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Fairfax County Public Schools entered another cold February week with Olympic excitement, school visits, community meetings and preparations for the fiscal year 2027 budget.
Students, teachers and staff are being encouraged to wear tropical beach attire Thursday, February 19, as a divisionwide display of school spirit and an early welcome to spring.
Two FCPS graduates are representing Team USA in Italy at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Ilia Malinin, a Vienna resident and 2023 Marshall High School graduate, is competing in figure skating at his first Winter Olympics after serving as an alternate for the 2022 Beijing Games. Nicknamed “The Quad God,” Malinin has landed a record six quadruple jumps in competition, including the quadruple axel, considered the sport’s most difficult jump.
Brandon Kim, a 2020 graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, is competing in short-track speedskating. Kim won bronze at the World Junior Short Track Speedskating Championships while a junior at TJHSST and later represented the United States at two world championships.
FCPS is also expanding access to a sport headed for the Olympic stage. Girls flag football, which will make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Summer Games, is now offered by the school division through a partnership with the Washington Commanders. The program arrives amid rapid national growth in the sport and increasing college scholarship opportunities.
The week also brought an unexpected challenge at Marshall Road Elementary School. Early Tuesday, a water main break prompted Area 4 Transportation Office operations manager Rachelle Wigenton to relocate buses to limit potential damage and preserve service. The response came as transportation employees prepared for their first day back after a difficult snow recovery.
School and community activities began Monday evening with a varsity girls’ basketball game between Lewis and Edison high schools. The Lewis cheer team also hosted a camp for young cheerleaders.
Tuesday included visits to Falls Church High School, Columbia Elementary School and Poe Middle School. FCPS also convened its Superintendent’s Advisory Group on Twice-Exceptional Programming at the Gatehouse Administration Center.
Committee members reviewed initiatives managed by the division’s twice-exceptional project team and worked to finalize a protocol for student focus groups beginning in February. Information from those groups and other measures will guide efforts to create more inclusive, accessible and engaging environments for twice-exceptional students. The work supports the academic inclusion and engagement priorities in Goal 2 of the 2023-30 Strategic Plan.
Classroom visits continued Wednesday at Ravensworth, Parklawn and Glen Forest elementary schools. At Parklawn, students were designing outdoor environments that incorporated water sources.
Later that day, the Quad 3 Family Vision Group met at Oak View Elementary School. Parents, caregivers and school leaders discussed report cards, the volunteer management system and the budget development process.
A fourth-grade strings concert at Centreville Elementary School and a girls’ basketball game between Westfield and Oakton high schools followed Thursday evening. Sunrise Valley Elementary School hosted a spelling bee Friday, and Lake Braddock Secondary School welcomed prospective employees to an instructional job fair early Saturday.
FCPS will turn its attention Tuesday, February 10, to two events concerning the proposed fiscal year 2027 budget. A School Board work session is scheduled from 2 to 5:30 p.m.
A public hearing will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Jackson Middle School auditorium, with doors opening at 5:45 p.m. A second hearing could be held Wednesday, February 11, depending on how many community members register to speak.
The proposed budget prioritizes competitive employee compensation, the initial restoration of reductions made during the previous fiscal year and the continuation of multiyear initiatives.