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Fairfax County Public Schools marked a busy late-winter week with classroom visits, community meetings, arts and athletics celebrations, recognition for transportation employees, and new details about Virginia’s school accountability system.
At Justice High School, multilingual learner teacher Clay Wylie shared a student-and-staff video celebrating International Mother Language Day. The production featured tongue twisters, idioms, puns and facts about the 32 languages spoken at the school.
Observed annually on Feb. 21, International Mother Language Day was recognized globally by UNESCO in 1999. Its origins honor Bengali demonstrators who fought to preserve their language after Urdu was imposed on East and West Pakistan. The modern observance also promotes education about endangered languages and efforts to preserve them.
Another student project highlighted social-emotional learning and literacy. Falls Church High School’s SEL Readers Theater Creative Workshop produced a “Get to Know Us” book in December 2024. Students developed personal narratives, writing and communication skills, empathy and an understanding of different perspectives.
Google’s Bard AI, now called Gemini, was used to create sentence frames and conversation starters that helped students express their ideas. Shelley Yu, a Title I resource teacher at Forestdale Elementary School who previously worked at Falls Church High, proposed expanding the concept into a countywide Readers Theater honor society open to students of all ages and language levels.
Classroom visits highlight technology and inclusion
At Fairhill Elementary School, Principal Ted Cooper welcomed Superintendent Michelle Reid for visits to several classrooms. Fifth graders in Alexandra McKenrick’s class discussed themes in poetry, while students in Lynn Cook’s Chinese FLES class reviewed animal life cycles and seasons in Chinese.
Fourth graders taught by Emily Santos and Karishma Parmar considered technology’s positive and negative effects. Reid also visited Nuril Kingsley’s Enhanced Autism Class. Kingsley, an FCPS parent who valued her own child’s experience in the program, was inspired to become an FCPS teacher.
The visit concluded with kindergarten artwork celebrating the 100th day of school.
Reid later met with the Military-Connected Youth Family Advisory Council. The discussion covered the school division’s comprehensive boundary review, the Advanced Academic Program, transfers for military families living at Fort Belvoir and a cell phone storage pilot program. The council works to address challenges such as frequent moves and deployments.
Families and community representatives also gathered through the Strategic Plan Advisory Group. Participants discussed partnerships and ways to help every student develop critical and creative thinking skills, meet high academic standards and reach their academic potential under the division’s 2023-30 Strategic Plan.
At Cedar Lane School, led by Principal Cheronda Farrish, the school community held its annual Black History Brunch. The event celebrated African American history, culture and contributions, with decorations throughout the school highlighting African American heritage.
A meeting with the Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions focused on net-zero-energy buildings, solar panels, composting and a possible expansion of FCPS’ electric bus fleet.
The 2e Superintendent’s Advisory Committee also met during the week. In FCPS, “twice-exceptional” students qualify for subject-specific, part-time or full-time Advanced Academic Program services and also have an Individualized Education Program or a 504 Plan.
Families, teachers, administrators and central-office employees reviewed how the division defines twice exceptionality and how that definition aligns with the Virginia Department of Education’s standard. They also examined FCPS programming and data on 2e students’ access to advanced curricula.
Bus employees thanked as fleet serves nearly 130,000 students
At Falls Church High School, Reid joined Principal Ben Nowak and Traci Kubo-Carrera, assistant director of the Office of Transportation Services, to distribute FCPS umbrellas to bus drivers and attendants during Love the Bus Month.
FCPS operates one of the country’s largest school-bus fleets. More than 1,600 buses transport nearly 130,000 students each day.
At Union Mill Elementary School, Principal Scott Hawk and sixth-grade student ambassadors Cooper and Noelle led another school visit. Third graders in Ashley Abrams’ class selected inventions and explained their importance, with flying cars proving especially popular. Erin Price’s third graders practiced using transition words to signal the conclusion of an idea.
In Susan Jimmo’s sixth-grade class, students considered whether robots benefit society. The assignment required them to communicate their own positions while listening to and considering classmates’ differing views.
At Greenbriar West Elementary School, Reid visited with Principal Andrew Blount, Assistant Principal Briana Odom and School Finance Assistant Maria Thomason.
Laura Howard’s third graders worked with Benchmark Advance, the division’s new literacy curriculum, on phonics, vocabulary, writing, comprehension and word study. During small-group instruction, one student read a reimagined version of “Hansel and Gretel,” prompting a debate about the story’s lessons.
A fifth-grade science class demonstrated how FCPS is including a homebound student in daily instruction. Classroom teacher Melanie Mayberry and special education teacher Katie Mazur have collaborated with other specialists to create a co-teaching environment supported by webcams, Zoom breakout rooms, Google products, Padlet and digital music programs.
