve academic achievement and educational equity, along with having lifelong impacts on students (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2021). SEL support systems have become more essential in all areas of education since the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic. SEL programs can play a critical role in helping students develop resiliency and helping the larger community deal with trauma, whether widespread or on an individual level. Through SEL, students acquire the knowledge, interpersonal skills, intrapersonal mindsets, and cognitive strategies needed to deal constructively with the many stressors they encounter every day, enabling them to accomplish tasks and enjoy positive interactions with others. SEL programs can also help schools establish a positive, safe, rigorous learning climate that is inclusive of all students, regardless of demographics, cultural or ethnic backgrounds, disabilities, or language barriers. In PWCS, the expansion of divisionwide SEL, using the statewide standards and curriculum framework, will begin during the 2022-23 school year. With the support of school-based SEL coaches, funded by the PWCS Heals Initiative, teachers will receive professional development and coaching to support the implementation.

Staff Well-Being Initiatives provide staff members with engaging opportunities to connect positively with peers, supervisors, and other members of the school community with the goal of increasing work satisfaction. Currently, individual schools are responsible for planning and implementing positive culture and well-being initiatives for staff members with no monies budgeted specifically for this task. As part of PWCS Heals, staff members will be provided opportunities to become part of learning communities within their school buildings with a focus on teamwork and self-care. By the 2024-25 school year, PWCS commits to 100% of schools and central offices having staff well-being goals included in their continuous improvement plans. In addition, by the end of the 2022-23 school year, PWCS will strive to achieve 95% or higher staff satisfaction with school climate domains on the PWCS Divisionwide Climate and Culture Survey in each school identified for focused or prioritized support in the area of social-emotional wellness.

Standardized Social and Emotional Learning Curricula will ensure that the soft skills deemed to be essential for life after high school will be embedded into the PWCS curriculum across all grade levels. These curriculum strands will be provided by VDOE and will cover the five fundamental areas of focus as defined by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), which include self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. Currently, there is sporadic use of evidence-based SEL and emotional learning curriculum in some schools. By the 2024-25 school year, PWCS will have a standardized SEL curriculum at all grade levels and all teachers will be fully trained on its implementation. PWCS commits to having 100% of administrators receive training in the Virginia Department of Education SEL Standards and their implementation by the end of the 2022-23 school year.

Implement a comprehensive plan to address the needs of students with chronic absences resulting from unfinished learning and the pandemic school closures.

Student attendance is the foundation of teaching and learning. Students must be present to be taught. When students face chronic absenteeism, there is a need to intervene quickly and in a meaningful manner. According to Attendance Works (2021), a nationally recognized clearinghouse for chronic absence interventions, there are five basic steps needed to address chronic absence in schools:

1. Engage students and parents;
2. Recognize good and improved attendance;
3. Monitor attendance data;
4. Provide personalized early outreach; and
5. Develop programmatic response to barriers.

In order to address unfinished social and emotional learning and the associated issues, like chronic school absence, PWCS will deploy the following strategies: Targeted support from school-based mental health professionals who are members of the divisionwide "Support Corps" dispatched to students and families will create an atmosphere of caring and connection for our most vulnerable learners.

Students will be assigned a Support Corps counselor when school-based staff members determine that school absences are impeding learning. This mental health professional will support the student and will also become familiar with members of the family unit with the goal of creating and/or improving a culture of school attendance. By the end of the 2022-23 school year, 100% of students who have been assigned a "PWCS Support Corps" mentor will see an improvement in school attendance as compared to prior year's attendance. By the 2024-25 school year, PWCS will dispatch home-based support for students who meet specific identified truancy benchmarks.

Training for all school-based mental health professionals to support a standardized Student Support Team (SST) model in each school will set a stage for tiered interventions for all students. As a result of this training, school-based teams will be able to create systems to identify students at risk of academic difficulties and to design individual interventions to increase the student's availability for learning. By the 2024-25 school year, all schools will have a SST. The SST will have standardized procedures for the identification of students at-risk of experiencing diminished academic performance due to social and emotional barriers. The team members will be trained to identify interventions to meet the student's individual needs and to take steps to carry out those interventions and measure for effectiveness. By the end of the 2023-24 school year, all school-based mental health staff members and school-based administrators will have received initial training on how to create and organize their SST.

