Picking priorities for Henrico County schools isn’t as simple as 1, 2, 3, but that’s what it boiled down to last night. In Henrico’s first community priorities workshop under first-year Superintendent Patrick Russo, 116 people brought different perspectives to the task of finding common goals during a three-hour session at Hermitage High School.

One of the first goals for Henrico County’s new superintendent of schools is to develop goals. And Patrick Russo said he won’t do it alone. Teachers, staff, residents, parents and students will have a say in developing a vision for the future of the county school system, Russo said yesterday in a discussion with representatives of the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s news and editorial departments.

The judge joked about being a Hermitage High School graduate, joshing Patrick Russo about the kinds of students he’ll now be responsible for as Henrico County’s new school superintendent. “You’re going to find, working with the county, we really are a family,“ Judge L.A. Harris Jr. told Russo after the new superintendent took his oath of office yesterday morning. The county’s three other Circuit Court judges looked on, smiling.

Bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Charleston (W.Va.), 1972
  Master of Arts in secondary education from Adelphi University (Long Island, N.Y.), 1975
  Professional diploma from Long Island University, 1978
  Doctorate of Education from Virginia Tech, 1980
  Master of Business Administration from Dowling College (Oakdale, N.Y.), 1990

HAMPTON Several students are standing on tables when Patrick Russo strolls into a third-grade classroom at Langley Elementary School. They’re leaning in for a better view of classmates constructing a chaos tower as part of a science lesson.

Yesterday conveyed one item regarding departure, and one item regarding arrival. Bob McDonnell announced he will step down as attorney general to devote his full-time energies to his campaign for governor. Although Virginia has moved from red to purple (and probably to blue), smart Democrats consider McDonnell as potentially the strongest GOP gubernatorial candidate in several cycles. He is a policy polymath with a deft political touch. Deputy Attorney General Bill Mims is the obvious pick as his successor.