Community Update: Progress, Partnership and What’s Next

Dear PGCPS Families,

The first few weeks of this school year have been filled with joy, energy, and purpose. From classrooms alive with curiosity to community gatherings grounded in partnership, what I have witnessed affirms a truth I carry with me daily: our greatest resource is the people — students, staff, and families — who show up with love and commitment to education.

Four weeks in, the work before us is clear: to nurture every child’s brilliance and help them grow each day.

That means asking the right questions: Are our students growing? Where are they excelling — and where do they need more support? This year’s MCAP data, which provide a snapshot of student learning, give us that clarity. They show real progress across our schools, even as they remind us there is more work ahead.

At the September 18 meeting of the Board of Education, we will share a fuller picture of this year’s MCAP results — and the story is powerful.

More than 85 percent of Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) students are outperforming their peers across the state, particularly our Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, multilingual learners, and students receiving Free and Reduced Meals (FaRMS).

For example, Black/African American students in PGCPS outperformed their peers statewide by 4.3 percentage points in English Language Arts and 1.9 percentage points in mathematics. Hispanic/Latino students outperformed their peers across Maryland by nearly 2 percentage points in both ELA and math. Multilingual learners in several grades also exceeded statewide performance, and our CSI schools are closing gaps at a faster rate than similar schools across Maryland, with some showing gains of 5 to 10 percentage points.

This data reframes the narrative. Rather than fixating on gaps, we must focus on achievement — asking if students are growing at the pace they deserve, and how we accelerate that growth. That is the work ahead.

To help you better understand and support your child’s growth, on Tuesday, September 16 we will host an MCAP information session on how to read and interpret your child’s results once you receive their individual student report (ISR). Transparency and collective accountability are essential if we are to walk this journey together.

MCAP 2025 Gains

Dashboards for Transparency

Recently, we launched new public dashboards that provide real-time data on staffing vacancies across PGCPS, and our 100-Day Plan Progress Tracker remains live and updated. In the weeks ahead, every school will also have its own performance dashboard in reading and mathematics. These tools will allow families, educators, and communities to see progress, celebrate gains, and focus on where we must accelerate improvement.

Special Education & Family Partnership

Our ongoing community listening sessions continue to ground me in the voices of our families. A recurring theme across every district is the need to strengthen special education supports. This is not a sidebar issue — it is a big rock for us this year.

Families have been clear with us: too often, IEP meetings feel adversarial or unproductive. That must change. These meetings should be spaces where every child’s dignity is honored, where parents’ voices are valued, and where solutions are built collaboratively. Our commitment is to lift up our special education students as a shared responsibility across the entire district, not just within the Special Education department.

Our upcoming districtwide professional development day will give staff the tools to lead with empathy, clarity, and accountability. The training will emphasize how to proactively address identity-based bullying, but just as importantly, how to show up in IEP meetings ready to listen, partner, and act. Families should leave these conversations feeling respected, heard, and confident that the school system is standing with them.

Staffing remains critical. From September through December, we will host 12 targeted events to recruit and retain high-quality special education staff, so families see stronger services and students get the care they need to thrive.

Transportation Progress

We began the school year with more than 1,200 uncovered bus routes — a daunting number. Thanks to the relentless work of our transportation team, 460 of those routes have already been assigned, and the pilot of our new parent mobile app, Chipmunk, is well underway.

At the same time, we are investing in long-term solutions. Today, 70 new driver applicants are waiting for screening, 52 new drivers are in process, and 141 trainees are preparing to serve our schools. We are also working to shorten the processing timeline to 10 days so new drivers can move quickly into the classroom, and ultimately into the driver’s seat. This robust hiring push — supported by radio ads, media campaigns, and on-the-ground recruitment — is about building the workforce we need to meet the moment.

The work is not finished, but progress is visible. Weekly transportation updates will continue through the end of September as we push toward reliable service for every family.

Hispanic Heritage Month

Finally, we are proud to be celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month across the district. Please join us at upcoming events, including Traditions in Motion: A Collective Heritage of Dance on Monday, September 29 at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, and tune in October 3 to see our students prepare pupusas live on FOX5. These celebrations remind us that inclusion is not symbolic — it must be visible and is essential to who we are as a district.

Families, thank you for the partnership you’ve shown in these opening weeks. Your voices, presence, and advocacy remind us daily that education is a shared journey. We know this work cannot be done alone. Stronger partnerships with families are integral, because we cannot win for our students without the entire team on the field.

In service and solidarity,

Dr. Shawn Joseph
Interim Superintendent