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Jane Kamps “Janie” Strauss, a longtime Fairfax County School Board member whose influence extended across education, youth theater and the arts, died at her McLean home on April 11, 2025. She was 78 and had battled pancreatic cancer for a year.

Strauss served on the School Board for 26 years. She was an at-large member from 1991 to 1993 and represented the Dranesville District for 24 years, from 1996 until her retirement in 2019. Her leadership roles included chair, vice chair and budget chair.

Fairfax County supervisors honored Strauss during their April 22 meeting. Chairman Jeff McKay said her death “hits home really hard” and highlighted changes made during her tenure.

Two elementary schools, Colvin Run and Coates, opened while Strauss was on the board, and 15 schools in the Dranesville District were renovated. Fairfax County Public Schools also expanded full-day kindergarten and advanced academic programs and adopted later high school start times—initiatives McKay said Strauss played an important role in supporting.

Born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, in December 1946, Strauss earned a bachelor’s degree in history from George Washington University and a Master of Arts in Teaching from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She married William “Bill” Strauss in 1973, the year they both graduated from Harvard, and worked as a preschool and elementary school teacher.

Her four children attended Fairfax County public schools.

A Wider Circle of Support

Strauss also chaired The Cappies, a nonprofit program combining high school theater with student journalism through its Critics and Awards program. Her husband co-founded the initiative in 1999 following the Columbine tragedy, seeking to direct positive attention toward teenagers involved in creative work.

The program began in Fairfax County and later established chapters across the United States.

Dranesville District Supervisor Jimmy Bierman said The Cappies supported more than the students appearing onstage. It also created opportunities for young critics and those working behind the scenes.

“She had this way of trying to figure out how to expand the pie of people that she was helping,” Bierman said.

Supervisor Dalia Palchik, who served alongside Strauss for 14 years, said Fairfax County’s school system would not be what it is today without her legacy. She recalled Strauss’s commitment to both academics and the development of the whole child, as well as the upbeat way she signed her emails: “Cheers, Janie.”

“That simple closing just really describes who she was, a positive outlook,” Palchik said. “She will be sorely missed.”

The current School Board paid tribute to its former chair during an April 24 meeting. Chair Karl Frisch called for a moment of silence and offered the board’s sympathies and condolences to Strauss’s family and friends.

A Career Rooted in Education and Community

While seeking reelection in 2015, Strauss described education as essential to preparing children for challenges ranging from global instability and an interconnected economy to climate change and energy sustainability.

She argued that rigorous opportunities should remain available to all students across STEM subjects, the arts, humanities and athletics. “Their success will come not from what they know but what they can do with what they know,” she said.

Strauss received the Virginia School Boards Association’s Advocate in Education Award in 2018. In 2021, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors named her the Dranesville District’s “Lady Fairfax,” recognizing her leadership and longstanding contributions to education and community advocacy.

Her service reached numerous local organizations. She spent many years as board chair of the Country Day School in McLean and served as president of the Fairfax County Council of Parent-Teacher Associations. Her other roles included board member of Healthy Families Fairfax, organizing member of Fairfax Families Care and vice president of the McLean Citizens Association.

As the citizens association’s education chair, Strauss participated in the effort that founded the McLean Teen Center. She also served on the board of the McLean Project for the Arts.

Lori Carbonneau, the arts organization’s executive director, remembered Strauss as thoughtful, responsive and deeply committed to public service. Carbonneau said that despite already feeling ill, Strauss called in the summer of 2024 and asked to tour the site of the organization’s planned Arts & Education Center.

“She was genuinely excited for MPA’s future and made a point to understand and support what we were building—a gesture of encouragement I will never forget,” Carbonneau said.

Strauss’s husband died in 2007. She is survived by daughters Melanie Yee, Victoria Hays and Rebecca Strauss; son Eric Strauss; and five grandchildren.

A celebration of her life was held May 18 at the McLean High School auditorium. Her family requested contributions to The Cappies in place of flowers.