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Fairfax County Public Schools entered spring with a packed week of student honors, school visits and community meetings, while Superintendent Michelle Reid urged residents to weigh in on a county budget that supplies about 70% of the division’s funding.
FCPS celebrated three teams and 33 individual Virginia High School League Class 6 champions from the 2025-26 winter season. Three teams and 34 individuals finished as state runners-up, while FCPS competitors also earned championships in rifle, a non-VHSL sport.
Nine FCPS students also received Grand Prize awards at the 71st annual Fairfax County Regional Science and Engineering Fair. More than 640 students presented roughly 400 high school research projects to judges from more than 250 professional backgrounds and 40 organizations and businesses.
The winning research covered animal science, behavioral science, biomedical engineering, health science, environmental fields, sustainable energy, physics and astronomy. One project, “TorSight: Transitioning from Tornado Detection to Prediction through Pre-Tornadic Signatures,” examined ways to move from detecting tornadoes to predicting them.
Grand Prize recipients became eligible for the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in May. Many other participants qualified for the Virginia State Science and Engineering Fair in April.
Reid also recorded an “Our Voices, Our Future” conversation with Armaan, a sixth grader at Lorton Station Elementary School who previously participated in the SPARK Expo. Their discussion addressed general relativity, the Einstein field equation, gravitational time dilation and efforts to connect relativity with quantum physics.
Principal Francis Legagneur and Advanced Academic Center teacher CasSandra Tynes also appeared in the video to discuss how the school encourages curiosity, innovation and academic achievement.
At Chantilly High School, senior Titus Er received the Harry F. Byrd Jr. Leadership Award. The $30,000 scholarship honors leadership, academics and community service. Er, selected through a congressional district-level competition, is the first Chantilly student to earn the award.
Families and residents asked to weigh in
The 2025-26 FCPS Family Engagement Survey remained open through March 23. Parents and caregivers were sent individual survey links by email on March 9, while a general link was also available. FCPS said the confidential responses would help the division understand family needs, strengthen engagement and build trust.
Budget discussions were also approaching a critical stage. About 70% of the proposed FCPS fiscal 2027 budget depends on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, which was reviewing its advertised budget and considering changes ahead of adoption in May.
Residents could respond to the county’s budget survey about spending priorities, the overall direction of the plan and how potential changes should be handled. Public hearings were scheduled for April 14 at 4 p.m. and April 15 and 16 at 3 p.m. Budget town halls were also planned in the Braddock, Dranesville and Hunter Mill districts, with additional meetings to be posted as they were scheduled.
A community conversation at Glen Forest Elementary School addressed school boundary changes and related transportation problems, immigration enforcement around schools, special education and Individualized Education Programs.
Additional public conversations were scheduled from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on March 23 at Ravensworth Elementary, April 13 at Belle View Elementary, April 20 at Westgate Elementary and April 22 at Crestwood Elementary.
An employee meeting at Lemon Road Elementary focused on grading policy, staffing, the fiscal 2027 budget, mathematics instruction and access to algebra. Two more employee conversations were set for April 7 and 14.
National performance review reaches a milestone
FCPS advanced in its pursuit of recognition through the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award process after submitting a 50-page application.
More than a dozen examiners participated in person and virtually, visiting schools and centers and interviewing employees. The Baldrige program evaluates organizations in areas including leadership, strategy, customers, measurement, workforce, operations and results.
The review began with a kickoff at Willow Oaks hosted by FCPS Chief of Staff Marty Smith. The Mount Vernon High School Orchestra performed under director Al Rodriguez, who received Yamaha’s national “40 Under 40” recognition for 2026.
Between the Monday kickoff and Wednesday afternoon, examiners interviewed employees who helped prepare the division’s 25- and 50-page applications, along with staff from operational departments. They also visited more than a dozen FCPS locations to examine strengths and potential improvements described in the application.
Findings from the review were expected to determine FCPS’ level of recognition in May. A formal feedback report was due in June.
Classroom visits spotlight new teaching strategies
Reid visited three elementary schools Tuesday, beginning at Hollin Meadows Elementary, led by Principal Jasibi Crews.
She observed fourth graders taking part in a community-building game and fifth graders reviewing science through a graffiti-wall activity based on Guided Language Acquisition Design, or Project GLAD. In two third-grade classrooms, students used interactive scaffolding to compare and contrast material from Benchmark Advance, FCPS’ new K-6 language arts curriculum.
At Groveton Elementary, led by Principal James Swoger, a fifth-grade team used student data to prepare children for Standards of Learning tests and identify resources that could help students think about their learning during exams.
Staff also discussed the school’s Walk to Read program and efforts to recognize third-grade growth. In a second-grade multilingual learner group, children used Project GLAD strategies during a Benchmark Express lesson and connected new vocabulary to everyday experiences.
The final visit was at Hybla Valley Elementary, led by Principal Kathleen Sain. In prekindergarten classrooms taught by Ms. Khan and Ms. Bonilla, children explored early reading and mathematics through movement and visual activities.
Later in the week, 31 juniors representing nearly all FCPS high schools joined the 26th class of the Fairfax County Youth Leadership Program at the Gatehouse Administration Center. The students discussed leadership, civic participation and the importance of including different voices in the school division.
Reid also attended a National Center on Education and the Economy webinar examining education systems in Finland, Singapore, Estonia and the United States. She later joined a Leadership Greater Washington panel to discuss public education with community leaders from across the Washington region.
Reading intervention shows early gains
During the School Board meeting, FCPS highlighted Walk to Read, a pilot intervention for third graders in Early Literacy Project Momentum schools.
The program places students into groups based on shared reading needs for a targeted 30-minute block. Available staff members participate, with educators who have greater reading expertise assigned to students needing the most intensive support.
Students below grade level receive focused instruction in specific skills. Those performing at or above grade level receive reteaching or enrichment, while group sizes shrink as needs become more significant.
Between fall 2025 and winter 2026, participating early-literacy students recorded double-digit decreases in below-grade-level performance on the third-grade i-Ready assessment. FCPS said the improvement matched or exceeded the division’s overall rate of progress.
The board also received an update on middle school theater as part of the division’s goal of keeping students safe, supported, included and empowered.
FCPS is among a small number of school divisions offering a comprehensive middle school theater curriculum. Approximately 4,500 students take theater academically, while more than 4,000 participate in extracurricular programs such as musicals, short plays, drama clubs and field trips.
Students featured in an FCPS presentation described theater as a place to develop confidence, friendships, self-expression and self-advocacy. The update also emphasized technical theater as an option for students who want to contribute without performing in the spotlight.
Career education, STEM and community celebrations
Marshall Academy culinary students prepared appetizers for a School Board reception. Reid met their instructor, Chef Sean Appleby, a graduate of the same program who was named the Virginia Association for Career and Technical Education’s 2026 New Teacher of the Year.
On Saturday, Newington Forest Elementary hosted its annual STEAMOLOGY SPRING STEM Fest for students in kindergarten through sixth grade. Activities included robotics, coding, chromatography, slime-making and other science experiments. High school students helped support the younger participants.
Reid attended the Bolivian Carnival at Ossian Hall City Park in Annandale on Sunday morning. Students, families, employees and alumni gathered for music, folkloric dance and traditional costumes celebrating Bolivian culture.
Later Sunday, she visited the 2026 Fairfax County Spelling Bee at Lake Braddock Secondary School. More than 90 elementary and middle school students from Fairfax County and Alexandria City participated during the 101st year of the National Spelling Bee program.