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Fairfax County Public Schools entered June with perfect test results, statewide student honors, major scholarship awards, championship performances and celebrations across the county.

Superintendent Michelle Reid’s weekly review began with elementary school programs highlighted for improving student experiences. Bailey’s Upper Elementary School for the Arts and Sciences has cut office referrals in half while maintaining a 96% attendance rate. Bull Run Elementary School is shaping its culture around the Charger STRONG principles of safety, thoughtfulness, respect, ownership, neatness and generosity. Columbia Elementary School educators are also using artificial intelligence to save time, personalize instruction and improve student outcomes.

Chantilly High School senior Titus Er was named the 2026 Virginia School Board Association Board of Directors Regional Scholarship recipient for the association’s Northeastern Region. He will receive $5,000 for his postsecondary education.

Er is an Eagle Scout and founder of Eagleyed.org. He has led service projects across the Washington region, mentored hundreds of students in music and debate and organized programs for underserved young people. He also serves as head captain of his debate team and is a Fairfax County Youth Leadership Program fellow.

At Kent Gardens Elementary School, sixth graders turned a simulated $100,000 into a statewide victory through the Virginia Council on Economic Education’s yearlong Stock Market Game.

Students learned about stocks, ticker symbols, mutual funds, bonds, risk and the effect of current events on financial markets. Of the school’s 42 participating teams, 23 placed among Virginia’s top 100. One team more than doubled its simulated portfolio to over $200,000 and finished first in the state’s elementary division.

The victory marked the first time since the 1980s that an elementary school had won the statewide competition. Students were recognized during an awards luncheon at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.

South County High School’s Combined Drumline also made history in April, earning a bronze medal at the Winter Guard International World Championships in Dayton, Ohio. Its score of 91.538 secured the ensemble’s first medal at the event and made it only the third FCPS group to medal at the championships.

The drumline includes students from South County, Hayfield Secondary School and West Potomac High School. Members had worked since shortly before Thanksgiving on their production, “Redacted,” in which objects were progressively covered, obscured or removed.

Boundary planning and a perfect SOL result

On Tuesday evening, members of the Boundary Advisory Core Committee met at the Gatehouse Administration Center. The smaller group, drawn from the Superintendent’s Boundary Advisory Committee, reviewed revised scenarios for the Skyview High School and Western Pyramids Boundary Study before their presentation at community meetings in late May.

Reid visited Lemon Road Elementary School on Thursday, where Principal Ashley Castillo, fifth-grade student ambassadors and staff members Maria Mateus, Susan Thibaudeau and Emily Gray welcomed her.

The visit recognized Gina Caccavale’s sixth-grade Algebra 1 Honors class after all 24 students earned the “Pass Advanced” designation on the Algebra 1 Standards of Learning test. Several received perfect scores.

Caccavale has taught in FCPS for 12 years, including 10 at Lemon Road. After Castillo contacted her in August, she agreed to teach the in-person honors course while continuing her other classes.

That evening, Educate Fairfax held its Beyond the Tassel celebration at Lewis High School. Students, relatives, educators and community partners gathered as 47 scholarships worth a combined $91,500 were awarded to graduating seniors from 18 FCPS high schools.

The awards included the Imagine! Believe! Achieve! Scholarship, Fairfax Alliance of Black School Educators Scholarship, Irene Rosenbaum Memorial Scholarship, ITServe STEM College Scholarship, Lewis Leadership Program Scholarship, Juliana Kai Russell Memorial Scholarship, Love Like Adam Scholarship, REACH IN US Scholarship and Think Big Expect More Scholarship. Community partners fully funded the awards, which recognized academic performance as well as perseverance, resilience, leadership and service.

Civics, college preparation and student leadership

Reid began Friday at Glasgow Middle School, where eighth graders transformed the library into an interactive civics museum. Students created artifacts from recyclable materials to connect classroom lessons with current events, supporting their work with research and evidence cards.

The projects incorporated the International Baccalaureate framework and FCPS Portrait of a Graduate competencies while giving students an opportunity to demonstrate critical thinking and explore their responsibilities as citizens.

Reid next attended the kickoff breakfast for the Early Identification Program’s 40th anniversary at George Mason University. The multiyear college-preparatory initiative serves middle and high school students who would be the first members of their families to attend college. It is a partnership involving FCPS, George Mason and several other local school divisions.

On Friday evening, the Superintendent’s Youth Environmental Council held its final meeting of the school year at Gatehouse. Students spent much of the session identifying possible priorities for the council in 2026-27.

The day concluded at Westfield High School with the girls’ Northern Region lacrosse semifinal between Westfield and Chantilly high schools.

A Saturday packed with sports, music and culture

Saturday began at Robinson Secondary School with the FCPS Middle School Track and Field Championships. Student-athletes competed with support from coaches, volunteers, families, athletic trainers, administrators and central-office athletics and activities employees.

Later that morning and into the afternoon, School Board advisory committees gathered for a summit at Gatehouse Administration Center to discuss their work supporting the school division’s mission.

At Woodson High School, the Moldy Reed Bassoon Festival brought together Jacob Kohut and numerous bassoon players for a day of learning and performance.

Reid’s final stop was the Valluvan Tamil Academy’s 16th Annual Day at Oakton High School. The gathering featured cultural programs, a graduation ceremony, teacher appreciation, volunteer recognition and a South Indian dinner.

The week’s events closed out May as FCPS prepared for June’s graduations and the many student transitions between grades and schools.