Article Text

Fairfax County Public Schools began its first week back amid one of the region’s heaviest snowfalls in recent years, prompting three days of closures and a divisionwide effort to prepare schools, buses and meals for students.

Facilities and grounds employees cleared sidewalks and school parking lots, including at Luther Jackson Middle School. Transportation workers spent two days removing snow from a fleet of 1,625 buses parked across 131 locations. Their equipment included snow rakes and a newly installed snow scraper at the Stonecroft Depot.

Food and Nutrition Services distributed 2,426 meal kits during the closures. Four sites operated during the first two days, with three additional locations supporting the effort on the second day.

Superintendent Michelle Reid also expressed concern for people affected by fires on the West Coast, including FCPS employees whose relatives or friends were in the affected areas.

FCPS educators and students earn national recognition

Matthew Barker, an adapted physical education teacher at Bren Mar Park Elementary School, was named the Southern District Adapted Physical Education Teacher of the Year by SHAPE America.

Barker is one of four district finalists advancing for the national award. The winner is scheduled to be announced during SHAPE America’s national convention in Baltimore in April.

The Southern District covers 13 states. Barker’s selection follows the recognition of Cadi Doyle, who teaches adapted physical education at Oakton and Waples Mill elementary schools and won both the district and national awards last year. The consecutive district honors mark the first time teachers from the same state and school division have won in back-to-back years.

Eight students from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology were also selected as scholars in the 2025 Regeneron Science Talent Search. They were among 300 scholars chosen from nearly 2,500 entrants.

Each scholar and the school will receive $2,000. Forty finalists are set to be announced January 23 and invited to Washington in March for final judging, a public presentation of their work and meetings with scientists. The competition’s top prize is $250,000.

Separately, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation named 693 FCPS students as National Merit Commended Scholars, a 10% increase for the school division compared with 2023.

Renovation bids fall below FCPS estimates

The School Board is considering the division’s five-year Capital Improvement Program, which covers construction, renovations, added capacity and possible property acquisitions.

FCPS Chief of Facilities Services and Capital Programs Janice Szymanski said projected capital costs rose sharply in the previous year’s plan because of inflation, Fairfax County prevailing-wage requirements and supply-chain difficulties. The division responded by using project-specific estimates and adjusting how and when contracts were offered to attract more bidders.

All renovation projects put out for construction bids since the previous plan came in at or below budget, according to Szymanski. The three most recent projects averaged 12% below estimates, allowing FCPS to rebuild its construction reserve without reducing the projects’ scope during bidding.

FCPS is reviewing its cost assumptions using recent bids and market trends. Despite the improved estimates, current bond funding remains insufficient to absorb higher costs while maintaining the School Board’s goal of renovating schools every 20 to 25 years and meeting the Joint Environmental Task Force’s 2040 carbon-neutrality target.

The School Board scheduled a public hearing on the capital plan for 6 p.m. Tuesday, January 14, at Jackson Middle School.

More virtual boundary-review meetings planned

FCPS held its first virtual Community Boundary Review meeting Friday and scheduled five additional online sessions:

• Thursday, January 16, from 1 to 2:30 p.m.
• Saturday, January 25, from 9:30 to 11 a.m.
• Monday, January 27, from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
• Tuesday, January 28, from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
• Monday, February 10, from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

The virtual sessions will use the same format and present the same information as the earlier in-person meetings. Each meeting is limited to 400 participants, and language interpretation will be available.

Federal approval clears path for Virginia accountability system

The U.S. Department of Education approved Virginia’s consolidated state plan under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, completing the final regulatory step needed to implement the state’s School Performance and Support Framework in fall 2025.

The framework will use information from the 2024-25 school year. Federal approval removes a major uncertainty surrounding future school-accountability requirements, although the Virginia Department of Education and Virginia Board of Education still must settle details of the system.

FCPS plans to continue advocating for measures that accurately represent students’ and schools’ strengths and needs. Board chairs from several Northern Virginia school divisions have sought a delay, and state lawmakers have introduced bills calling for more time to study the framework’s effects.

The division said it will continue measuring its work against priorities in its 2023-30 Strategic Plan regardless of the state system’s final form.

Literacy lesson puts first graders in motion

At Riverside Elementary School, first-grade teacher Rebekah Griffith demonstrated an evidence-based literacy activity connected to Benchmark Advance.

Students searched the classroom for colors beginning with consonant blends they were studying, such as “br” in brown and “bl” in blue. Griffith also helped them isolate and replace individual sounds by counting the sounds on her fingers.

Girls wrestling returns after weather disruption

Afterschool athletics and activities resumed over the weekend, including FCPS’ new girls wrestling program.

Athletes competed Saturday in Lewis High School’s all-girls “La Luchadora” tournament. Coach Dick Adams credited Jason Planakis, John James and the Lewis staff with organizing the event despite uncertainty over whether the weather would force its cancellation. He highlighted the level of competition and the championship masks presented at the tournament.

Virtual job fair draws nearly 120 candidates

FCPS moved an instructional job fair online Saturday because of the forecast. Nearly 120 candidates attended, and dozens of employment offers were pending afterward.

The Talent and Acquisition Management team organized the event with more than 40 school-based administrators conducting interviews. The fair served both as a final recruitment effort for current vacancies and an early start to hiring for the 2025-26 school year.

The next instructional job fair was scheduled as an in-person event at Lake Braddock Secondary School on February 1, followed by twice-monthly recruiting events through June.