Develop and implement the PWCS Heals Initiative as its comprehensive plan to implement trauma-informed and healing centered practices in schools.

Examining the underlying issues that lead to chronic absence, school avoidance and dropping out of school offers educators the opportunity to design individualized plans of support. Often, the leading cause of problem behavior in youth is trauma experienced in childhood. A trauma-informed approach, according to 2014 guidelines from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), is one that (1) realizes the impact of trauma and its role as a barrier to successful outcomes; (2) recognizes the signs and symptoms of trauma in children, families, staff, and others involved with the system; (3) responds by integrating knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, and practices; and (4) seeks to resist re-traumatization of individuals within the system or school (SAMHSA, 2014). Furthermore, challenges associated with these traumatic stress symptoms often include problems with attention, memory, executive functioning, emotional self-regulation, and relationship formation, all of which can have tremendous effects on a child's ability to be successful in a school environment (National Dropout Prevention Center/Network, 2021). The following strategies will be deployed to intervene with students who are deemed to be at-risk of dropping out of school.

Response to Childhood Trauma manifests itself in a variety of behaviors depending on the stage of child development at which the trauma occurred. When a teacher, administrator, or school counselor understands a student's history with childhood trauma, it enables them to respond to behavior in a way that helps the individual heal. By the 2024-25 school year, PWCS commits to training 100% of teachers, administrators, and other school-based support staff in Trauma Informed Care and Healing Centered Engagement so they will be prepared to choose the appropriate trauma informed response when confronted with student behavior concerns.

Healing Centered Schools include universal precautions in classrooms that benefit all students as one of their core tenets. The use of universal precautions ensures that all students are treated with care and create an especially supportive environment for those students who have experienced trauma. When educators understand how to deliver instruction with universal precautions in mind, the classroom becomes a place of comfort and safety. Examples of universal precautions include calming spaces in classrooms, predictive patterns for calling on students to answer questions and considerations for seating arrangements to ensure physical proximity is respected to include not having students sit behind each other. To date, PWCS does not have established standards or expectations for universal precautions in the classroom. While some master teachers integrate parts of this concept in their instruction, there is no system in which to monitor the degree to which classrooms are operating with a healing centered lens. PWCS commits to offering training by the Student Services Department on a yearly basis. All students will benefit from having at least one universal precaution implemented in their classroom. By the 2024-25 school year, all school-based staff will be trained to deploy universal precautions when working with students.

Develop and implement a divisionwide plan for Restorative Practices.

Restorative Practices is an emerging social science that studies how to strengthen relationships between individuals as well as social connections within communities. Research demonstrates that Restorative Practices improves school climate and reduces student suspensions and discipline disparities. Research has shown that frequent out of school suspensions, zero-tolerance policies, and "get-tough" approaches to school safety are ineffective and increase the risk for negative social and academic outcomes, especially for children from historically disadvantaged groups. In 2018-19, 5% of students in PWCS received exclusionary discipline, with several student groups (students with disabilities, Black students, economically disadvantaged students, and Hispanic students) receiving exclusionary discipline at rates higher than the division average. Effective and consistent implementation of the "PWCS Code of Behavior" requires provisions that appropriate behaviors be taught, practiced across settings with feedback, reinforced, and taught again as needed.

Approaching school discipline from an instructional prevention-based standpoint as with Restorative Practices contributes to a positive school environment and ensures equity, fairness, and continuous improvement. PWCS continues to increase the number of school staff trained in Restorative Practices and Restorative Practices teams throughout the division. PWCS currently has 15 schools with Restorative Practices teams with approximately 400 staff members trained to date. PWCS commits to developing and implementing a comprehensive training plan in Restorative Practices by 2025, with dedicated implementation teams in schools across the division. The implementation of Restorative Practices will lead to a reduction in exclusionary discipline such that no student group will have exclusionary discipline rates above 3% by 2025.

