They took her to an apartment where the boy showed her an array of knives. 6 Grades. MS-13 is ‘taking over the school,’ one teen warned before she was killed. School District: Prince George's County Public Schools. Now, as other students streamed to class one April morning at William Wirt Middle School in Riverdale, Md., the two teens squared off in the third-story bathroom — a fight captured by another student on his cellphone. She slid into the back seat and slammed the door, staring out the window as Wirt slipped out of sight. Nearby schools . Jennifer Jenkins contributed to this report. Nearly a dozen parents told The Post that they were worried about gang activity at the school, which is 10 miles from the White House. William Wirt Middle School Replacement: Physical Address: View project details and contacts: City, State (County) Riverdale, MD 20737 (Prince Georges County) Category(s) Education, Green Building: Sub-Category(s) Green Building, LEED Certified, Middle/Senior High School: Contracting Method: Competitive Bids. Click on the icon below to view the schedule and plan accordingly. When he was injured a second time this year, she pressed him for details. Email: Roger.Prince@pgcps.org. White denied that administrators have ignored complaints of gang activity, adding that neither school security guards nor the police officer there had reported problems. Please fill out the necessary forms below to set an appointment to come and get technology or to get service here at William Wirt Middle School. The best staff in Prince George's County is excited to begin this new journey with you as we Think Bigger and Go Beyond! “This is their house, so we’re going to defer to school leadership,” said police spokeswoman Jennifer Donelan. Scope of Work. “There is a genuine risk,” one said, “but the school is pretending the problem doesn’t exist.”. Fights have increased dramatically as MS-13 pressures recent arrivals to join the gang, teachers said. 6200 Tuckerman Street, … In the past, officers from the Prince George’s police gang unit came to the school to teach employees to recognize indicators of MS-13 affiliation, such as hand signs, light-blue clothing, colored rosaries and Nike Cortez shoes. White said that the school takes gang activity seriously but that the situation has improved since last year to the point that the principal no longer felt the need for a gang unit meeting. White said the school was aware the girl had disappeared from home but not of her rape allegation. Demolition of the existing 106,318 SF facility built in 1964 with a State Rated Capacity (SRC) of 850 students and replacement with a new 170,900 SF facility with a SRC of 1,200 students at the same site. Status: Currently Operational. Some employees said they are worried the school’s inaction will result in bloodshed. “That look like it hurt,” someone wrote under the video, which was uploaded to Instagram on April 19 and has been viewed more than 400 times. Just follow the dirt path that winds from the edge of the school’s parking lot into the woods, across a stream and toward the rear of Parkdale High. Rhonda Simley, the principal at Wirt, declined repeated requests for an interview. This schedule includes the layout for Wednesdays. Be sure to click on the image below for the meeting link to join this awesome event. The girl spent the next couple of weeks at home, angry and depressed, she said. One eighth-grader said she had been raped in the fall by a schoolmate in MS-13 — an attack that took place off school property and that she reported to police but then recanted out of fear of the gang. White said the school is aware of the videos but does not consider them gang-related. Budget: $85,000,000 Planning/Design Start: 2017 Construction Start: Spring 2021; Phase & Percentage Complete: Pre … Gang-related fights are now a near-daily occurrence at Wirt [William Wirt Middle School], where a small group of suspected MS-13 members at the overwhelmingly Hispanic school throw gang signs, sell drugs, draw gang graffiti and aggressively recruit students recently arrived from Central America, according to more than two dozen teachers, parents and students. 6-8. Click Here to Access The Updated School Schedule. One recalled watching school officials pull a large folding knife from a student’s pocket after receiving a tip he intended to stab someone. White acknowledged Simley used those words but said she was urging her staff to intervene to prevent a “race war.”. The girl is now being recruited by members of MS-13’s rival, 18th Street gang, her father said. Please click the form to open it in new tab to change the translation. “He said, ‘If you don’t protect your son, the next time you bring him to the hospital he’s going to be dead,’ ” the mother recalled. Teachers.io profiles of teachers at William Wirt Middle School 50 40 30 20 10 0 10% 35% 13% 41% 6% 30% Proficiency in Reading and Math Proficiency in Reading Proficiency in Math School State Grade 7. “Without metal detectors, which we do not have, we do our best . The WWMS Jaguar Distance Learning School Schedule has been updated. School Colors: Black and Gold. Last Name: First Name: Email: Position: Department: Team: Adegbuyi: Bamidele : … “Teachers feel threatened but aren’t backed up. “They told me if I didn’t fight, they’d stick the knife in me,” she recalled him saying. William Wirt Middle School Unclaimed. Click on the image below to access the resources within our school community. The girl who alleges she was raped said the same boy also threatened her with a gun he brought to school, and another MS-13 member put two bullets in her hoodie as a warning. William Wirt Middle School. or. 6200 Tuckerman St. Riverdale MD, 20737, Prince Georges County. 