It’s the first day of school for students in Manassas, Stafford

Students at public schools across our region today, including Stafford County and Manassas City, are headed back to class. Manassas will welcome back 7,600 students at five elementary schools, two intermediate schools, one middle school, and one high school. It's the first time in two years that students will return to schools without facemask or social distancing requirements due to the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, in Stafford County, teachers are welcoming back students from all grade levels for the division's first official day of school. Yesterday, kindergarten, sixth, and ninth-grade students were welcomed to their respective schools to learn the layout, meet up with friends, and attend a pep rally during the division's first "transition day." It's the first time Schools Superintendent Dr. Thomas Taylor welcomed the division's more than 31,000 children to class on the first day of school since he took the job in December 2021. Taylor also enrolled his two children in the school division after moving to the area from Chesterfield County. During a Stafford County School Board meeting on Tuesday, August 9, members remarked that it had been years since a sitting superintendent had children enrolled in the system.

Stafford High School rolled out the red carpet to welcome their students to the first day of school. @shsindiantribe #StaffordIndians pic.twitter.com/KDVTsiRmVk

-- Stafford Schools (@SCPSchools) August 10, 2022

Schools in Spotsylvania County also reopened today, welcoming back about 24,000 students, while Fredericksburg City Public Schools reopened to more than 3,500 students. School divisions across the region are facing shortages of teachers and bus drivers. Prince William County Public Schools, the state's second-largest division, hired 900 new teachers for the new school year. The division is short 300 teachers, states Superintendent Dr. LaTanya McDade. Prince William County Public Schools reopen on August 22, welcoming back more than 90,000 students.