Chronic absenteeism in the King and Queen Schools has more than doubled since the pandemic, with one out of three students chronically absent from school, Director of Special Projects Dr. Rob Wright told the school board during the monthly meeting on September 20. The problem, Wright said, has spread across all groups of students and socio economic levels. “The good... READ MORE >
Director of Special Projects Dr. Rob Wright explained the implementation of metal detectors at this month’s King and Queen County School Board meeting, on August 16. Central High School will begin using the metal detectors on the first day of school. King and Queen Elementary and Lawson Marriott Elementary will begin on the fourth day of school. Wright said that... READ MORE >
The retirement of two valued employees of King and Queen Public Schools was announced at this month’s school board meeting. Superintendent Dr. Carol Carter honored Sharon Martin and Allison Jordan for their many years of service. Martin is a King and Queen native who graduated from Central High School and received her degree in education from Virginia Commonwealth University. After... READ MORE >
Jerrell Golden’s hip hop career began with Beowulf. Golden was attending tenth grade at Essex High School. His poetry club was studying “Beowulf” and his English teacher, Betty Anne Garrett, asked the students to do a presentation on the epic poem. Golden liked poetry, but found the ancient epic incredibly boring. He decided to liven it up and turned it... READ MORE >
On March 27, Essex County Public School Board invited members of the public to voice their opinions on balancing the budget for the school year 2023-2024. Essex County Public Schools is facing a $831,574 budget deficit for the fiscal year 2024. The meeting was held in the library of Essex High School. Teachers and people holding paraprofessional jobs in the... READ MORE >
All too often when driving along our scenic routes, the landscape is marred by litter. “The result is disastrous. Our trash washes into our waterways,” said Roger Eitelman, a board member of Keep Virginia Beautiful and interim chair of the Clean Essex Project Committee. The Clean Essex Project Committee is a program of the Essex County Parks and Recreation Department.... READ MORE >
Superintendent Dr. Harry Thomas asked the board to approve the Fiscal Year 2024 Budget, noting a $723,000 shortfall, during the Essex County School Board meeting on March 13. Thomas gave the board an update on the figures and noted that the Virginia General Assembly still has not yet reconciled their budget, but that he anticipates this will cover the shortfall.... READ MORE >
King and Queen County public schools have celebrated Black History Month in creative and innovative ways. During a presentation at the school board meeting on February 22, King and Queen resident and public schools graduate Dr. Joy Lawson Davis introduced the importance of honoring Black history. “We know as a culture that all people have a history and that it’s... READ MORE >
Essex County Public Schools is expecting the delivery of two new electric school buses any day now. In 2021 Essex County Public Schools Supervisor of Transportation Crystal Blowe began the long process of applying for the buses through funding from the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust, which is administered by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. In June of 2017, Volkswagen... READ MORE >
Researchers at Eastern Virginia Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Warsaw are using drones to collect aerial imagery with the goal of helping farmers to grow small grain crops more efficiently. Eastern Virginia AREC is one of Virginia Tech’s eleven research centers located across the state which were formed to facilitate collaboration among the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station at Virginia... READ MORE >
