001[music] Greetings Petersburg City Public Schools. I [music] am Yolanda Brown, your very proud superintendent. On behalf of the PCPS school board and the entire PCPS team, I am thrilled to welcome you to the 2025 2026 school year. A new school year means new opportunities and [music] new challenges. The PCPS team has been working hard over the summer to prepare for your return and we hope that you will notice [music] some of the positive changes across our school division. We have powerwashed, painted, and deep cleaned all of our [music] schools so that our students are ready to learn in a safe and clean environment. We have ordered new highquality curricular resources in grades K through 12 in math and grades 6 through 12 in English language arts. Last year, we developed and rolled out our new
002instructional framework that outlines what teachers and students should be doing instructionally in every single classroom every day. This school year will be our very first full school year of implementing our instructional framework. We know that our teachers are getting ready and are excited about providing our students with higher quality instruction each day. We want to kindly remind our families and students [music] about a few things ahead of the first day of school. First, remember Petersburg City Public Schools continues to be a cell phone free and portable communications device free environment. [music] In alignment with the new Virginia state law that requires bell-to-bell [music] cell phone free education, all students will be expected to turn off their mobile devices and put them away in their assigned yonder pouches so that they can focus and learn in
003an environment free from distractions. [music] We did some great work over the last year and I am extremely proud of what we've accomplished so far, but we have more to do. I am confident that this year will be another stepping stone into [music] a thriving and prosperous future for Petersburg City Public Schools as we transform opportunities, learning, and success for every student so they [music] graduate with a life filled with choices. So get ready, Petersburg. The new school year is coming and we will see you soon.