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Fairfax County Public Schools families face several deadlines and changes as the 2025-26 school year gets underway, including required permission forms, a new volunteer system, revised high school transcripts and updated elementary math assessments.
Parents and caregivers can use the Parent Digital Consent system to approve or decline access to online educational tools and decide how their children’s information is managed. Families of elementary students may also use the system to make choices about after-school care on early-release Wednesdays.
FCPS is also requiring every school volunteer to register through its new Volunteer FCPS system. The rule applies to occasional and regular volunteers, including field-trip chaperones, MentorWorks mentors, tutors and participants in business partnerships or Educate Fairfax programs.
Volunteers must complete an orientation, and some will need background checks. All volunteers and school visitors must sign in through a visitor kiosk.
Schools report a strong opening week
FCPS said 99.7% of positions considered critical to opening schools were filled, its highest rate in three years. The division also reported that 96% of buses covering nearly 6,000 routes arrived on time and that more than 74,000 breakfasts and lunches were served.
The school system has also introduced a weather-safety resource explaining its preparations for severe thunderstorms, high winds, flooding and other events that could affect schools.
High school transcripts are changing
Beginning Friday, September 26, FCPS high school transcripts will identify where students completed certain courses. The School Board approved the change in December 2024 to provide a more complete record of students’ academic experiences.
Courses affected include those taken through FCPS High School Academies, Interagency Alternative Schools and the Online Campus, as well as classes taken concurrently at other FCPS schools.
The courses will appear beneath a separate heading for the corresponding program. Transcripts and report cards printed before September 26 will continue to list every course under a student’s base school. Families with questions can contact their school’s Student Services office.
Elementary students will take a new math assessment
Starting in September, elementary schools will administer the Measures of Academic Progress Math assessment to students in grades 1 through 6.
MAP Math and the iReady Reading assessment satisfy a Virginia requirement to measure academic growth throughout the year in grades 3 through 6. The math assessment will be given in the fall, winter and spring, helping teachers identify students’ strengths and areas where additional assistance may be needed.
Students in grades 3 through 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 schools and communities.
Results will be posted under the Documents tab in SIS ParentVUE. Families without ParentVUE accounts will receive results by mail. FCPS provides the questions and opt-out information through its SEL Screener resources.
Boundary review returns to the public this fall
The second part of Phase 2 of the Comprehensive Boundary Review will begin this fall. A consultant will revise proposed boundary scenarios in the Boundary Explorer Tool before presenting them during another round of community meetings.
FCPS has not yet announced the meeting dates and locations but said those details will be released in the coming weeks.
The division has published more than 13,000 comments received through the Boundary Explorer Tool and Let’s Talk, organized by FCPS region. Let’s Talk remains open for additional submissions.
After personally identifying information and inappropriate language are removed, comments submitted through August 20 will be provided to the superintendent’s Boundary Review Advisory Committee and the consultant. The feedback will help shape the revised scenarios presented this fall.
Superintendent Michelle Reid also briefed the School Board on the review during an August 26 work session.
Family programs and strategic goals
The FCPS Family Academy offers classes, webinars, workshops and other resources designed to help caregivers support students at home.
Upcoming offerings include programs on co-parenting, parenting strategies and support for military-connected families. Family Resource Center webinars will address preparing for school, building collaboration between caregivers and educators, childhood anxiety and what families of students with disabilities should know about drugs.
FCPS is also highlighting the first goal of its 2023-30 Strategic Plan, which focuses on ensuring that students entering the division at any grade level receive a strong start. The division is directing families to information about its pre-K and Early Head Start programs.
Ahead of International Overdose Awareness Day on Sunday, August 31, FCPS is encouraging 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.
Holiday and election closures approach
Schools will be closed Friday, August 29, and Monday, September 1, for the Labor Day holiday. 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, 2025, 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 the closure because more than half of FCPS schools are used as polling places.
School Board meeting set for August 28
The School Board will hold its next regular business meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, August 28, at Jackson Middle School.
The agenda includes additional advisory committee appointments, appointments to the Challenged Materials Interdepartmental Review Committee and the awarding of contracts.
Attendees are encouraged to arrive around 6:30 p.m. FCPS will use weapons-detection screening for this and future board meetings as part of its security procedures for students, employees and members of the public.