The National School Climate Center includes a supportive working environment for staff as one of the critical dimensions of a positive school culture. A supportive working environment for staff leads to positive outcomes, such as: higher morale, higher job satisfaction rates, higher retention rates and lower attrition rates (especially among teachers). A positive school climate also offers more opportunities for school leaders, teachers, and other staff to engage in the professional learning needed to build their knowledge and skills, which, in turn, contribute to the continued growth and development of their students.

The benefits of employing a diverse and inclusive workforce are many, including higher retention rates and job satisfaction. In addition, employees report an increased sense of belonging, increased collaboration and feeling valued and respected.

Goals and Strategies

90% of employees will report high levels of satisfaction and engagement at work

90% of staff will report feeling connected to other colleagues in their school/office

90% or greater of certified staff in PWCS will be retained, and retention at Title I schools will increase to the division average

95% - the minimum percentage of school-based administrators PWCS will retain

50% participation increase in administration recruitment pools by 2025

5% increase in the diversity of PWCS certified staff

Develop and implement "PWCS LEADS" to drive strategic recruitment, pipeline development, and selection of highly effective leaders.

The PWCS LEADS competency model identifies core behaviors and knowledge necessary to be a successful PWCS leader-across the performance continuum and across all career levels, job roles, and job functions. The PWCS LEADS competency model encompasses Leadership Expectations, Assessment, Development, and Selection. This model:

• Defines the knowledge, skills, abilities and behaviors necessary for effective practice as a PWCS leader;
• Supports PWCS leaders in their career and professional development; and
• Helps PWCS to identify and cultivate high-quality leaders.

The PWCS LEADS competency model provides the foundation for leadership talent management throughout the employment lifecycle and helps PWCS ensure that our leaders are proficient in the critical behaviors and knowledge necessary for transformative leadership. PWCS LEADS initiative includes the development of a required Leadership Academy for administrative eligibility pool members. By 2025, the criteria and instruments used in the selection process, professional development offerings, and other systems of leadership support will be developed and implemented in alignment with the PWCS LEADS competency model. This will include succession plan development for all PWCS administrative positions. By 2025, succession plans will be developed for all school-based administrative positions.

By 2025, the annual retention of our school-based administrators will be at least 95%.

Launching Leadership Capacity (LLC) is a robust curriculum of virtual and in-person learning opportunities designed to inspire future leaders and cultivate the leadership pipeline. This initiative is developed as a partnership between Professional Learning and Human Resources. Participants will learn skills and behaviors that contribute to effective leadership in PWCS schools and departments through the exploration of the PWCS LEADS competency model and our four strategic commitments including: Foster Family & Community Engagement, Build Positive Climate & Culture, Promote Organizational Coherence, Support Learning & Achievement for All. To support employee growth through LLC, PWCS will develop a tool that will provide employees with a comprehensive understanding of multiple career paths and professional offerings to support their growth and development within the division.

By 2025, PWCS will increase participation in this series and administrative recruitment pools by 50%.

Launching Thriving Careers will drive strategic onboarding, induction, individualized professional learning in leadership, coaching and succession planning for administrators. Currently, leadership development has focused on new administrators in their first one-to-three years in their roles. This initiative will enhance current programming and strategically develop additional programs to support the leadership development of leaders in PWCS. Leaders in both school-based and central administrative positions will receive ongoing cycles of professional leadership development as they progress throughout their career cycle. This initiative is designed and led by Professional Learning Leadership Development with collaborative support from Human Resources Administrative Recruitment.

Launching Thriving Careers will include the enhancement of existing New Administrator Institutes, multi-year Leadership Academies, formal and informal mentoring, and coaching. As part of this initiative, Professional Learning Leadership Development will explore the addition of targeted leader internship and residency opportunities funded by community partnerships.

