Potomac Shores Middle School is ready for the new school year and is expecting 98% of its 1,060 students to attend school in person – including nearly 100 more students than were initially anticipated.
That’s according to Principal Joe Murgo, who says the new middle school is getting an influx of students, mostly from military-connected families who are purchasing or building homes in Potomac Shores, one of the largest newer communities in eastern Prince William.
The new students are an early sign of the draw of the county’s 17th middle school – one of two new schools opening in Prince William this year. The county is also opening its 13th traditional high school – Gainesville High School – near Jiffy Lube Live.
For Murgo, the extra students at Potomac Shores Middle mean a last-minute scramble to fill a few still-open teaching slots. But it’s also a sign of excitement around the opening of the new middle school, the first to open in the county since Ronald Reagan Middle opened in Haymarket in 2012.
“We’ve been moved in since late May and everything is ready,” Murgo said in an interview last week. “We’re ready for the kids, and we’re excited.”
3 stories, group learning spaces
The county used a brand-new, three-story design for the new middle school, which features collaborative learning spaces on each of its academic wings. There is a “maker space”-styled classroom as well as “extended learning areas” on each floor, Murgo said.
Maker spaces are bigger-than-usual classrooms designed for project-based learning, which will be the school’s focus, Murgo said. The idea is to replace more traditional classroom exercises like worksheets and multiple-choice tests with projects that groups of students can work on together -- to not only master the subject matter at hand but also learn important soft skills, like how to effectively communicate and collaborate with their peers.
Instead of individual student desks, the rooms feature large, sturdy tables conducive to group work. The tables have special trays for supplies; outlets for charging computers and other devices are available at each workstation. Portable, computerized “smart boards” can be wheeled into the room if needed, Murgo said.
The idea is to get students used to working together at an early age to help them develop the skills experts say are most needed in 21st century workplaces.
“It’s going to give students those skillsets at a much earlier age than they would normally get them,” Murgo said.
Extended learning space: Potomac Shores Middle School features several group learning spaces to allow students to work together on projects and assignments. Photo by John Calhoun.
Project-based learning is not unique to Potomac Shores, but the new building is different in that it’s been designed to allow such activities to happen more easily.
“What’s unique and different about Potomac Shores Middle School is that … we’re built for project-based learning,” Murgo said.
The school will also focus on “restorative practices,” which are communication and discipline strategies aimed at helping students cope with disruptive behavior and learn from their mistakes in a non-punitive way. Thanks to a special grant, the school was able to outfit a “wellness room,” where students can spend short periods outside the classroom if they need to calm down and refocus. The room has comfortable furniture and activities geared to help redirect student behaviors, Murgo said.
Restorative practices also include strategies such as classroom discussion circles, where teachers help students talk through sensitive topics. Murgo said he believes such activities will be especially important as students return to school amid the pandemic, as many have not attended school in person for more than a year.
“A lot of kids are probably scared right now and not so sure about coming back to school,” he said. “So it’s really going to be important for the kids to know that we can get back to normal eventually, that we can have the kids feeling good about coming back to school.”
About 200 Potomac Shores Middle School students attended a Seahawks Camp at the school over the summer during which they reviewed writing, math, reading, social studies, science, physical education and wellness objectives and got to know each other and the new school through scavenger hunts and other activities.
Students were especially excited about the new school’s features, particularly the maker-space classrooms, Murgo said.
“They were so excited. They acted like they’ve never seen anything like it,” he said.
2nd new school for Potomac Shores
The $52.4 million new middle school sits on a 52.5-acre parcel across from John Paul the Great High School, which is also located in Potomac Shores. The community is located between Woodbridge and Dumfries, east of U.S. 1, on what has long been known as the Cherry Hill Peninsula on the shores of the Potomac River.
The community is planned for more than 4,000 residential units – a mix of single-family homes, townhomes and multi-family units – as well as a future town center shopping area and Virginia Railway Express station. The latter two features, although initially expected in 2017, have not yet come to fruition but are still planned.
Covington-Harper Elementary School opened at Potomac Shores in 2017.
Potomac Shores Middle School was built to accommodate 1,400 students and has an 800-seat auditorium, instead of a combination “café-torium.” The building also has a cafeteria, a main gymnasium and auxiliary gymnasium and an outdoor courtyard, among other features.
Murgo was hired for the top job at Potomac Middle School last year. He’s been a teacher and administrator with Prince William County schools for 18 years and previously served as principal of Ronald Reagan Middle School. He also served as assistant principal at Saunders Middle School and an administrative intern at Gainesville Middle. Murgo began his career as a teacher at what is now Unity Braxton Middle School.
Potomac Shores Middle School features an 800-seat auditorium. Photo by John Calhoun.
School Board member Justin Wilk, who represents the Potomac District, called the new school’s design “a model of the future.”
"It's a state-of-the-art building," Wilk said in a recent interview, noting that the design seems more sophisticated than might be found even in a new high school. "You go in there and you fell like you're ... in a college building."
Wilk, who taught middle school in Prince William County for six years, said the push toward project-based learning and learning across the middle school curriculum will be increasingly important for preparing students for high school, college and careers.
“And I think that cross-curricular activity is going to be facilitated more easily in a structure like Potomac Shores Middle School,” he said.
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