Prince George's County Public Schools
The Prince George's County Public Schools System (PGCPS) is a large school district administered by the government of Prince George's County, Maryland, United States and is overseen by the Maryland State Department of Education. The school system is headquartered in Upper Marlboro and the district serves Prince George's County.
With approximately 125,000 students enrolled for the 2012-13 school year, the Prince George's County Public Schools system is the second largest school district in the state of Maryland; the third largest school district in both the Washington Metropolitan Area and Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area, after Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia and Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland; and it's one of the top 25 largest school districts in the nation. PGCPS operates 204 schools and special centers which include: 122 elementary schools (PreK-5), 24 middle schools (6-8), 23 high schools (9-12), and 12 academies (PreK-8). The school system also operates 9 special centers, 2 vocational centers, 5 alternative schools, 7 public charter schools, and the Howard B. Owens Science Center, serving students from Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12. PGCPS currently operates the two largest high schools in the state of Maryland — (Dr. Henry A. Wise, Jr. High School and Northwestern High School), respectively. The school system currently transports over 90,536 students, daily, by its fleet of 1,335 GPS-equipped school buses, on 5,616 bus routes. PGCPS employs approximately 18,000 staff members which includes an estimated 9,000 teachers. The approved operating budget for FY2012–13 is approximately US$1.6 billion with a per pupil expenditure of US$11,753. Average teacher salary ranges from US$55,689 for teachers with a Bachelor's Degree to US$80,009 for teachers with a Doctorate's Degree.
The district is currently headed by Alvin Crawley, who is serving as Interim Superintendent of Prince George’s County Public Schools, for the 2012-13 school year. Alvin Crawley was previously a senior-level administrator in the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), and he replaced William R. Hite, Jr., Ed. D., who left the school district in September 2012 to head the School District of Philadelphia.
In terms of racial demographics, African-Americans make up the majority of the systems students at 67.4%, followed by 22.6% Hispanic, 4.6% Caucasian, 2.9% Asian, and remaining 2.4% comprising various other races.
In June 2009, the PGCPS became one of the first school systems in America, to name one of their schools after current President Barack Obama. The new 792-student, Barack Obama Elementary School, in Upper Marlboro, opened in August 2010.
Read more about Prince George's County Public Schools: Transportation, Secondary School Reform, Magnet Programs and Centers, See Also, External Links
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