This leadership curriculum implementation will be aligned with PWCS LEADS. It will provide a cyclical experience designed to equip leaders to be effective in their current roles while further developing their professional leadership competencies, thus enabling them to seek future leadership roles within PWCS. A comprehensive and systemic working conditions/climate survey tool will be used to provide prioritized and focused leadership support and development for school and central office leaders.

PWCS will develop and implement a comprehensive teacher leadership program that aligns with Launching Thriving Careers and utilizes the PWCS LEADS competencies. Through a partnership between the Professional Learning Leadership Development and Human Resources Administrative Recruitment teams, a pipeline management system will be designed and implemented to support improving on-the-job support, improving pipeline components, and enhanced tracking of career cycles.

By 2025, through the implementation of Launching Thriving Careers, PWCS will have an operational pipeline management system. This system will help PWCS support individual leaders in their career journeys from initial hire, through any applicable promotions, to retirement.

"You Belong Here" is a comprehensive diversity, inclusion, and equity organizational development initiative developed in partnership by Human Resources, Professional Learning, and Office of the Chief Equity Officer. This initiative will consist of divisionwide professional development, other systems of support, and a redesign of our selection processes. Through implementation of "You Belong Here," PWCS will ensure that our leaders are creating inclusive cultures within their school buildings that will positively impact climate and employee morale. We will also ensure that all employees possess the skills to work and communicate more effectively across differences, align behaviors with beliefs, and address unconscious bias, to build a more equitable, diverse and inclusive culture. By 2025, all PWCS employees will have participated in the required "You Belong Here" professional development. As a result, the retention of our certified staff will be at least 90%. Furthermore, 90% of employees will report high levels of satisfaction and engagement at work and 90% of staff will report feeling connected to other colleagues in their school/office.

As part of the "You Belong Here" initiative, a divisionwide plan to improve the staff selection process for all job vacancy types will be developed and implemented. The plan will include research-based selection protocols and standardization of selection processes across the division, and ongoing monitoring to ensure compliance, which will result in increased efficiency, reduction in bias, and hiring of highly qualified diverse staff. By 2025, all PWCS hiring managers will utilize the PWCS approved selection protocols and will have completed the required professional development.

Develop and implement "Teach PWCS," a robust and strategic initiative to build a deeper certified applicant pool to reflect the rich diversity in our county through an umbrella of programs designed to increase the number of highly qualified teachers.

We identify, recruit, and mentor current PWCS students who after college may commit to PWCS classrooms as teachers through the Growing Our Own (GOO) Teachers and Educators Rising programs. Students are identified by school counselors, principals, teachers, parents, and athletic coaches for participation in these programs. All GOO participants that enroll in post-secondary teaching programs will be offered PWCS internship and student teaching opportunities, along with ongoing professional development. Currently, four high schools in PWCS offer the GOO program. By 2025, this initiative will be expanded to all high schools with the goal of increasing the rich diversity of our certified workforce from its current state of 26% to a minimum of 30% to better reflect our communities.

In addition, PWCS will continue and expand existing partnerships with over 50 colleges and universities through our recruitment initiatives to build our certified applicant pool with candidates who pursue traditional and alternative routes to licensure. Through "Teach PWCS," student teachers will be offered additional supports and professional development. By 2025, we will increase the percentage of student teachers that become contracted PWCS employees to 50% or greater.

Our Teaching Assistant to Teacher program will also be expanded to provide support and financial assistance to our teaching assistant workforce interested in becoming certified special education teachers so that by 2025, 75 teaching assistants become certified special education teachers.

PWCS partners with third parties who recruit internationally for educators interested in working in our schools. Currently, we have 103 international educators working in PWCS. PWCS commits to enhancing these partnerships so that by 2025, we will have at least 350 international educators employed in the division.

The National School Climate Center highlights that the institutional environment is one of the essential dimensions of school climate. Research shows that supportive, positive, and safe school environments enable effective teaching and learning. However, the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) notes that many schools struggle to create and maintain such learning environments. PWCS is committed to providing safe and welcoming facilities for students, families, staff, and the community. Safety encompasses the physical aspects of facilities as well as the security of the facilities. Research shows that school maintenance has a measurable impact on student safety and learning.

