Superintendent's Weekly Reflections
Hello Team FCPS!
What another fantastic week of school!! I so appreciate all that each of you are doing each and every day to support our students in their learning adventure; it matters. I also trust that each of you have enjoyed a beautiful late summer weekend.
Recently, I met with the staff of Asha-Jyothi (AJ), a volunteer based non-profit organization dedicated to serving the needs of the underprivileged by providing access to education and healthcare, to celebrate their grant award of $102,376.21 to Deer Park Elementary School to support their STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) Lab. Learning happens best in community and our community continues to be both generous and amazing.
In a newsletter from Deer Park announcing the grant, the school says “It is with great excitement that we announce our partnership with the Asha-Jyothi foundation for the upcoming school year. Through their Educate-Innovate USA Campaign, Deer Park will be receiving over $100,000 to re-create our STEAM Lab into the Bucky’s Learning Lab and to upgrade and enhance our Bucky’s Rest Stop. The Learning Lab space will be meant to inspire the future inventors, engineers, and makers at Deer Park and hopefully to reach beyond our community to serve our entire Western Fairfax family. Our Rest Stop is an area where students can come to re-energize and refocus so they can access learning throughout the day. With the installment of state of the art sensory items ALL students will have the opportunity to visit this space. The AJ campaign builds on the core belief that every student can and should have access to these types of spaces and we are thrilled to be able to bring this to Deer Park. We look forward to unveiling our new spaces to you in the fall.” Thank you to Asha-Jyothi and go Bucks!!
On Tuesday morning, I stopped by Thoreau Middle School, where I was met by Principal Teresa Khuluki. Our first visit was to the seventh grade band classroom of Pat Smith, which was being led by a guest conductor, Dakota Kaylor, who was teaching the class about percussion instruments.
While there I learned that Thoreau Middle School’s band, along with Glasgow Middle School’s band, have been chosen to perform at the Virginia Music Educators Association convention in November! This is a huge honor and Thoreau and Glasgow are the only middle school bands selected to perform. Congratulations Golden Eagles and Panthers!
Next, we went to the Math 7 Honors class of David Buschenfeldt, where the class was learning about averages and medians. Hard to imagine many more exciting topics!!
Getting students ready to complete Algebra by eighth grade is a big part of the 2023-30 Strategic Plan Goal 3: Academic Growth and Excellence, and Thoreau is making big strides in this area. Finally, we went to the English ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) or as we characterize them now, the multilingual classroom of Caroline Shewmaker and Emily Borkowski where the class was learning about antonyms and using context clues when reading.
After Thoreau, I visited Lemon Road Elementary School with Principal Ashley Castillo and staff. In Abigail Doble’s class (pictured above) students in small groups were using their inference skills for a unique activity called “A Story Through Checks.” Using physical paper checks made out to hospitals and other establishments as primary sources, students worked to piece together a chronological narrative about a family. These Lions were having a lot of fun with this exercise — and asking a lot of questions about how paper checks work ;>)!
In other classrooms, teachers and students were hard at work using Benchmark, our new division-wide K-6 Language Arts curriculum. I’m grateful for all the work our teachers have put in to support our students’ literacy skills, from attending training over the summer to now implementing this new curriculum with fidelity across all of FCPS. I was glad to hear from one Lemon Road teacher that while her fellow educators were initially nervous about this big change, the curriculum’s initial units are proving to be familiar and helpful in setting classroom expectations and routines. Go Team FCPS!!
In Hilary Van Trees’ classroom, students were having WIN (What I Need) intervention time. Once students completed their data projects, they were free to choose from other self-guided academic activities such as Lexia. I was thrilled to see that many classrooms, both at Lemon Road and Haycock (the school I visited next) were working on the “Building Community Through the Data Cycle” unit. Some students were in the data collection phase, applying the lesson to their real-world interests by surveying other students about their favorite superhero villains. Other students were presenting their completed graphs in groups. All around, math was in the air! As with our new K-6 Language Arts curriculum, this type of instructional alignment where students across the division are all learning the same concepts at the same time helps make FCPS a school system, not a system of schools. Go Lions!!
My final school visit was to Haycock Elementary School with Principal Dr. Elizabeth Beaty. Math was in the air at Haycock, including inside Amy Wollerton’s third grade classroom! Her students were hard at work on their data collection projects. And in the library, sixth graders were learning Algebra in small groups. Though Algebra isn’t currently formally offered in elementary schools at FCPS, it’s important to support our students who are ready to move on to more advanced math with deeper learning opportunities. The sky's the limit for our young people!
I visited the classroom of fourth grade teacher Jon Baker, who has a special interest in historical moments. You may remember him from last year’s news article about his class being selected to perform a speech by Abraham Lincoln at the Abraham Lincoln Oratory Residency and Festival in Washington, D.C. Jon’s classroom at Haycock is a testament to history; he’s decorated the walls with large framed posters depicting different historical moments and ideals. In the true spirit of history coming alive for his students, he changes out the décor depending on the curriculum and time of year. This month was a patriotic theme, recognizing Labor Day, September 11th, and Constitution Day, and Jon said it is hands-down his students’ favorite. Wow!
