Deborah Bailey has been teaching students in Chesterfield County for 33 years, but she is not sure if this will be her last year. Bailey said she has been eligible for retirement for three years and after filling out and turning in the paperwork last year, she went home and cried because she wasn’t sure if she was ready. She eventually wrote a letter to “unretire.” Now there are papers on her desk again, but she is still unsure. “I’ve always told myself I would know when it was time to go because I don’t want to be that teacher…

On lucky Friday the 13th, four chartered buses carrying Chesterfield middle school students rolled out of the county on an educational tour of Hampton. The Mentors Expecting Greater Achievement students were awarded for their successes with tours to Hampton University and the Virginia Air & Space Center. With students from Carver, Falling Creek, Providence and Salem Church middle schools, coordinator McKinley “Mac” Moore was assisted in this quest by several mentors and school administrators. On the campus of Hampton University, the young scholars were given a guided tour of the institution’s African American museum of art and history. After lunch…

CHESTERFIELD – Matoaca Elementary School was surprised with a $10,000 donation from AdoptAClassroom.org in partnership with Burlington Stores. Representatives from Burlington Stores presented the check April 10 during a student and faculty assembly. The gift will provide nine teams of instructors with $1,111.11 each to purchase new supplies for classrooms. “We appreciate all of our partners’ efforts to support student achievement, make schools safer, prepare students for the workforce and improve the lives of our students and educators,” Superintendent James Lane said of the donation.

Year-round school is a go at Bellwood Elementary School beginning in July. During a special meeting on March 23, the Chesterfield County Public Schools board voted unanimously to approve a proposal for a pilot program at Bellwood. School board member Carrie Coyner said the school held two additional meetings with parents following the regular March 13 meeting that resulted in the vote being postponed. The district also called 262 homes of students who attend Bellwood, and 75 percent of those who answered or responded to phone messages supported year-round school, she said. Eleven percent were unsure but supportive, and 13…