PWCS continues to invest providing reliable and equitable security measures across all schools. These investments include security residences, surveillance cameras, radios with repeater systems, access control systems, staffed entry points, visitor identification systems, classroom and office locks, lockdown shades, and employee ID badges.

PWCS is also committed to moving toward sustainable facilities. In 2011, PWCS established the Energy Management department, whose mission is to plan and manage school division energy use and sustainability, improve environmental and fiscal stewardship in facility use, and educate staff and students through leadership in energy and environmentally conscious design. Since inception, PWCS has realized over $59 million in energy cost avoidance savings. The School Board adopted a sustainability resolution in June 2020, which formalized the school division's commitment to sustainability, the environment, and reducing the carbon footprint.

Goals and Strategies

90% of students and staff will report feeling safe at school

Increase Safety and Security Vigilance

Implement the "Say Something" initiative to build student capacity to recognize and voice concerns about warning signs.

In 2020, only 79% of middle and high school students in PWCS reported feeling safe at school. It is critical for students to recognize warning signs and be empowered to recognize and voice concerns about those warning signs and any threats that they witness. To build student capacity, PWCS launched the implementation of the "Say Something" program in December 2021. This no-cost program was developed by the Sandy Hook Promise foundation (Sandy Hook Promise, 2021) and provides training for students on three key steps:

1. Recognize warning signs - teaches students to recognize warning signs or threats;
2. Act immediately - teaches students to take action rather than being bystanders; and
3. Say Something - teaches students to tell a trusted adult or use an anonymous reporting system.

The Say Something initiative connects to existing SEL curriculum. To date, over 600 staff members in central offices, middle schools, and high schools in PWCS have been trained on how to receive and respond to tips from students. During the 2022-23 school year, all middle and high school students in PWCS will participate in training in how to identify warning signs, take action, and tell a trusted adult. By the end of the 2022-23 school year, each middle and high school in PWCS will establish Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE) clubs to support continued awareness of the Say Something initiative. As a result of the Say Something initiative, students will be empowered to report their concerns about threats to themselves or others and will feel safer in the knowledge that there is a proactive response to those concerns. As a result, by 2025, 90% of middle and high school students will report feeling safe at school.

Provide a safe online learning and working environment for students and employees

PWCS will implement robust technologies, processes and controls to protect systems, networks, programs, devices and data from cyber-attacks including ransomware. PWCS will also ensure compliance with the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) and FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act). PWCS will conduct a robust security audit of its systems and develop mitigation strategies to address any gaps by May 2022. In order to achieve this PWCS will implement robust content monitoring tools to ensure the safety of students and staff at school by January 2023. PWCS will conduct ongoing regular security assessments of its on-premises and cloud-based applications.

Enhance school security through school site assessments.

PWCS prioritizes safety and security since the school environment is such a critical factor in supporting student achievement. Schools in Prince William County and across Virginia are required to complete a school safety assessment every three years. PWCS commits to engaging its first responders, school security officers, administrators, counselors, and community members in completing annual specific school security assessments rather than every three years to identify enhanced investments for school safety. The most recent school safety assessment was completed in Fall 2021. PWCS has identified a need to strengthen and enhance consistent understanding about how to enforce security policies at all schools. By 2023, PWCS will provide targeted, site-specific training to all school administrators focused on enhancing security awareness and vigilance through a comprehensive understanding of security policies and procedures.

PWCS recognizes that the school resource officer (SRO) program plays an important role in the security and safety of our schools. Their presence and ability to respond to crises and provide support to our school communities is vital. The SRO Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between PWCS and the PWC police department was revised in December 2021 and will be revised collaboratively every two years with input from the Safe Schools Advisory Council (SSAC) and the public to ensure that our school and law enforcement partnership is continually focused on creating safe school environments that maximize students' ability to learn and achieve.

