History
 | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2020) |
The district formed in the mid-1950s when the city and county systems combined. [2]
The Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools system (known informally as "WJCC"), as of 2020, has approximately 11,300 students in 16 schools [3] —9 elementary schools, 4 middle schools, and 3 high schools. [4] Within the county's boundaries there are two established high schools, Lafayette, and Jamestown. A third high school, Warhill, opened in the Lightfoot area in August 2007. The ninth elementary school, JB Blayton, opened in 2010 along with the new middle school to replace James Blair, Lois S. Hornsby Middle School. [5] In 2018, James Blair Middle School opened, to be the most recent school to open in the WJCC Schools district. [6]
Covid-19
Covid-19 put a stop to classes during the 2019-2020 school year, forcing classes to be held online during the remainder of spring of 2020. The school year was able to be carried out with relative ease, but the district would need to make changes for the upcoming 2020-2021 school year.
The Virginia Department of Education, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and state and local health experts collaborated to figure out 4 different learning paths for students for 2020-2021. The first path had students work from home and get their assignments through remote instruction. The second path had students alternating days between getting in-person instruction and remote instruction. The third path also has students alternating, but it is based on schedules rather than days. The last option is on-site learning taking place Monday through Friday. [7]
No later than 10 days after this plan was made, the district had to scrap it due to the growing severity of Covid-19. For the first nine weeks of school, students would be required to learn over online instruction. This way of learning is different than that of the Spring, because attendance and participation would now be graded. Due to the decision being made to have the first semester virtual, parents might want to change the learning path for their child. The school district reopened registration for families to opt in and out of. [8]
The district also had to figure out a way to provide meals to students, because many parents relied on the schools to feed their children. WJCC public schools would start distributing grab-and-go breakfast and lunch meals during Covid-19 starting March 2020. Students would be eligible to receive free meals until June 30, 2021. These meals were paid for by U.S. Department of Agriculture's Summer Food Service Program. 9,512 meals were distributed in the first week of January, and more than 386,000 were given out since March 16, 2020. Meals were bagged and organized in plastic crates. The students could reheat their meal when they got home. [9]
Covid-19 would also prevent parents from watching their child play in sporting events, which would cause some backlash. Furthermore, junior varsity teams were not able to even be formed. At least three members on the WJCC school board and over 10 members of the public voiced their concerns over being able to watch their children play in sporting events. Due to the pandemic, they suggest starting with zero spectators being allowed to watch events, but they would look into it as seasons progressed. There would later be access watch the events online. [10]
The academics of students took a toll during the 2020-2021 school year. Based on standardized testing results, the average student is behind academically by seven months, while Black and Hispanic students are behind by 10 months. Furthermore, the pandemic widened racial and socioeconomic gaps as it highlights lack of computer and internet access. [11]
