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Fairfax County Public Schools is approaching the new academic year after a busy summer marked by graduation, academic support, teacher recruitment, arts programs and expanded services for students and families.
The school division also welcomed Tim Jones as its new executive chef for Food and Nutrition Services. Jones brings experience from professional kitchens and community food programs and plans to develop student meals that are nutritious, culturally diverse and appealing to young diners.
Another summer effort brought Falls Church and Annandale high schools together while the Falls Church campus was closed for renovations. Falls Church held its Science and Math SOL Bootcamp at Annandale alongside the host school’s program.
Falls Church assistant principals Mary Birmingham and Tracy Sawyers helped lead the collaboration with Annandale Assistant Principal Jae Lee, Director of Student Services Erin Crowley, math coach Karen Olarinde and Assistant Principal Aaron Schneider.
International educators were also preparing to enter local classrooms. On July 21, about 200 new ambassador teachers gathered at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington to begin a U.S. cultural exchange organized by Participate Learning, which connects international teachers with American school districts and supports global education and dual-language immersion.
Three days later, FCPS welcomed 20 teachers from eight countries at the Gatehouse Administration Center. The educators met division leaders and shared their experiences before starting work in county schools.
Summer academics target algebra and financial literacy
More than 200 rising eighth graders enrolled in Algebra Power Up, a pilot operating at Liberty, Key and Holmes middle schools. The program provides extra preparation for Algebra 1 and supports the division’s goal of helping students complete the course successfully by eighth grade.
At Liberty Middle School, students practiced mathematics through storytelling, charades, equation games, timed multiplication and activities styled as “snowball fights.” Summer Principal Montell Brown, Liberty Principal Adam Erbrecht and K-12 mathematics senior manager Amy Hunter were among those supporting the program.
School-supply distribution was another part of the summer push. On July 22, the Warehouse Operations team collected supplies ordered through Kids R First, delivered them to Hughes Middle School for sorting and transported pallets to schools across the division. The nonprofit provides materials to FCPS students in need.
Oak Hill Elementary School revived its Money Camp after a five-year interruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and school renovations. The program uses a classroom mini-economy in which students hold jobs, earn income, pay taxes, make spending decisions and eventually start small businesses.
Sixth-grade teacher Jeanette O’Malley led the camp with advanced academics resource teacher Cathy Lahr, sixth-grade teacher Amy Klopfenstein and Dana DeOcampo, a first-grade teacher at London Towne Elementary School.
Summer graduation celebrates 104 students
At Fairfax High School, 104 students representing 21 high schools took part in the FCPS Summer Graduation. The program allows students to recover high school course credits and provides another path to earning a diploma.
Fairfax High Principal Georgina Aye welcomed graduates and their families. Student speaker Razan Abdelhalim described her development from an introverted elementary school student into an artist and early graduate. She plans to attend the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore.
Dr. Michelle Boyd, assistant superintendent for Region 6, delivered the commencement address and encouraged students to remain “unshaken, unstoppable, and unapologetically you.”
Elsewhere, recent Chantilly High School graduate Arushi Surve met with Superintendent Michelle Reid to discuss her work as founder and president of Mission Green Global. The international, youth-led nonprofit encourages young people to take direct action on environmental issues. Their conversation included the possibility of creating a student advisory group focused on current environmental concerns.
FCPS also launched its first class of 21 paid summer interns. Nearly 950 people applied for the six-week program, which placed current students and recent graduates on projects intended to provide practical workplace experience.
Students put major productions onstage
Hayfield Secondary School’s Summer Stage presented Mamma Mia! after only 13 days of rehearsals and technical preparation. More than 90 students—from rising seventh graders to recent graduates—participated onstage or backstage. They represented eight schools.
The Hayfield Drama Boosters sponsor the annual camp. Pat Mitchell, who became Hayfield’s theater teacher in 2015, founded the program and has directed it each summer. Holmes Middle School chorus teacher Karli Eddinger directed vocals, while Hayfield graduate Carlea Maben served as assistant director.
Students created choreography and led technical crews responsible for constructing and painting the set and operating microphones, music and lighting.
Langston Hughes Middle School followed with a Summer Broadway production of Cinderella. Students contributed to the performance, music, direction, production, stage operations and set work while developing skills in creativity, communication, confidence and collaboration.
At Lake Braddock Secondary School, Production Camp gave middle and high school students experience in visual arts, music, theater and dance through the Institute for the Arts. Participants had three weeks to develop and perform a full-length production of SIX: TEEN EDITION, a musical comedy that reimagines Henry VIII’s six wives as pop singers.
Military families connect with school resources
Blue Star Families and the FCPS Office of Family and School Partnerships held a Back-to-School Military Fair at Edison High School for military families with secondary students.
Students received free school supplies, while families met representatives from the FCPS Office of the Ombuds, Educate Fairfax, the Family Resource Center and Career and Technical Education. George Mason University’s Veterans and the Arts Initiative and the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority also participated.
A separate Military Connected Youth BBQ was scheduled for Aug. 13 at Mount Vernon High School from 4 to 6 p.m. The event was planned to help military-connected students and families build relationships across Fairfax County before the school year.
FCPS leaders also continued their preparations through the Office of Communications’ 2025 Comms Camp at the Willow Oaks Administrative Center and the Special Education Department Chair Summer Academy at West Springfield High School. School Board member Rachna Sizemore Heizer joined the discussion at the academy about issues affecting students, employees and families.
Together, the summer initiatives provided additional academic instruction, professional preparation, creative opportunities and community support as FCPS moved closer to opening a new school year.