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Students returned to Fairfax County Public Schools on Aug. 20, launching the 2025-26 school year with traditions, family support and celebrations across the district.
At Carson Middle School, friends greeted one another with smiles and hugs. Falls Church High School seniors marked the beginning of their final year with the school’s senior sunrise tradition, while other students arrived with encouragement from their families.
Classrooms at Bucknell Elementary School were already filled with learning and support. At Wakefield Forest Elementary School, students began the year with teamwork, school traditions and connections with classmates, staff and family members, including a military family celebrating the occasion together.
Food also joined the first-day festivities. Tim Jones, the district’s new executive chef, offered a tasting of cinnamon apple overnight oats at Lewis High School.
Falls Church High School’s Jaguars and local community leaders welcomed the season ahead, while Fairfax High School employees showed their school spirit by wearing white and blue.