Provided by PWCS
Prince William County Public Schools (PWCS) recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to commemorate the opening of the division’s first three-story elementary school, Innovation Elementary School. Students, parents, and faculty members attended the celebration, eager to tour the building and share their love for the school.
The festivities kicked off at 6 p.m. on Sept. 21 with a welcome from Innovation Elementary School Principal
Kelle Stroud. The Unity Reed High School Air Force JROTC presented the colors, followed by the Unity Reed High School choir singing the National Anthem.
Three Innovation Elementary students read poems to the crowd, followed by remarks from Superintendent Dr. LaTanya D. McDade; Chairman At-Large Dr. Babur Lateef; Adele Jackson, Brentsville District School Board member; Ann B. Wheeler, chair, Prince William County Board of Supervisors; and Jeanine Lawson, Brentsville Magisterial District, BOCS.
“Commitment two of our 2025 launching thriving futures strategic plan establishes the need for a positive climate and culture. There is no doubt that equitable access to a new state-of-the-art elementary school positively impacts the school’s climate and culture. The environment in which our students learn matters. It’s important,” said Dr. McDade.
“Education, I believe, is the key solution to most of the world’s problems. Nelson Mandela famously said, ‘Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world.’ This building and this faculty will be our newest weapons in this effort to make our country and our county a source for this change,” said Dr. Lateef.
After the ceremony, Innovation Elementary School families shared their excitement about the school.
Destiny Terry is a fourth-grade student at Innovation Elementary School. She attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony with her grandmother, Joyce Terry. “I love the [school’s] colors because blue is my favorite color, and I like how big it is because you have an open space and enough space to move around. My favorite part of the building is the library,” said Destiny Terry.
“When I first saw this school, I thought it was a high school,” said Joyce Terry. “When they said it was an elementary school, I was like ‘I didn’t get this when I was in elementary school.’ It’s exciting.”
After much time planning, Stroud said she was thrilled to cut the ribbon at Innovation. “It feels amazing. It feels like we’ve gotten past the point of things are new. Now we can get to the business of starting the school year, getting focused on our academics, making sure our students are making the progress they need to make and just becoming a school. Our staff is becoming close. We’re becoming that family they want to have, that positive climate and culture. Just moving forward with the school year in a really positive way,” she said.
