Manassas Park City Schools is pleased to announce that Ms. Marta Craighill has been named the new assistant principal of Cougar Elementary School.

Ms. Craighill has served the students and families of Manassas Park City Schools for more than 17 years. With a career dedicated to the development of language acquisition and leadership development, her experience and enthusiasm will positively support the students and staff of Cougar Elementary.

Most recently serving as the Interim English Language Specialist and Title III Coordinator, Ms. Craighill's influence extends far outside the classroom. Recently she led a state-wide presentation and discussion on the MPCS language acquisition program after the division was recognized as a Magna Award winner by the National School Board Association.

Leading the ESOL department as chair and WIDA testing coordinator, Ms. Craighill has provided training to colleagues for both WIDA testing and ESOL strategies. She served as a new teacher and leadership mentor while developing process strategies to facilitate multi-lingual parent/teacher conferences and serving as a language and literacy team lead. Ms. Craighill was named Cougar Elementary School's Educator of the Year on two occasions; the first in 2008 and the second in 2015. In 2010, she was named the MPCS Washington Post Educator of the Year.

Ms. Craighill will succeed Ms. Kristen Marbury who has accepted the position of assistant principal of Manassas Park Middle School beginning with the 2021-22 school year.

###

Dr. Melissa Saunders was appointed as the next superintendent of Manassas Park City Schools at tonight's school board meeting. Her new position will be effective July 1, 2021. Saunders has 28 years of experience working in public education. She has served as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, and director of curriculum and instruction in Loudoun County and Manassas City, Virginia and in Pennsylvania and Delaware. Since 2016, she has served as the executive director of student achievement for Manassas City Public Schools.

After a nationwide search which generated a strong number of highly qualified candidates, the Manassas Park City School Board has identified the candidate who best meets the criteria and qualities to serve as the school division's next superintendent.

At the April 8, 2021, Special School Board meeting, the School Board will appoint the new superintendent to replace Dr. Bruce McDade upon his retirement on June 30, 2021. The meeting will begin at 5:59 pm with a public vote and announcement of the individual selected.

The meeting will be broadcast on Comcast Channel 18, Verizon Channel 42, and on the MPCS YouTube Channel at https://youtu.be/s77ApYVY0FA.

The Virginia School Boards Association (VSBA) assisted the school board with the superintendent search process.

###

Effective immediately, Manassas Park City Schools will be serving meals at no charge to children 18 and under. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has approved waivers for local school divisions and other federal meal program sponsors to implement the Summer Food Service Program to provide meals to children in the community free of charge to both in person and virtual students through June 30, 2021. The waivers support access to nutritious meals while minimizing exposure to COVID-19.

Meals will be provided at distribution sites on a first come, first served basis at the following dates, times and locations:

Effective immediately, Manassas Park City Schools will be serving meals at no charge to children 18 and under. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has approved waivers for local school divisions and other federal meal program sponsors to implement the Summer Food Service Program to provide meals to children in the community free of charge February 2021. The waivers support access to nutritious meals while minimizing exposure to COVID-19.

Manassas Park City Schools last week presented its language acquisition program to school boards statewide. The program was among those recognized nationally by the National School Boards Association (NSBA) this year for its innovation and creativity in helping increase student achievement.

NSBA's Magna Awards program recognizes school division innovation and creativity in increasing student achievement. One of five first place winners nationwide in the under 5,000 students category, MPCS's language acquisition program was selected because of its ability to provide a diverse set of teaching strategies to provide each student with a personalized language acquisition plan.

Manassas Park City School Board last night unanimously in a 4-0 vote approved a return to virtual instruction for all students and a revised rollout to a hybrid model of teaching and learning.

All students will return to a virtual learning environment on Monday, November 23, 2020.

Manassas Park High School seniors Mohini Gupta and Nathan Lam have been named Commended Students in the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program.

Last night, the Manassas Park City School Board unanimously approved a tentative, conditions-based rollout to a hybrid model of teaching and learning. In a 4-0 vote (with one absence), the Board approved return dates that will collectively delay should conditions warrant a revised start date for any school or grade.

Effective immediately, Manassas Park City Schools will be serving meals at no charge to children 18 and under. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has approved waivers for local school divisions and other federal meal program sponsors to implement the Summer Food Service Program to provide meals to children in the community free of charge through December 31, 2020. The waivers support access to nutritious meals while minimizing exposure to COVID-19.

Last night, the Manassas Park City Schools School Board unanimously approved by a 5-0 vote a full distance-learning opening for the 2020-2021 school year. The MPCS School Board additionally opted to move the school year start date to September 8, 2020.

Manassas Park City Schools is pleased to announce the hiring of Tia Halstead as Director of Human Resources. Halstead brings more than 15 years of human resources management and development to MPCS.

Manassas Park City Schools announced it is participating in the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) program as part of a food assistance plan approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) that is being implemented statewide by the Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) and the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE).

Manassas Park City Schools is pleased to unveil three signature events to recognize the Class of 2020. In addition to the previously scheduled drive-thru event to pick up graduation supplies, these three events will commemorate a class that has had to weather an unprecedented senior year.

The largest community event in Manassas Park will go on as scheduled thanks to resourceful race directors at Manassas Park City Schools.

Lockheed Martin donated $10,000 to BELL, the Education Foundation of Manassas Park, to directly support MPCS student learning during school closures.

Manassas Park City Schools has named Christine Graff this year's Teacher of the Year. Ms. Graf, a Math teacher at Manassas Park High School, will represent MPCS in the Washington Post Teacher of the Year competition.

The Manassas Park City Schools School Board today announced it will suspend its search for a new Superintendent of Schools.The School Board began its search in February after accepting Dr. C. Bruce McDade's letter of retirement.

School Board Chair Debbie McIntyre-Yurkovich said that the immediate future created by COVID-19 with subsequent closures and travel restrictions are the main factors in their decision.

"As a board, the decision to suspend our search for a superintendent was made to ensure the safety of everyone involved in the hiring process," said McIntyre-Yurkovich. "We want to hire the best possible candidate for MPCS, and the Board feels that our ability to do that is significantly hindered in this current environment."

McDade Asked to Remain for 2020-2021 School Year

The Manassas Park School Board announced that it will take the next step in the process of hiring a new superintendent by seeking public input on qualifications.

The school board has created a survey related to superintendent criteria, which is available at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ManassasPark and on the division web site and its social media channels.

The Manassas Park City School Board last night accepted the retirement of Dr. C. Bruce McDade as Superintendent of Schools. Dr. McDade has been with MPCS for nearly 20 years serving 10 of those years as Superintendent. His current contract expires on June 30, 2020.