50 40 30 20 10 0 14% 28% … But first, she has to finish eighth grade. William Wirt Middle School, part of the Prince George's County Public Schools district, is located in Riverdale, Maryland. PGCPS has provided resources for our ESOL families that are available in French, Spanish and English. He panicked when she disappeared from school in early May. ‘You feel that the devil is helping you’: MS-13’s satanic history. Public. She has seen videos of him fighting inside the school and fears that he is now being pressured to join the gang. She said she told them that she had been raped by a student in MS-13, and identified him, but the school took no action. The gang’s growth has been fueled by a wave of 200,000 teens who traveled to the United States alone to escape poverty and gang violence in Central America. Type. As she walked down Wirt’s rainbow steps one May afternoon, she passed the MS-13 member who had left the bullets in her hoodie. She said her assailant chose her from several girls at the apartment. As of May 1, police had been called to the school 74 times this school year, according to a police tally requested by The Post. William Wirt Middle School is a school servicing grades 6 to 8 and is located in the district of "Prince George's County Public Schools" in East Riverdale, MD. 315 check-ins. Monday, August 24, 2015. Phone: 301-985-1720. The boys had once been friends before MS-13 began recruiting one of them. “He said, ‘I’m taking this one,’ ” she told a female officer, according to a recording her father made of the interview. Review. Many fights are arranged ahead of time via social media, filmed in the bathroom and then uploaded to private accounts on Instagram or Snapchat with names like “William Wirt Fights.” The videos are a recruitment tool for MS-13. Ranking: (1,025 out of 1,074, bottom 5%)* Type: Regular Middle School. This schedule includes the layout for Wednesdays. One tree trunk appears as if it has been used for knife practice. Hours: 9:00am to 3:40pm. Now, as other students streamed to class one April morning at William Wirt Middle School in Riverdale, And so far, we haven’t found that evidence.”. William Albert Wirt (1874–1938) was a superintendent of schools in Gary, Indiana. They were MS-13, she recalled him saying, and if she didn’t come out then they would come in and kill her and her family. The other ones left, and he began to take off my clothes.”. William Wirt Middle Middle School. 1,065 students attend William Wirt Middle School, and the ratio of students to teachers is 13:1. Other families told similar stories about MS-13 violence and intimidation. In a recent emergency staff meeting, the principal attributed an uptick in violence to a “race war” between Hispanic students — who make up roughly 80 percent of the school population — and black students, according to people present. “I’m going to give you such a beating, girl,” he muttered in Spanish, she said, as a Prince George’s police officer sat in his squad car a few feet away. Type Public. Early life. When one mother let her son use her phone, she received a message from an MS-13 member saying the gang was going to cut out his tongue. Wirt was struggling before the influx of so many vulnerable children helped swell the school’s population by 50 percent. William Wirt Middle School 6200 Tuckerman St. Riverdale, MD 20737. 5 /10. The boys had once been friends before MS-13 began recruiting one of them. Many teachers said they care deeply about the school’s unaccompanied minors, who are often traumatized by the journey to the United States, alienated from relatives here and isolated by their limited English. The girl described Grades: 6-8. The teachers receive an average of $33,606 per year. Wirt developed the Gary Plan for the more efficient use of school facilities, a reform of the Progressive Movement that was widely adopted in other cities. See contact info and more. ABOUT US. Next year, he said, she will be attending a high school where the gang has less of a presence. Now, as other students streamed to class one April morning at William Wirt Middle School in … They bullied Spanish-speaking classmates and sexually harassed the girls in class. Several said suspected MS-13 members have burst into classrooms and attacked students. Parents and Scholars of House of Howard University, you have been invited to celebrate our 2nd Quarter Honor Roll Recipients, Friday, March 19, 2021 at 11:45am. The gang’s presence at Wirt comes at a time when the Trump administration has declared war on MS-13, and communities throughout the country are confronting a surge in MS-13-related violence. Nearly 5,000 of those unaccompanied minors have arrived in Prince George’s since 2012, affecting schools in Langley Park, Hyattsville, Beltsville and Riverdale. The girl said she reported the gun incident to security but not finding the bullets. When she told him to stop, he took out a knife and said, “Look what I have here,” she said. The WWMS Jaguar Distance Learning School Schedule has been updated. Several students openly counted cash, allegedly money earned from selling marijuana in Wirt’s bathrooms, transactions that a student and several parents also described to The Post. The MS-13 recruit threw a punch at his former friend’s head. There are a total of 790 free lunch students and 83 reduced lunch students. New rating. 