George Mason University President Anne Holton today made an extraordinary decree: None of the university’s students would return for the remainder of the semester due to the Chinese coronavirus.

This late-breaking information comes to us in an email sent to students from Holton:


Public school students in Fredericksburg are on spring break this week, along with faculty and staff.

The break started yesterday, Friday, March 12, 2020, and is slated to end on Friday, March 19. Students, however, won’t be returning to school as originally planned after Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam yesterday ordered a mandatory shutdown of schools across the state.


Stafford County Public School students started their spring break on Friday, March 13, 2020.

While students were out, teachers had a scheduled workday on Friday. As the day wore on, we learned that Stafford students, much like students across Virginia, would not be returning to class when the scheduled spring break ends March 23.


Prince William County Public Schools will close following a statewide order today from Gov. Ralph Northam.

We’re told that county schools will be closed to students effective Saturday, March 14, until April 14, and that this closure, in response to the coronavirus spread, may be extended depending on the situation.


Virginia First Lady Pamela Northam recently visited Marumsco Hills Elementary School to show her support of early childhood programs. Northam visited the Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI) classroom of Andrea Gillespie and read the book, “Are You Ready for Spring?” to the students.

“We are so thrilled to be here in Prince William County,” Northam said. “We’re so appreciative of the innovative work you all are doing combining local, state and federal funding to do this incredible work for early childhood. We really want to see the rest of the Commonwealth doing a great job as they are doing here in this school we saw today.”


Tapping his foot once, twice, and third time against the rough grey carpet in the School Board chambers, Stafford County Schools superintendent Scott Kizner looked back at the small crowd that faced the School Board meeting Tuesday night. 

Immediately after his glance back, Kizner calmly addressed the School Board on his staff’s response to the ongoing fears of the spread of the Coronavirus.


School officials in Prince William County today outlined how they would decide to close schools in the case of a widespread coronavirus outbreak.

As of March 10, there have been no changes to the regular school schedule. All student field trips are scheduled as planned, the school buildings are undergoing regular cleaning.


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