During the visit, the homebound student participated by webcam in a real-time discussion of an energy-consumption graph. School employees said the effort required coordination across the building, along with administrative and financial support from Fairfax County and the School Board.
Mazur described the arrangement as a schoolwide undertaking involving teachers, support employees, administrators and the department chair, all working to give the student access to the same instruction and experiences as classmates.
Reid also visited a Preschool Autism Class taught by Kathy Cortez and Michelle McFarlane, where children sang and danced to “Wheels on the Bus.” Greenbriar West is expanding integration-focused preschool programming to give more students an inclusive start to school.
Young engineers, artists and readers take center stage
The next stop was Lees Corner Elementary School on International Polar Bear Day. Principal VaRonica Sloan, who has led the school for nine years, and Assistant Principal Jennifer Hutchinson joined the visit.
In the library, Leslie Dunbar read “Stick and Stone” to kindergarten students, who raised paper sticks and stones in response to cues in the story. First graders in Angela Lee’s class held a “Tinker Day,” using marble runs, blocks and playdough to strengthen problem-solving and spatial skills while developing an interest in math.
Hailey Colman’s third graders studied paragraph structure and ways to capture a reader’s attention with a strong opening sentence.
The school also demonstrated its support for students receiving special education services. Students in Ellen Mead’s enhanced-autism adapted-art class practiced motor and artistic skills through painting, tracing and stamping. In a class led by teacher Elisabeth Lane and instructional assistant Blanca Aleman, students worked on a lion picture.
During a Collaborative Learning Team meeting, teachers prepared for Unit 6 of Benchmark Advance. They reviewed its texts and themes while identifying potential barriers, including difficult vocabulary.
Arts, gymnastics and reading fill the weekend
The Fairfax County Council of PTAs held its 2024-25 Reflections Art Awards ceremony Friday at Lake Braddock Secondary School. Students were recognized for original work in dance choreography, film production, literature, music composition, photography and visual arts. This year’s theme was “Accepting Imperfection.”
On Saturday, community members offered feedback during a McLean Community Center mural workshop. The proposed artwork explored ideas of kindness and compassion.
Lake Braddock Secondary School also hosted the Virginia State Gymnastics Meet. Lake Braddock won its 13th state gymnastics championship, adding another title to the school’s record.
On Sunday, the National Education Association launched its Read Across America celebration with a program combining literature, music and performance. The NEA partnered with author and poet Kwame Alexander to commemorate the 10th anniversary of “The Crossover” winning the Newbery Medal.
Alexander and jazz bassist Amy Shook performed together during the March 2 event, which opened a weeklong celebration called “Read Across America Presents: Kwame Alexander’s The Crossover — A Jazz Infused Reading.”
Student choirs, orchestras and jazz bands also performed. Langston Hughes Middle School students presented poetry, while theater students offered dramatic interpretations of the works. Participants began a community poem with the words, “Deep inside us.”
New state formula broadens one graduation measure
FCPS also provided additional information about the Virginia Department of Education’s 2024 accountability system.
Under the School Performance and Support Framework, the four-year Federal Graduation Indicator will account for 15% of a high school’s overall score. A separate, expanded six-year graduation indicator will make up 5% of the school’s Readiness score.
The six-year calculation differs in two significant ways. It includes students who graduate within six years of entering ninth grade instead of limiting credit to those graduating within four years. It also recognizes Applied Studies diplomas alongside Standard and Advanced Studies diplomas.
The broader measure will count more students as successful graduates, particularly multilingual learners and students with disabilities who may receive additional time to finish school under state and federal law.
However, the six-year indicator remains narrower than the Graduation and Completion Index used in Virginia’s former Standards of Accreditation system. It gives no credit for certificates of completion, high school equivalency credentials such as the GED, or students who remain enrolled and continue working toward a diploma.
As a result, high schools’ scores under the new readiness indicator will differ from their previous Graduation and Completion Index results. FCPS said it will continue working to provide viable graduation paths reflecting students’ differing needs and interests.
FCPS serves 3.3 million breakfasts
National School Breakfast Week also put a spotlight on FCPS Food and Nutrition Services, which serves breakfast to about 30,000 students every school day. The department had provided 3.3 million breakfasts during the school year as of the March 3 update.
Student feedback collected through an annual food show, surveys and focus groups has shaped recent menu changes. FCPS replaced English muffins in all breakfast sandwiches with whole-grain-rich biscuits and introduced six fresh-baked items.
The additions include blueberry muffins; turkey sausage, turkey-and-cheese and egg-and-cheese biscuits; and apple-cinnamon and blueberry breads.