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Fairfax County Public Schools marked Veterans Day week with thanks for employees who served in the military and for staff members whose families have shared in that service.
The recognition came amid a wide-ranging district update covering a newly approved school bond, academic and arts honors, boundary and budget planning, artificial intelligence, and support for military-connected students.
More than seven in 10 Fairfax County voters supported the 2025 school bond referendum. The $460 million measure will fund improvements to school buildings, athletic fields and other facilities.
FCPS currently takes more than 40 years to cycle through school renovations, compared with an industry standard of roughly 20 to 25 years. The additional bond funding is intended to move the district closer to that benchmark and modernize facilities used by students, employees and community members.
FCPS also planned to submit an application for the Baldrige Award for Excellence during the week of Nov. 10. Experts from The Partnership for Excellence will evaluate the district’s operations, leadership, decision-making and use of resources.
The effort follows FCPS receiving Spirit and Pioneer awards earlier in 2025. District representatives are expected to meet with Baldrige examiners in March, followed by a feedback report later in 2026 identifying strengths and possible improvements.
During the 2024-25 school year, 187 FCPS students earned the College Board’s AP Capstone Diploma, while 22 received the AP Seminar and Research Certificate.
The AP Capstone program centers on the yearlong AP Seminar and AP Research courses. Students complete academic papers, multimedia presentations and defenses of their findings while developing skills in research, critical thinking, collaboration, presentation and time management. Access to advanced coursework is included in Goal 4 of the FCPS 2023-30 Strategic Plan.
Music students also secured statewide honors. Thirty-nine students from 18 Fairfax County high schools and two elementary schools were selected for the 2025 All-Virginia Orff Ensemble, the 2024 All-Virginia Jazz Band and Jazz Ensemble, or the 2025 Virginia Music Educators Association Senior Honors Choir.
They were scheduled to rehearse and perform with musicians from across Virginia in Norfolk from Tuesday, Nov. 18, through Saturday, Nov. 22. The free public performances followed a competitive audition process and gave participants the opportunity to work with nationally recognized conductors.
Carter G. Woodson High School received the 2025 Science Olympiad Spirit Award at the national tournament at the University of Nebraska. The distinction recognizes positivity, teamwork, character and citizenship and is considered one of the program’s highest honors.
Woodson was among 60 teams competing at the national event. Its students were recognized for supporting both their teammates and competitors from other schools. Principal Kevin Greata shared news of the award, and team sponsor Ellen Babcock was credited with helping establish the group’s supportive culture.
Thousands of students took part in extracurricular programs during the fall. More than 8,000 participated in athletics, including 775 who joined a new girls flag football program sponsored by the Washington Commanders. Another 8,200 participated in theater, working both onstage and behind the scenes.
Those activities support the district strategic plan’s second goal, which calls for students to be safe, supported, included and empowered.
FCPS also announced that 49 additional schools had received Purple Star designations for supporting military-connected children and their families. The additions brought the district total to 145 schools, nearly 75% of FCPS.
The school system aims to achieve Purple Star Division status during the 2026-27 school year, which would require every FCPS school to hold the designation.
Families, meanwhile, were asked to complete the Federal Impact Aid Survey. FCPS receives the federal funding because the area’s military installations, federal land and federally supported housing reduce the amount of property-tax revenue available locally.
Impact Aid supports expenses including classroom staffing and instruction, building maintenance and student transportation. FCPS expected to receive approximately $4 million during the year.
The survey was available through the Online Packets section of SIS ParentVUE. Beginning Wednesday, Nov. 12, schools planned to send paper forms to families that had not completed it online.
The district’s comprehensive boundary review also moved into its final stages after 12 October community meetings, each focused on two school pyramids. Families and other residents provided neighborhood-level feedback, while members of the Superintendent’s Boundary Review Advisory Committee attended meetings and continued developing recommendations.
The committee was expected to submit its recommendations to Superintendent Michelle Reid later in November. Reid would then consider them before presenting final recommendations and a proposed implementation plan to the School Board.
Board members are expected to review the proposal, conduct a public hearing and approve any boundary changes in January.
Budget planning is unfolding alongside the boundary process. An upcoming School Board work session was set to include an approximately 10 a.m. discussion of the fiscal year 2027 budget.
The early budget forecast was intended to preview the district’s financial outlook before Reid presents her proposed needs-based budget on Jan. 22, 2026. Topics were expected to include employee compensation, Virginia’s Standards of Quality and Local Composite Index funding formulas, and mandates for which the district says it does not receive complete funding.
Officials also planned to examine FCPS programs and services that exceed state requirements. District leaders cautioned that inadequate funding could force difficult decisions about the education and services available to Fairfax County students.
Earlier in the week, Reid visited Aldrin Elementary School to celebrate Principal Shane Wolfe’s Virginia Principal of Distinction Award from the Virginia Department of Education. The program honors administrators whose leadership promotes excellence and improves student outcomes.
The recognition is offered with the Virginia Association of Elementary and Secondary School Principals. Wolfe recently attended a professional-development symposium in Richmond with Annandale High School Principal Shawn DeRose and South County High School Principal Kambar Khoshaba.
On Monday evening, Reid joined “Meeting the Moment: FCPS Forward — AI and the Future of Learning” at West Springfield High School.
The event opened with an interactive expo featuring artificial-intelligence tools from Google and Playlab. A subsequent discussion included Reid; FCPS Chief Information Technology Officer Gautam Sethi; Steven Butschi, Google’s director of education for North America; and Hilah Barbot, Playlab’s strategic partnerships lead.
Speakers examined how AI could reshape education and employment. Reid said entry-level roles and the lower rungs of some career ladders, particularly in white-collar fields, are disappearing. She also cited projections that nearly 40% of the skills required for work will change by 2030.
Today’s kindergarten students, the class of 2038, are expected to enter a workforce substantially different from the current one. FCPS is working with Google and Playlab, identified in the update as connected with Amazon, as it develops its approach to AI.
The district said it wants to give students controlled environments in which they can experiment, revise their work and learn to create with AI instead of merely consuming AI-generated material. Educate Fairfax and ITServe Alliance sponsored the event, which drew hundreds of students, employees and community members.
On Tuesday, the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee for Twice-Exceptional Programming met at the Gatehouse Administration Center. The committee focuses on services for students who are both academically advanced and have disabilities or other learning needs. Its work also falls under the strategic plan goal addressing student inclusion and engagement.
Reid met Wednesday morning with the Rotary Club of West Springfield at the Springfield Golf and Country Club. The discussion covered progress under the 2023-30 Strategic Plan, budget development, future career paths and the changing workforce.
The club sponsors the Interact Club at West Springfield High School, where students participate in local and international service projects. It also provides scholarships for West Springfield seniors planning to attend Northern Virginia Community College and pairs recipients with Rotary mentors.
At Irving Middle School, the organization runs the annual Four-Way Test Essay Contest. Students use the competition to consider Rotary principles involving truth, fairness, goodwill and benefits for everyone affected.
Reid concluded her public appearances Wednesday evening at the American Association of School Administrators’ National Superintendent of the Year Gala in Washington, D.C., where school leaders from around the country gathered to discuss current issues in education.
The week’s update closed by again recognizing veterans and calling on the FCPS community to reflect on the sacrifices made by members of the armed forces.