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Fairfax County Public Schools entered Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week by highlighting the educators, support employees and students shaping the division, even as a potential $150 million budget gap threatened programs that exceed Virginia’s minimum standards.

Superintendent Michelle Reid’s week included employee discussions, concerts, theater productions, a retirement ceremony and celebrations for food service and special education advocates.

At Parklawn Elementary School’s spring concert, fourth- and fifth-grade band and strings students performed traditional pieces including “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” “Hot Cross Buns” and “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” They also offered their version of Queen’s “We Will Rock You” before closing with the Annandale/Justice March. Band director Lynette Blacksten led the young musicians, and Principal Rebecca Forgy invited Reid to attend.

Reid also joined a commemoration marking 50 years since the arrival of the “Vietnamese Boat People.” Nearly 2 million people fled oppression and hardship by boat between 1975 and 1992 following the Vietnam War, with many captured or killed during the journey. Refugees reached countries including Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia and the Philippines, while others were resettled in the United States, Canada, Italy, Australia, France and the United Kingdom.

Tori Huynh, a Mason Crest Elementary School teacher and president of both the FCPS Asian Educators Association and the Asian Leadership Alliance Scholarship Foundation, spoke about her family’s resettlement experience. The event also included discussion of the circumstances facing immigrants and refugees in the United States and worldwide.

During a return visit to Parklawn on Tuesday, Reid met students in Campbell Weis’ kindergarten class. Weis previously worked at the school as an instructional assistant and became a teacher during the 2024-25 school year. She now works with kindergarten instructional assistant Yesenia Kennedy. Their classroom visit illustrated the division’s focus on early academic skills, curiosity and enjoyment of learning under its Strong Start strategic goal.

FCPS school bus drivers also earned recognition after competing against drivers from Prince William, Loudoun and Fauquier counties at the Region IV School Bus Roadeo on April 26. Il Seon Kim, the top special education driver at the FCPS competition, placed first overall at the regional event. Kim and general education driver Juan Solari were selected to represent FCPS at the Virginia State Roadeo on May 18, 2025, in Roanoke.

Employees raised concerns and proposed solutions during conversations Reid hosted at Providence Elementary School and Burke School. Topics included telework, the school calendar, taking Algebra I by eighth grade and school boundary changes. The school year’s final Employee Conversation was scheduled for May 7 from 5 to 6 p.m. at Weyanoke Elementary School.

Long-serving employees take center stage

Glasgow Middle School hosted a celebration Wednesday for its Food and Nutrition Services team, one of 10 groups recognized in connection with National School Lunch Hero Day on May 2.

Other honorees included teams at Fort Belvoir Primary and Franconia, Terraset, Silverbrook, Cub Run and Weyanoke elementary schools, along with Marshall, Madison and Chantilly high schools. Glasgow’s team, led by an FNS manager named Berta who has served FCPS for 11 years, has a combined 88 years of food service experience.

Later Wednesday, FCPS honored 180 retirees during its 2025 retirement ceremony at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. The retirees served students and families from classrooms, buses, offices and numerous behind-the-scenes roles. The division encouraged them to remain involved as substitutes, volunteers, business partners, mentors or advocates.

Student productions spotlight ambitious work and perseverance

Westfield High School’s production of “The Sound of Music” featured students in major creative and musical roles. Senior Sean Salas served as conductor, while Salas and senior Ameerah Byfield organized the student pit orchestra after the theater program had used recorded tracks in recent years.

The students recruited musicians, developed the rehearsal schedule and ran practices. Byfield, who also appeared in the cast, helped the orchestra by singing vocal lines during rehearsals. Senior Annabelle DuBard and Westfield’s costuming team sewed the production’s costumes by hand.

At South Lakes High School, students staged “Once Upon a Mattress,” including a scene in which one of the lead performers climbed atop a stack of 20 mattresses.

Herndon High School presented four performances of “Footloose” under veteran theater teacher Scott Pafumi. The production involved 40 student actors, 10 student musicians playing alongside the school’s choir and band teacher, and 30 crew members working behind the scenes.

Senior James Culatta played the lead role of Ren after recovering from a life-threatening hiking accident in Utah during the previous summer. Culatta suffered third-degree burns over 50% of his body, missed the first half of his senior year and underwent multiple surgeries. He returned to perform as a dancer, singer and actor and planned to attend college in the fall.

Student artwork was also displayed at the Herndon Pyramid Art Show at Herndon United Methodist Church. The exhibit included work from Aldrin, Armstrong, Clearview, Herndon and Hutchison elementary schools, as well as Herndon middle and high schools.

Funding dispute puts enhanced programs at risk

The arts, athletics and other instructional and support programs highlighted during the week include services that exceed minimum state requirements. FCPS said it has made more than $800 million in reductions, cost avoidances and fee increases over the past decade to operate within available funding.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors was set to begin finalizing its budget May 6. According to the school division, the advertised spending plan left FCPS $150 million short of its request. Reid warned that substantial cuts could follow without additional revenue and cited a proposed meals tax that she said would add about $2 to $3 to an average restaurant bill for a family of four.

Reid also attended the Virginia Scholastic Rowing Association state championship regatta Saturday at Sandy Run Regional Park. FCPS crews competed alongside teams from Alexandria, Arlington and Prince William County. Reid emphasized rowing’s potential to create college scholarship opportunities and said students across FCPS should have access to the sport.

That evening, the eighth annual Special Education Parent Teacher Association Excellence Awards recognized educators, employees, schools and community members supporting students with disabilities. The awards received 200 nominations honoring work in accessibility, inclusion, family-school partnerships, belonging and leadership.

The recognized efforts connect with the FCPS strategic plan’s goal of ensuring students feel safe, supported, included and empowered, as well as its priorities for responsive learning environments and strong relationships among homes, schools and communities.

Literacy curriculum nears its first full year

As FCPS entered the final full month of the 2024-25 school year, the division marked nearly one complete year of using the Benchmark Advance literacy curriculum.

The program gives students access to a common curriculum and explicit reading instruction while providing added resources for multilingual learners, students with learning challenges and others requiring additional help.

Second-grade teacher Jessi Brogan said the structured approach helps students grow while giving educators a clearer understanding of what individual children need, how to provide it and when to intervene. Teachers and administrators at Annandale Terrace and Island Creek elementary schools contributed perspectives on the curriculum’s implementation.

The week’s events concluded with a Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week message recognizing the role employees play in students’ lives and encouraging community members to thank teachers who have made a lasting difference.