5 out of 5 stars. you have been invited to celebrate our 2nd Quarter Honor Roll Recipients, Friday, March 19, 2021 at 11:45am. First Day of School for ALL Scholars is Tuesday, August 25, 2015. Click on the links below to meet the Wonderful WW Staff Members and take a look at our virtual school tour and see how unique and amazing we truly are! Project Details. See you there! Empty beer cans, candy wrappers and crumpled assignments surround a stump blackened by fire. “I like that,” someone shouted off-camera as the recruit tried to cover his head. Eight Parkdale students were arrested, although only one had attended Wirt. William Wirt Middle School Test Scores (No Child Left Behind Tests) Grade 6. See more of »»» William•Wirt•Middle•School ««« on Facebook. William Wirt Middle School is ranked within the bottom 50% of all 1,359 schools in Maryland (based off of combined math and reading proficiency testing data) for the 2017-18 school year. “The school has enabled the gang through its lack of enforcement.”. Some parents said they had tried taking away phones or deactivating social media accounts to prevent their kids from being recruited. The girl had recently arrived in the United States, one of about 1,000 unaccompanied minors placed with relatives in Prince George’s County last year. Please fill out the necessary forms below to set an appointment to come and get technology or to get service here at William Wirt Middle School. Check out our Virtual Resource Hub for food resources, videos of parent workshops, and more! She thought she’d saved her daughter from MS-13 by smuggling her to the U.S. She was wrong. Not Now »»» William•Wirt•Middle•School ««« Public School in Riverdale, Maryland. Be sure to click on the image below for the meeting link to join this awesome event. The educator soon noticed the same students scrawling “MS-13” on papers, desks and their skin. PRINCIPAL'S CORNER. When her uncle gave her some Nike Cortez sneakers, the 14-year-old posted a picture of herself wearing them online. “At this point, it’s completely out of control.”, “Do fights occur at the school? They are being educated at one of the county’s oldest middle schools, slated to be replaced by 2020 after years of leaks and mold. William Wirt was born on a farm near Markle, Indiana, in 1874. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, Local enterprise reporter covering immigration, poverty, inequality and crime, ‘A ticking time bomb’: MS-13 threatens a middle school, warn teachers, parents, students. About 1,200 students now pack a building designed for 750, many housed in a dozen dilapidated trailers. PARENTS/ … or call 1-855-8-INTERNET (1-855-846-8376). Families new to Comcast Internet Essentials may be eligible for two months of free Internet service if they live in an area where the service is available, qualify for public assistance and have not subscribed to Comcast Internet within the last 90 days. Prince George's County Public Schools (301) 985-1720 School website. Fighting tends to intensify in the spring, which teachers call “recruitment season.” They described seeing older kids — including former students now at Parkdale or other local high schools — loitering just beyond the boundaries of the school. This story was one of the last multimedia pieces I directed and produced, along with Julia Heimlich and Jon Orbach. Eskew guilty in Wirt High School shooting 19-year-old faces maximum of 11 years behind bars. The best staff in Prince George's County is excited to begin this new journey with you as we Think Bigger and Go Beyond! “He began to touch me. School Mascot: Jaguar. Police found her at an 18th Street hangout. to identify any dangerous activity at schools,” he said. Contact info. 16% of the William Wirt Middle School students are "limited in English proficiency." Members of Mara Salvatrucha, the notorious El Salvadorian street gang also known as MS-13, have infiltrated an overwhelmingly Hispanic school, William Wirt Middle School in Riverdale, Md., to sell drugs, draw pro-MS-13 graffiti, and recruit immigrants from Central America who have fled their respective countries because of the brutal gang. The school assigned one of its three security guards to watch over her son when he changed classes or ate lunch, she said. Teachers said the fights haven’t been over race but resistance to MS-13. “He said he could cut my guts out,” she told The Post. The school's diversity has stayed relatively flat over five school years. William Wirt Middle School Home of the Mighty Jaguars. Several said they were scared their children would be killed. It was well after midnight, but the seventh-grader told her to come outside, where he and some friends were waiting in a car. Log In. “Which [gang] do you represent?” asked an older girl in Spanish on Facebook last fall. “The jumping, the recruitment, they are trying to do it here,” said Maureen Williams, an eighth-grade science instructor. Basic Info Students and Teachers Test Performance School District . When she returned to school, she and her father met with school officials. She said she was familiar with MS-13 from years of teaching in Los Angeles, where the gang was founded in the 1980s. 6200 Tuckerman Street, East Riverdale, MD 20737. When she didn’t reply, he began angrily calling her. My daughter goes to William Wirt Middle School, in last couple of weeks I have not seen any