Dr. Angela Wakhweya, PGCPS’s director of health services, has been placed on leave for reasons that are not entirely clear. School records indicate that thousands of students have not been properly immunized (NBC 4).

Related stories: Dr. Wahkweya discussed challenges of immunization and blamed PGCPS administration for failing to help her get the job done (NBC 4). Almost 2,000 students were not permitted to attend Prince George’s County schools on October 1, because they did not have up-to-date vaccinations on record (NBC 4).

Forty-one schools are participating in PGCPS’s arts integration program, where students learn academic concepts through visual art, music, and movement. PGCPS hopes to expand the program to all schools in the county within five years. (The video at WUSA 9 is a more complete story than the text below the video viewing window.)

Twenty-nine elementary schools will benefit from a federally funded grant of $911,200 aimed at helping students sample fresh fruits and vegetables that they might not otherwise experience (e.g. asparagus, star fruit). Schools will be given $50-75 to spend per student for a vegetable or fruit snack during the day. (PGCPS News Release)

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will step down in December. President Obama has chosen deputy secretary John B. King, Jr. as his successor. King previously served as New York state’s commissioner of education, where he came under fire for implementing new teacher evalutions tied to test scores and for pushing the state to adopt new Common Core tests. King also has a background in charter school leadership. (Washington Post)

Read more about John B. King, Jr. at NPR, the Huffington Post, and Business Insider.

Dr. Ashanti Foster, assistant principal of Oxon Hill Middle School, was recently named Assistant Principal of the Year by the Maryland Association of Secondary School Principals (MASSP). (PGCPS News Release)

Bisnow gives us another rosy picture of economic development in Prince George’s County. (Bisnow)