PWCS understands that the assessment of currently employed technologies and effective use of emerging technologies play an important role in the overall school safety and security program. PWCS will continue to invest in upgrading current technologies as well as seek to implement new technologies that expand our ability to provide effective crises response. By 2025, PWCS commits to replacing CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) systems with current CCTV technology platforms at all schools.

Enhance the school security officer (SSO) program to ensure a consistent, visible, and well-trained security staff.

PWCS commits to providing schools with well-staffed and trained school security officers (SSO) to build rapport with students and engage the school community throughout all school sponsored activities. By 2022-23, SSO responsibilities will be evaluated to ensure coherence with divisionwide response protocols. Currently, PWCS funds 71 SSO positions across middle and high schools. In order to support these SSO, PWCS commits to enhancing the centralized support, to include assistance to schools during short-term crisis events to provide visibility and support to school administration.

To ensure SSO are easily identified, PWCS will provide standardized school security attire to ensure that staff, students, and community as well as first responders can readily recognize SSO. All SSO participate in a mandatory state certification training within their first 60 days. To provide further support and professional development to new SSO, PWCS will establish a cohort/mentoring program for all new SSs by 2025.

Increase crisis management readiness across PWCS schools and offices.

PWCS provides a strong crisis management response framework focused on safer school outcomes. Each year, all schools and offices participate in 15 crisis drills and are required to update their crisis response plans annually. PWCS will enhance its focus on training of staff and students to respond to crises using recognized best practices defined in the PWCS Crisis Management Plan, while engaging central office staff to evaluate drills and provide constructive feedback. By 2025, 100% of schools will undergo an evaluation of crisis response protocols annually. When crises do occur, it's recognized that reflection and review of the response is critical. Beginning with the 2022-23 school year, the Risk Management and Security Services department will engage in after-action assessments of each specific crisis response so that processes can be refined and improved.

100% of all school division facilities provide a welcoming environment conducive to learning by meeting PWCS established standards of quality and applicable building code regulations

Develop an annual divisionwide Maintenance and Facility plan.

In addition to the long-term Capital Improvement Plan, PWCS is committed to the ongoing maintenance of school facilities based on need. PWCS is building a plan for ongoing assessment of sites for maintenance and renewal based on programmatic changes, standards adjustments, and emerging technologies, in addition to the age of the facility. The plan will encompass a facility condition index as it relates to a school's architectural, mechanical, plumbing, safety, and security systems. The index will also incorporate technology infrastructure and life-safety systems. By the 2024-25 school year, all schools will be assessed using the facility condition index.

100% of schools will actively integrate Environmental Literacy into all grade levels

Provide consistent access to high-quality learning experiences, in and out of the classroom, for students and staff, that promote Environmental Literacy across all content areas.

PWCS will incorporate environmental literacy standards into the PWCS curriculum and developing cross-curricular professional development. By 2023, 200 teachers will participate in this training. PWCS is also promoting pathways for students to achieve the Virginia Board of Education's Seal for Excellence in Science and the Environment. By 2025, all schools will have access to robust environmental literacy curriculum across all grades (PreK-12) and professional development for all teachers.

PWCS will have at least five schools earn the U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School designation

Incorporate project-based learning across all grade levels through the development of resources designed to utilize the school building as a teaching tool.

PWCS will support the pursuit of U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School designations for individual schools, so that by 2025, at least five schools will receive the designation. PWCS commits to creating site-specific outdoor environmental experiences.

10% reduction of divisionwide greenhouse gas emissions year over year between FY23-26

Complete the first Net Zero new construction school replacement in PWCS

Develop and embed high-performing maintenance strategies and construction standards, resulting in a reduction in the dependency of fossil fuels and broader incorporation of renewable energy into our building portfolio.

PWCS has committed to a systemic and strategic approach to sustainability, through relationships with external sustainability experts. The PWCS Energy Management Team has established energy dashboards demonstrating building attributes and energy performance. PWCS is implementing multiple design principles based on industry and federal standards for building construction focused on various aspects of energy management and sustainability. By 2024, these principles will be incorporated into all school renovation and new construction projects. In 2025, PWCS will complete our first Net Zero new construction school replacement.