Jon’s dedication to his students doesn’t stop at his classroom, however. As we toured the school, I saw a big window in the school’s library, overlooking a beautiful courtyard (which Jon also helped build!). Jon placed posters of birds, binoculars, and a digital weather station so that students can practice their bird watching. Speedy’s Courtyard, named after one of two turtles living there, has a koi pond and waterfall. Truly a dynamic outdoor space for students to experience a slice of nature while they’re at school. Jon is truly going above and beyond for his students — go Team FCPS and go Cougars!!
On Wednesday evening I met with our FCPS Family Vision Group of Quad 1 at Hughes Middle School. We have much to consider from the strong feedback we received on a wide variety of topics, from promoting the importance of adequate sleep among our students to addressing the impact of technology on learning as well as other topics. Thank you to all our participants!
On Thursday, I met with Jae Lee, the dean of students at Annandale High School, who is a champion of a Special Olympics Unified program at the school, about establishing a division-wide collaboration between the Special Olympics and Fairfax County Public Schools. Ensuring all students feel welcome at their school is a part of the 2023-30 Strategic Plan’s Goal 2: Safe, Supported, Included, and Empowered. Special Olympics Unified programs include students with and without intellectual disabilities, promoting inclusion through shared sports training and competitions. These interactions break down social barriers, create lasting friendships, and foster a more inclusive school culture. Unified programs also promote leadership, teamwork, and community-building, benefiting all participants by creating a more supportive and cohesive educational environment. This work matters!
On Thursday evening I hosted the first of our fall Employee Conversations at Bailey's Upper Elementary School. Lots of great questions, feedback, and energy! One topic that came up was Constitution Day, which is on Tuesday, September 17, and commemorates the signing of the Constitution. This year is the 237th anniversary of the signing, and it’s more important than ever that we stay civically active and celebrate the rights we enjoy in our amazing country. We have so much to be thankful for!!
I also wanted to highlight something that was shared during the Employee Conversation, which is the incredible impact that Team FCPS has not just on students, but on entire families. Recently, a multilingual family came to FCPS and enrolled their young child in an early literacy program. Though the mom initially relied on Google Translate to communicate in her native Arabic, the early literacy program helped build the mom’s language skills right alongside the student’s. By the end of the year, this mom was picking up the phone and making calls in English — wow! These are the wonderful ripple effects of education. Together, we are lifting up our entire community!
Later Thursday evening, I stopped by the Back to School Night at Lake Anne Elementary School. Principal Jill Stewart provided a tour of the school and an opportunity to meet with a variety of students, staff and families as we visited different parts of the campus. I continue to be so inspired by the work and efforts of our students and staff, this work matters.
I loved the opportunity to visit with so many members of our staff and community as well as seeing the beautiful murals in place at the school. Learning happens best in community and the Lake Anne community is indeed well. Go Dolphins!!
Friday evening, I attended a reception for former participants of government-sponsored exchange programs to Japan at the Japanese Embassy in Washington, D.C. This reception included alumni of government-sponsored exchange programs to Japan, such as the JET Program and MEXT Scholarship, as well as others with close ties to Japan and Japanese language education.
I am grateful to Ambassador Shigeo Yamada for hosting this people-to-people exchange program reception, celebrating the long-lasting friendship between the United States and Japan. I was also joined by School Board Members Ryan McElveen and Ilryong Moon as well as Noriko Otsuka VanKeuren, Japanese Immersion Teacher at Fox Mill Elementary School, Kyoko Vaughan, Japanese Teacher at Hayfield Secondary School and Yuki Melvin, Japanese Teacher at Lake Braddock Secondary School. During the event, we also recognized the importance of fostering global citizenship through education and the value of world language education, this work matters.
Later Friday evening, I had the opportunity to join Herndon High School principal, Dr. Liz Noto, at their home football game versus Langley High School. The football play was great as was the marching band performance at half time. The Hornet home crowd thoroughly enjoyed the game, as did the visiting Saxon crowd.
On Saturday evening I attended the HeART of Community Gala, hosted by the National Center for Children and Families. The theme was “Freedom to Express,” and I had the opportunity to speak on FCPS’ mission, the strength of our community, and the importance of championing equitable access to quality public education. As I told those in attendance, at FCPS we believe that each and every student deserves the freedom to discover, express, and realize their hopes and their dreams. They deserve to have their academic skills, curiosity, and joy for learning nurtured through mountaintop educational experiences. This is made possible by our strong partnerships between students, families, and schools. Learning happens best in community!
This Wednesday, September 11, marks the 23rd anniversary of the tragic loss of life on September 11, 2001. Also known as “Patriots Day,” “Day of Remembrance,” and “9/11 Day of Service,” this is a day for all Americans to reflect on the acts of courage and compassion that followed the horrific events that day. In honoring the spirit of sacrifice made by civilians, first responders, and armed forces, let us unite in remembering and think about coming together to support one another as One Fairfax.
You may remember that for months following the terrorist attack, Americans across the country rallied around each other in ways big and small, with acts of kindness and service bringing our nation together one neighborhood at a time. If you or your family are interested in volunteering this week, later this month, or sometime soon, Volunteer Fairfax is a wonderful resource to find out about service learning opportunities in our community. Service learning is a great way for students and families to engage with local nonprofits and volunteer. More information about volunteer opportunities can be found on Volunteer Fairfax’s website.
Finally, as I think about the start of the school year, I love the sentiment often shared by Colin Powell; "If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.." Let’s keep the attitude of excellence, equity, and opportunity alive in all that we do both today and in the many days to come.
Take good care,
Michelle Reid, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Fairfax County Public Schools