Prince George’s County officials have closed an elementary school for the remainder of the week due to a flu-like illness that has infected over 50 students and staff.

County health and schools officials made the decision in tandem to shut down Princeton Elementary School in Camp Springs through Friday.

The closure was done out of “an abundance of caution, to protect the health and safety of our school community,” wrote Naomi Tomoyasu, the county’s deputy health officer, and schools Superintendent Shawn Joseph, in a letter Wednesday to Princeton Elementary families.

Fever, body aches, sore throat, nausea and vomiting are common symptoms experienced by those affected, county officials wrote in the letter.

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The closure will give the school’s facilities team time to complete a deep cleaning and sanitizing of the building and allow for the infectious period to pass, the school district said in a statement.

This appears to be the first time a Maryland school has been shut down due to an illness since the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020.

In November 2025, there was an outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease in schools across the state, and in February 2023, there was a stomach virus outbreak with hundreds of cases at Stemmer’s Run Middle School, but neither resulted in closure.

Maryland’s rates of influenza and other respiratory illnesses are low so far this fall, according to data from the state’s health department.

When students return to school, the letter said, the district plans to implement “structured hygiene and health education,” which will includes scheduled handwashing periods that are monitored by staff.