Partnership Update - July 2022
FCPS Wants You!
Fairfax County Public Schools Recruitment Administrator Dean Brooks recently engaged a host of potential FCPS employees at the EduTutorVA End-of-Year Thank You Celebration.
The celebration honored the hard work and dedication of the not-for-profit’s tutors. They are all graduate and undergraduate students from George Mason University and Northern Virginia Community College, and are considering becoming educators.
Mr. Brooks and Mr. Peter Choi, an FCPS recruitment specialist, attended to ensure that when the tutors graduate, they will know they are welcome to discuss career opportunities with FCPS.
EduTutorVA's mission is to close critical learning gaps in Title I schools through intensive tutoring and to support the future teacher pipeline. The model EduTutorVA has deployed involves college students serving as trained language arts and math tutors for elementary and middle school students.
This fall, EduTutorVA will again be supporting 30-60 students at Westlawn and Mount Vernon Wood Elementary Schools, and at Whitman Middle School. Stay tuned for an announcement on additional schools.
Visualize Your Partnership Meeting
We recently met with members of the Northwest Federal Credit Union Foundation (pictured above). We had a great conversation about ways to get middle school students into corporate boardrooms and workspaces to help them visualize themselves working in those environments — or not.
If you are a business leader considering a partnership with FCPS, perhaps the image above will be helpful to you as well. When we set up partnership meetings, we include subject matter experts who help guide the discussions and map out the partnership.
During our meeting with Northwest Federal Credit Union, we discussed employees volunteering to help AVID students build relationships with additional caring adults, succeeding in the classroom, planning college and cultural field trips, becoming more financially literate, and connecting students with credit union scholarships.
Who will we bring to your partnership planning meeting?
Business and Community Partnerships offers eight ways for businesses and community partners to engage with FCPS. Let’s start a discussion and schedule your planning meeting.
The Post Pandemic Workforce
At the 14th annual Greater McLean Chamber of Commerce Regional Community Partnership Forum, participants learned about workplace and workspace changes brought about by the pandemic. The discussions covered data on in-office v. teleworking options, improvement in areas like equity and inclusion, the “great resignation,” employee purpose, and hybrid style workspaces.
During one panel, Lee District Supervisor Rodney Lusk shared information about W.I.S.H., the Workforce Innovation and Skill Hub, a new and continuing education facility in the Lee District where residents can learn skills for good paying jobs.
Learn more about what’s happening at the Community Center at Lee District, which opened to the public on April 4.
Enjoy Our School Grounds
School blacktops, playgrounds, outdoor basketball and tennis courts, and tracks are available for use by individuals without being scheduled. Organized groups should visit FCPS’ Community Use webpage for information on the usage of school grounds and facilities, including how to register. If you don’t see what you are looking for on the webpage, please email [email protected] or call 571-423-2340.
Support the Collect for Kids School Supply Drive
FCPS and Educate Fairfax are once again leading the Collect for Kids effort, a consortium of not-for-profit, for-profit, and government entities providing school supplies to benefit FCPS students who otherwise might go without them.
More than 56,000 FCPS students (31%) qualify for free or reduced-price meals and struggle to afford basic necessities. Your donation will help provide the school supplies these students need to be successful at school. Please make your online donation today via Educate Fairfax’s website. Donations will be used to purchase bulk school supply kits at a highly discounted price. For more information, visit Educate Fairfax's website.
Every Donation Can Make a Difference to Students and Teachers!
Educate Fairfax invests in long-term outcomes for FCPS students, whether meeting needs for disadvantaged students, recognition of stellar educators, literacy efforts for the youngest learners, or direct grants to teachers to support work-based learning. Strong schools are the bedrock of a vibrant community. Your monetary donation will help students achieve their maximum potential and create lasting impact, one child at a time.
Relationships Positively Impact School Attendance
Sixty-four high school students who left school during the pandemic have returned to school because of the combined efforts of FCPS and Edu-Futuro, a local not-for-profit engaged with youth throughout Northern Virginia.
Edu-Futuro’s Executive Director Jorge Figueredo says “Edu-Futuro believes in the power of community and being engaged community members. We believe that if we are always present - empowering students and engaging parents, that is how we positively transform communities. Edu-Futuro’s bilingual outreach team is working with 160 FCPS High School students and 77 of them returned to their respective schools. In addition, Edu-Futuro, connects with parents to talk about the importance of education, and to identify concrete solutions to the barriers that prevented students from returning to school."
Helping students see the value of education and the benefits of working toward realization of their full potential is right in Edu-Futuro’s wheelhouse. It is also embedded in their mission: To empower immigrant and underserved youth and families through mentorship, education, leadership development and parent engagement. Shannon Anderson, coordinator of Equity and Student Conduct for FCPS says, “Students who remain in school are provided with a greater opportunity to experience a healthier lifestyle, and develop better critical thinking and socialization skills. Additionally, improvement and maturity occurs in relationships with a cohort of people where social and emotional learning are a large part of the educational process.”
Kathleen Walts, executive director of FCPS’ Office of Professional Learning and Family Engagement, agrees and adds that, "returning students to the classroom is further proof that COVID Reserve Funds and Family Engagement Funds are being well spent. The value to FCPS and our community is immeasurable in terms of student participation in our schools leading to their success now and in the future. Their return to the classroom also ensures FCPS receives more than $1 million in per pupil dollars based on state and federal funding formulas."
Edu-Futuro’s connections to FCPS were, in part, born out of an Ignite Partnership with our Family and Schools Partnerships Office. These connections are truly valuable as we work to ensure student success.
Inova’s Support Helps FCPS Receive a Gold Medallion
FCPS’ Office of Communication and Community Relations (OCCR) has received a Gold Medallion—the highest award possible—from the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) for this year’s VaxUP FCPS communication plan.
Our partner, Inova Health System, played a key role in helping the campaign stand out. Through informative videos, Inova pediatricians participated as our healthcare subject matter experts by addressing parent and guardian concerns around pediatric vaccinations. Inova Health System effectively partners in the community and with Fairfax County Public Schools in a lot of ways — few are as vital as building community trust.
We are proud to share this honor with you, Inova Health System. Thank you and congratulations!
