Author: Gianna Jirak

Gianna Jirak is a general assignment reporter at Potomac Local News with aspirations of being an international and political reporter for a major national publication. She is a junior at C.D. Hylton Senior High School, the Editor-in-Chief of her school newspaper, and an intern at Prince William Living Magazine.

Prince William

Prince William, Manassas school boards to meet next week, discuss fall reopenings

By Gianna Jirak

The wait is nearly over for those seeking an answer regarding the reopening of schools in Prince William County and Manassas.

On July 7 and 8, both school boards will hold separate meetings to hear community input on the reopening of their school divisions, review survey data collected from their staff and school communities, and discuss the matter, according to press releases from both school divisions. Manassas is set to vote on their reopening plans on July 14, and Prince William is set to do the same on July 15.

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Prince William

Emergency housing assistance offered for those affected by coronavirus

By Gianna Jirak
The Seal of Prince William County, Va.

Prince William County is providing emergency housing assistance to those financially affected by the new coronavirus through its new COVID-19 Emergency Housing Assistance Program.

Though the program, certain households in Prince William County and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park are eligible to receive ‘no more than three consecutive months payments of emergency mortgage, rental, and utility housing assistance to prevent homelessness,’ according to the Prince William County Government.

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Prince William

Stonewall high, middle schools renamed Unity Reed, Unity Braxton, respectively

By Gianna Jirak

Goodbye Stonewall Jackson, hello Unity Braxton and Unity Reed.

During its June 29 meeting, the Prince William County School Board voted to rename Stonewall Jackson Senior High School to Unity Reed High School and Stonewall Jackson Middle School to Unity Braxton Middle School. These names were chosen out of over 775 submissions from community residents.

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Business

Businesses continue to struggle for coronavirus aid

By Gianna Jirak

In mid-March, Javier Mareno, owner of J&M Tile, Granite, & Marble, of Woodbridge, applied for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) with the hope of receiving financial support from the Federal Government for his small, job-creating business, which had to temporarily close in March due to the coronavirus.

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News

Stafford delays school start date, looks at mixing in-person and virtual learning

By Gianna Jirak

Students in Stafford County are getting an extra week of summer vacation since the start of school has been pushed back for more teacher training.

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News

Stafford prohibits employees’ use of personal accounts to communicate with students, student use of cellphones

By Gianna Jirak

School may be out of session, but Stafford County teachers have been given new rules to follow.

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Prince William

Arthur Reed, Ibram X. Kendi, Lucinda Griffin, among popular suggestions for the renaming of Stonewall Jackson middle and high schools

By Gianna Jirak

The new names of  Stonewall Jackson Middle and High Senior schools are not yet known. But the Prince William County community has plenty of suggestions.

On June 22 and 25, the Prince William County School Board held community input sessions, allowing residents to suggest new names for both schools, located near Manassas, to the schools’ naming committees.

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News

Stafford approves purchase of 9,000 Chromebooks, allowing all students to have a device

By Gianna Jirak

Stafford County has enabled all of its students to have an electronic device for the next school year.

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