The primary goal of the Office of Communications (OC) is to foster the reputation of Fairfax County Public Schools as a high-performing school division where students, employees, and families are engaged and informed.

Key focus areas include communications; strategy; digital and visual communications; social media; media relations; and FOIA and FERPA. 

The office is organized into the following areas of responsibility: 

Communications 

• Newsletters
  • FCPS This Week - This online newsletter is a carefully compiled roundup of the most important news and information of interest to FCPS families, staff, and community members. It is emailed on Wednesdays to almost 300,000 subscribers.
  • Employee Newsletter - This weekly newsletter is emailed to employees. 
• Crisis Communications - Emergency, attendance, and essential outreach messages are distributed via email, telephone and text. 
• Social Media - Social media outreach incorporates outlets such as Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. 
• Websites - The FCPS public website offers more than 6,000 pages of information, including timely news releases and feature articles. Training and support is offered to more than 200 school websites. 

Digital & Visual Communications

• Videos - Videos are an important tool for distributing information about FCPS programs and people, and for capturing key events such as School Board meetings.
• Photography - Photographs enhance all of our communications and provide an authentic representation of our schools. 
• Design, Graphics, and Branding - Designers provide resources and guidelines for system-wide needs. An overall goal is to improve productivity and efficiency, while empowering user engagement with our brand.

Media Relations 

• Media Inquiries - The media team serves as a contact for media professionals covering FCPS and education.
• Media Outreach - The media team proactively reaches out to media outlets with story ideas, often developed as feature articles or videos.

Strategic Communications

Strategic Communications manages activities that support the strategic development and successful completion of complex communications and change management projects that correspond to the mission, vision, and strategic plan of FCPS.