Superintendent's Corner

It is an exciting time to be in the Montgomery County Public Schools as the days grow longer and warmer in the New River Valley. Many high school seniors eagerly await their college acceptance letters as they transition from high school seniors to first-year college students. Others are preparing to enter the workforce, military, or trade school. At the same time, our returning high school and middle school students are actively choosing their courses of study for the 2023-2024 school year.

Our Human Resources Department has been busy organizing and attending recruitment fairs to secure the highest caliber candidates for our certified and classified August vacancies. This is no easy task, and we continue to settle for nothing less than excellence when offering employment to candidates in our division. We still have some vacancies, and should you know anyone interested in applying for any of our openings, please direct them to www.mcps.org/workatmcps.

Each of the division's four high schools will have graduation ceremonies during the weekend of May 19-20, 2023. These graduations are the culmination of all our efforts in the division, and we look forward to graduating our seniors well-prepared for whatever comes next and wherever their futures lead. Our graduation dates and times are listed below, so please mark your calendar as we bid our seniors a fond farewell. All graduations will take place at the school.

Eastern Montgomery High School (May 19, 2023 -- 6:00 p.m.)

Blacksburg High School (May 20, 2023 -- 9:00 a.m.)

Christiansburg High School (May 20, 2023 -- 1:00 p.m.)

Auburn High School (May 20, 2023 -- 4:00 p.m.)

As a reminder, please set your clocks ahead this weekend as we spring forward into daylight savings time.

Sincerely,

Bernard F. Bragen, Jr.

"Only those with tenacity can march forward in March"

-Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

Students who can overcome challenges and approach their learning with resilience, persistence, perseverance, grit, and self-regulation are better equipped to achieve success in school and beyond.

English Language Learners Family Support Program

MCPS supports our English Language Learners' families by providing opportunities for adults to learn conversational English. The division is partnering with the YMCA at Virginia Tech to offer a Conversational English Program. This opportunity will begin after Spring Break and run throughout the summer. This pilot program will begin with families in the Prices Fork community. Participants can attend classes with their entire family. Children will work on maintaining and strengthening their English proficiency through play and games while adult family members learn English. Orientation night will be held on March 28, 2023, at 6:30 PM at Prices Fork Elementary School.

Additionally, beginning this month, Virginia Tech student tutors will start working with English Learner students in our schools to help our students improve their English proficiency levels and academic success. Montgomery County Public Schools staff and students appreciate the collaboration with Virginia Tech and Blacksburg Refugee Partnership. We are excited to get this program off the ground!

Barbara Wickham

Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction

Email: berniebragen@mcps.org
Website: www.mcps.org
Location: 750 Imperial Street, Christiansburg, VA, USA
Phone: (540) 382-5100
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mcpsinfo/
Twitter: @MCPSsupt