difference in her, She tries a lot to learn English, today I asked her what do you think about your school. So she was shocked when her boy, now 13, told her that MS-13 was trying to recruit him at Wirt. But later, when a male officer questioned her, the girl began to worry the gang would come after her so she recanted, she told The Post. About See All. 301-985-1720 | Fax: 301-985-2135. Forgot account? She, too, saw videos of her son fighting in the school’s bathrooms. #canthidethatjaguarpride. Most of those interviewed asked not to be identified for fear of losing their jobs or being targeted by MS-13. Jan. 8 William Penn High School (New Castle, DE) Jan. 9 Dunbar Vocational Career Academy (Chicago, IL) Jan. 23 Cahokia High School (Cahokia, IL) Feb. 11 Zebulon Middle School … Two months earlier, a shooting involving another Parkdale student and MS-13 sent both schools into lockdown. TEDL. 58 people like this. 'I'm not going anywhere,' rapped a defiant MS-13 gang member. “These kids are getting a slap on the wrist,” that educator said. “Then he began to rape me,” the girl told police. Create New Account. Nurse Phillip's Virtual Health Suite                   COVID-19 Review        Conflict Resolution Request. A psychologist who spoke to her son came away so worried, he gave her a note to take to school. But at Wirt, she said that administrators and police didn’t seem to be taking the issue seriously. Five students had been arrested for assault, drug possession and bringing a BB gun into the building, White said in an interview. Click on the video below to hear Principal Simley's latest updates regarding our Hybrid Learning safety measures,  protocols and readiness checklist as we prepare to reopen schools. Please click the form to open it in new tab to change the translation. And she, too, went to the school to demand it do something. “If you wear Corteses you know what kind of trouble you’re in.”. The boys had once been friends before MS-13 began recruiting one of them. 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 18% 36% 29% 47% 7% 26% Proficiency in Reading and Math Proficiency in Reading Proficiency in Math School State Grade 8. Students had been suspended 168 times this year, he said, but none had been expelled. The percentage of William Wirt Middle School students on free and reduced lunch assistance (88.1%) is significantly higher than the state average of 48.4%.This may indicate that the area has a higher level of poverty than the state average.. Students at a participating school may purchase a meal through the National School Lunch Program. Students. Project Status : Bidding: Bids Due: View project details and contacts: Estimated … At least one female teacher was sexually harassed by a suspected gang member, her colleagues said. for food resources, videos of parent workshops, and more! Ten MS-13 members attacked a gang rival in these woods in February, hitting him in the back of the head with a baseball bat before stabbing him three times in the stomach, according to police. “Many kids have disappeared because of this gang,” she said she told a school counselor. “The principal is aware of concerns about gangs in the community, but has not experienced any problems in school,” John White, a spokesman for the county school system, wrote in an email. “If someone doesn’t do something soon,” said the eighth-grade girl’s father, “there’s going to be a tragedy at that school.”. Two teachers said they are worried gang members have identified their cars and could follow them home. Click Here to Access The Updated School Schedule. First Day for NEW Pre-K and Kindergarteners, 6th & 7th Grade Middle-Schoolers, & 9th Graders . The mission of William Wirt MS is to collaborate with all stakeholders to provide a well rounded education that is innovative, inclusive, diverse and committed to supporting scholars and staff as we engage in developing strong literacy & technological skills, critical thinkers and lifelong learners. Teachers said that they frequently aren’t informed when students have been suspended — even for bringing weapons — and that serious incidents often aren’t entered into students’ records. This schedule includes the layout for Wednesdays. But that student was back in class two weeks later. The school reports an enrollment number of 720 students in grades six through eight, and it has 59 teachers on staff. “We now have two to three fights per day,” one instructor said. Yes, but they occur at schools across the country,” he said. Please fill out the necessary forms below to set an appointment to come and get technology or to get service here at William Wirt Middle School. Please click the form to open it in new tab to change the translation. It was a passion project featuring a local middle… Additionally, data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows, on average, 39% of students in the state are … When she peeked at his phone, she found a message from an MS-13 member saying the devil was angry with him and to watch his back. Be sure to click on the image below access resources for our families. The existing William Wirt Middle School, constructed in 1964 was evaluated, determining that major repairs would be required and that it has been serving nearly 1,200 students out of its 800 student state rated capacity building. But they also said a small number of these children are more than troubled: They are MS-13. NCAT Honor Roll Assembly Click Here! Nine out of 10 students who walk up Wirt’s rainbow-colored front steps receive free or reduced-price lunches and most are not reading or doing math at grade level. One Hispanic eighth-grader told The Post that he and other U.S.