All Virginians are encouraged to make some noise for local Farm to School programs today (Tuesday, Oct. 5) by celebrating the fifth annual “Crunch Heard ‘Round the Commonwealth” from 1–1:15 p.m. The social media promotion features Virginians taking a bite out of a Virginia Grown apple and sharing their images and videos. Atif Qarni, Secretary of Education, and Heidi Hertz, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, will lead the crunch today during the annual Virginia Farm to School Conference, which is virtual again this year due to the pandemic.

Two Prince William Schools in Woodbridge will be receiving two of the 37 new grants the Virginia Department of Education is awarding to fund 21st Century Community Learning Centers in communities across the commonwealth. The grants range from $50,000 to $200,000 and will allow school divisions, faith-based organizations, and community groups to provide students with tutoring and enrichment activities that complement regular academic programs.

Mary G. Porter Traditional School in Prince William County. is one just seven Virginia public schools among the 325 schools nationwide that U.S. Department of Education has named a 2021 National Blue Ribbon School.The Blue Ribbon Schools Program honors high performing schools and schools making exemplary progress toward closing achievement gaps.

Comcast reports that it has instituted new steps to help advance digital equity for more students and families.

“I want to emphasize that the new growth assessments are not SOL tests and they will be noticeably shorter than other state assessments given at the end of students' courses,” according to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. The focus of growth assessments is on identifying what students have already learned, as well as the skills they may need additional help with during this school year. The purpose of the assessments is to establish a baseline for measuring student growth. The tests will not have a minimum passing score, and VDOE says it will not report aggregate growth results for schools and divisions.

PWC Detectives obtained juvenile petitions against the suspect who was subsequently located and arrested on Sept. 3, 2021 by members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force in North Carolina where he will remain in-custody until extradited to Virginia.

First Sgt. Jonathan Perok, public information officer, said the investigation revealed that shots were fired in the school's parking lot following a football game that ended due to rain.

Prince William County School Board proposes to add 30 minutes to citizens' time, to eliminate signs mostly and to limit each speaker to two minutes.