Robert Goddard Montessori

Robert Goddard Montessori

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. The district is currently headed by Alvin Crawley and a 14-member Board of Education. Crawley is serving as Interim Superintendent of Prince George’s County Public Schools, for the 2012-13 school year.

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.

Interim Superintendent, 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. Due to a massive reorganization of the PGCPS Board of Education that was spearheaded by current county executive, Rushern Baker, which would limit the powers of the school board and give more control to the superintendent, Crawley has formally withdrawn his name from candidacy for permanent placement as the superintendent. His last official day on the job is August 30, 2013. It has been announced that Anne Arundel County Public Schools superintendent and former PGCPS educator, Kevin M. Maxwell, has been chosen to be the permanent superintendent (now officially referred to as "CEO") of the school district. Maxwell is a product of Prince George's County Public Schools, having graduated from Bladensburg High School. He went on to serve as an educator within the school district for 22 years as a teacher, then principal and Chief Educational Administrator at Northwestern High School and its feeder schools.

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.