-born students — black and Latino — banded together after an attack by knife-wielding MS-13 members last summer. Gang-related fights are now a near-daily occurrence at Wirt, where a small group of suspected MS-13 members at the overwhelmingly Hispanic school in Prince George’s County throw gang signs, sell drugs, draw gang graffiti and aggressively recruit students recently arrived from Central America, according to more than two dozen teachers, parents and students. There are a total of 1,013 students and 72 teachers at William Wirt Middle School, for a student to teacher ratio of 15 to 1. The eighth-grader eventually told her that MS-13 members had made him fight another student in the bathroom. Before she could react, her father appeared at the end of the stairs. “The school is a ticking time bomb.”. It was up to police to investigate incidents outside school, he said, although the school offers students counseling and support. Dozens of schools from Northern Virginia to Long Island to Boston are dealing with a resurgence of MS-13, which has been linked to a string of grisly killings throughout the country. Then he suffered a concussion after another fight this spring, and she took him to the hospital for the third time. Days later, he was dead. 5. Several educators said they have been threatened by students in MS-13. 1,137. 39 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from ‘williamwirtmiddleschool’ hashtag 'You feel the devil is helping you': MS-13's satanic history, Trump’s MS-13 crackdown: Going after suspected gang members for immigration violations, ‘Vying for control’: How MS-13 uses violence and extortion in America’s jails. See you there! Evidence of MS-13’s sway at Wirt isn’t hard to find. The average Hispanic population in Maryland schools is 15%, but at WWMS, 74% of students are Hispanic. . “I already have you being watched,” the older girl said. Crabtree Rohrbaugh & Associates was hired to design a replacement school on the same site, to be constructed while the existing building remains in operation. Simley, a first-time principal who arrived at the school in 2016, is the school’s third leader since 2014. “I began to cry because it hurt.”. “You go to William [Wirt] and you’re in 8th [grade] and I also know where you live.”, ‘Heinous and violent’: MS-13’s appeal to girls grows as gang becomes ‘Americanized’. Here, a few hundred feet from both schools, the trees are covered in MS-13 graffiti. The girl said she didn’t mean anything by it, but it was too late. But this year, the gang unit never came, leaving first-year teachers to figure it out on their own — in some cases, too late. William Wirt Middle School, located in East Riverdale, Maryland, has one of the largest student bodies in the state and has a high immigrant population among its 1,065 middle schoolers. to meet the Wonderful WW Staff Members and take a look at our virtual school tour and see how unique and amazing we truly are! The vast majority enroll in school and stay out of trouble, but a small percentage get involved in MS-13 here. Although teachers estimate that there are only a dozen or so MS-13 members at the school, other students have banded together to resist them, leading to an arms race of sorts. Although administrators deny Wirt has a gang problem, the situation inside the aging, overcrowded building has left some teachers so afraid that they refuse to be alone with their students. Mr. Roger Prince, Principal. Click on the image below to access the resources within our school community. The WWMS Jaguar Distance Learning School Schedule has been updated. White said that the school follows county guidelines on discipline and that teachers aren’t required to be notified why students are suspended. Many said they were intent on transferring their kids. The diversity score of William Wirt Middle School is 0.42, which is less than the diversity score at state average of 0.72. One recalled how MS-13 members bullied a girl so badly she dropped out of the school. One Honduran mother said her 15-year-old son came home with a broken hand at the beginning of the school year. William Wirt Middle School in Riverdale, Maryland Public Middle School Terrorized by MS-13 is a "Ticking Time Bomb" By Judicial Watch —— Bio and Archives -- June 13, 2018 Students 1,137. “They only post them when they win,” the eighth-grader said. the attack to Prince George’s and Bladensburg police that day. Documents obtained by The Post supported the educator’s account, however. DEPARTMENTS . The school assigned a security guard to watch over him, too, she said. Prince George’s investigators concluded the report was unfounded, but the girl said she now lives in fear the gang will stab her as she leaves school. Grade: Grade 6 to Grade 8. HOME. Many said they had repeatedly reported incidents involving suspected gang members to administrators, only to be ignored — claims supported by documents obtained by The Washington Post. White said the gun incident was not reported. And other employees offered similar stories. Save. But administrators brushed aside complaints, the educator said, and the behavior spread to other students. 58 people follow this. “They are not doing enough,” Williams said. The most important news stories of the day, curated by Post editors and delivered every morning.