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Fairfax County Public Schools families face several important deadlines and changes as the 2025-26 school year gets underway, including new permission forms, volunteer requirements, transcript updates and two upcoming school closures.
Parents and caregivers can use the Parent Digital Consent system to approve or decline access to online educational resources and choose how their children’s information is managed. Families of elementary students can also make decisions about after-school care on early-release Wednesdays.
FCPS has also introduced Volunteer FCPS, a system for finding opportunities and registering all school volunteers. Registration is required for occasional and regular volunteers, including field-trip chaperones, MentorWorks mentors, tutors and participants serving through business partnerships or Educate Fairfax.
Volunteers must complete an orientation, and everyone volunteering or visiting a school must sign in at the visitor kiosk. Some volunteer roles also require background checks.
The district reported a strong opening week, with 99.7% of positions considered critical to opening schools filled—the highest level in three years. FCPS said 96% of its buses, operating nearly 6,000 routes, arrived on time, while schools served more than 74,000 breakfasts and lunches.
FCPS has also launched a weather-safety resource covering its response to severe thunderstorms, high winds, flooding and other conditions that could affect schools.
High school transcripts will identify course locations
Beginning Friday, September 26, high school transcripts will separately identify certain classes taken outside a student’s base school.
The change, approved by the School Board in December 2024, applies to courses completed through FCPS high school academies, interagency alternative schools, the Online Campus and concurrent enrollment at another FCPS school. Those courses will appear beneath a separate heading for the relevant program.
Transcripts and report cards printed before September 26 will continue listing every course under the student’s base school. Families with questions can contact their school’s Student Services office.
New elementary math assessment begins in September
Elementary schools will begin administering the Measures of Academic Progress Math assessment to students in grades 1-6 in September. MAP Math and the iReady Reading test satisfy Virginia’s requirement to measure academic growth among students in grades 3-6 during the school year.
MAP Math will be given in the fall, winter and spring, providing teachers with information about students’ strengths and areas where additional support may be needed.
Students in grades 3-12 will also take the fall Social and Emotional Learning Screener in October. The twice-yearly questionnaire asks students about whether they feel valued, included and supported by their school community.
Results will be placed in the Documents section of SIS ParentVUE after each screening. Families without ParentVUE accounts will receive results by mail. FCPS also provides the questions and information about opting out.
Revised boundary proposals coming this fall
The next portion of Phase 2 of the Comprehensive Boundary Review will begin this fall. A consultant will update the Boundary Explorer Tool with revised draft scenarios, which will then be presented during another round of community meetings and opened for public feedback.
Meeting dates and locations were still being finalized as of August 27.
FCPS has released more than 13,000 public comments submitted through the Boundary Explorer Tool and Let’s Talk, organized by district region. Let’s Talk remains open for additional responses.
After personally identifiable information and inappropriate language are removed, comments received through August 20 will be provided to the superintendent’s Boundary Review Advisory Committee and the consultant. The feedback will inform the revised scenarios scheduled for presentation this fall.
Superintendent Michelle Reid also briefed the School Board about the review during an August 26 work session.
Programs offer support for families
The FCPS Family Academy brings together classes, webinars, workshops and other programs intended to help caregivers support students at home.
Upcoming offerings include Co-Parenting: Two Parents, Two Homes in English and Spanish, Loving Solutions, the Military-Connected Youth Family Advisory Council and Parent Project.
Family Resource Center webinars will address school preparation, collaboration between caregivers and educators, childhood anxiety and information about drugs for families of students with disabilities.
FCPS is also highlighting the first goal of its 2023-30 Strategic Plan, which calls for students entering the division at any grade level to receive a strong start. The district is directing families to information about its prekindergarten and Early Head Start programs.
Ahead of International Overdose Awareness Day on Sunday, August 31, FCPS is urging families to learn the signs of an opioid overdose, how to respond and how to discuss the risks of opioids and other drugs with children.
Labor Day and special election close schools
Friday, August 29, and Monday, September 1, are Labor Day holidays for all FCPS students and employees. Virginia law requires school divisions that open before Labor Day to close on the Friday immediately preceding the holiday.
All FCPS schools will also close Tuesday, September 9, for the special election in Virginia’s 11th Congressional District. Gov. Glenn Youngkin set the election date, and the Fairfax County Office of Elections requested that FCPS consider closing because more than half of the district’s schools serve as polling places.
The School Board’s next regular business meeting is scheduled for Thursday, August 28, at 7 p.m. at Jackson Middle School. The agenda includes additional advisory committee appointments, appointments to the Challenged Materials Interdepartmental Review Committee and contract awards.
Attendees are encouraged to arrive near 6:30 p.m. FCPS will use weapons-detection screening at this and future School Board meetings for students, employees and members of the public.