Superintendent's Weekly Reflections

Hello Team FCPS!

What a great week!!  I love this fall season and all the abundant joy it brings. I will say that I continue to enjoy all things pumpkin! ;>)

And so, like you I have often looked up this past week as the geese are doing fly-overs in formation. Over the years, I am pleased to be reminded that to all things there is a season. There is a definite comfort to nature and the predictability as well as the gifts of so many creatures, great and small. The story of the geese and their tight formation  is one that still inspires me in my work. I trust that you too will find inspiration in their natural team commitment. Together, all things are possible.

In great news to share this week: all 199 FCPS schools have been accredited by the Virginia Department of Education! FCPS is in year two of our 2023-30 Strategic Plan, which focuses on expectations around student opportunities and achievements. Through our Goal 2 - Safe, Supported, Included and Empowered, 191 of our schools have improved the rates of chronic absenteeism! Our Goal 1 focuses on a strong start for pre-K-12. In that area, our multilingual learners meeting expected growth made 11% gains from our baseline to the 2023-24 data. The strategic plan and our data-driven work shows how public schools — and each of you — are making a positive impact on the lives of our students; this work matters. 

Even more great news, our students continue to work hard as the Fairfax County class of 2024 performed well above state and global averages on the SAT. The Fairfax County average score for the class of 2024 (1178) was higher than the state average (1101) and the global average (1024). The scores for Fairfax County Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (594) and Mathematics (584) subtests are also higher than the averages for students in the state and worldwide. At the same time, FCPS continues to show stronger participation rates compared to Virginia as a whole: FCPS had a 69.0% participation rate for the class of 2024, with a total of 10,306 seniors taking the SAT exam at least once. The FCPS 2024 rate was up 5.0% from 2023. Virginia had a 52.4% participation rate in 2024, which was up 4.8% from 2023. These data points and progress align with our strategic plan goals.  Go Team FCPS!! 

Across FCPS, our staff and students have been hard at work on Unit 1 of our new K-6 Language Arts curriculum, Benchmark Advance. As I am out in the schools, I love to see our students and staff working so hard as they lean into the abundant literacy opportunities; this work matters. 

Team FCPS has been making reading fun and engaging for our students, and I’ve so enjoyed seeing their creative spirit! As you can see in the social media photos above, our fifth grade teams at Bull Run and Oak View elementary schools had a great time showing off their “corny” senses of humor as they embraced their unit focus: It’s Corn! Go Bulls and go Eagles!!  Love our FCPS spirit and the literacy work we are nurturing for each and every one of our learners. 

I’ll be sharing periodic updates on how we’re implementing the Benchmark Advance curriculum in a new Weekly Reflections segment called Advancing Literacy. If you have anything you’d like to share for an upcoming Advancing Literacy segment, please send it along to me — I’m all ears! ;>)

Congratulations to FCPS students Eleanor Hwang, a seventh grader at Cooper Middle School, and Peter Choi, an eleventh grader at Fairfax High School, for designing stickers that will be handed out at polling places in the City of Fairfax this fall! Eleanor designed a “Future Voter” sticker and Peter designed an “I Voted” sticker. Eleanor’s proud mother is also a Spanish Foreign Language in the Elementary Schools (FLES) teacher at Churchill Road Elementary School. More information can be found in this article. Our students will lead us!!

This past week I held a Community Conversation at Mount Vernon Woods Elementary School and an Employee Conversation at Saratoga Elementary School. I enjoy these discussions with our FCPS community and hearing from parents and employees and what matters most. My next Community Conversation will be Monday, October 14, 6:30-7:30 p.m., at Fairhill Elementary School. Registration is encouraged as it helps us plan, but it’s not required. I hope to see you there!

On Tuesday, I had the pleasure of visiting Cunningham Park Elementary School with Principal Allison Hoak and her wonderful team. One of the highlights was seeing their pre-K classroom. PreK is such a vital part of Cunningham Park's student body, and there's still a growing need for more pre-K spaces. Our Strategic Plan's Goal 1, Strong Start: PreK-12, focuses on expanding access to quality, inclusive pre-K programs. This is essential because we know that pre-K is where we close achievement gaps. Did you know that if we took just 1% of the nation’s military budget, we could fund universal preschool in the United States. Imagine the path that we would set our youngest learners on if we made this commitment as a nation. This work matters!

During my visit, I also had the privilege of meeting Ruth, a remarkable sixth grader who created the Cardinals Care for Cardinals program. Ruth and her peers choose to spend their recess mentoring first graders — a program she designed because of her love for helping younger kids. With encouragement from her teacher and principal, she developed application forms and made it all happen.

It’s truly incredible to see what students can accomplish with heart and determination! When asked if she wants to be a teacher someday, she responded, “That’s one of the things on the list.” Ruth also has her sights set on becoming President! In Karin Markley’s first-grade classroom, I saw Ruth and her classmates mentoring their younger peers during spelling practice. Meanwhile, other first graders were engaged in reading with their Benchmark Advance storybooks. “Good readers ask questions,” Mrs. Markley told them, as they marked pages with sticky notes where they had questions. It was inspiring to see how they celebrate each milestone as they progress through the program.  I continue to be so proud of each and every one of our educators and learners. 

Principal Hoak is also carrying forward a powerful message of resilience and community with her staff this year. Before the school year began, she shared a video presentation from Paralympic gold medalist and U.S. Navy Veteran Brad Snyder, who spoke at the FCPS Leadership Kickoff. Snyder, who lost his eyesight from an IED explosion while serving in Afghanistan, told us that when he thinks about the U.S. flag, he believes that the 50 stars represent all of us. “We are all stars in each others’ orbit, influencing each other in often invisible ways, and the outcome is magical.” After the first week of school, Principal Hoak gave each of her staff members a flag pin to remind them of this. “We are using this message throughout the year, when things get hard, we know we have each other.” Go Cardinals!!

Later that morning, I visited Cedar Lane School with Principal Cheronda Farrish. This small school has a huge heart. Cedar Lane serves high school students who come with various challenges, and the staff works tirelessly to make sure each student gets the support they need to thrive.

One of the key skills Cedar Lane focuses on is self-advocacy. I spoke with Work Awareness and Transition teacher Saida Bouzaher, who shared that many of her students tell her, “I don't want to grow up, I am scared." She gives them a balanced mix of love and challenge, helping them develop the skills they need while also empowering them to stand up for themselves. Beyond the classroom, students participate in internships with local businesses, gaining valuable real-world experience. Cedar Lane is truly a testament to Excellence, Equity and Opportunity!  Further, honors courses have been made a part of the course catalog at Cedar Lane.  I appreciate the high expectations. 

I also had a fun time with the Cedar Lane broadcast journalism class, who gave me a tour of their news show and even interviewed me, as you can see in the picture above! Before leaving, I watched several students playing basketball. Many of them take pride in being part of the Cedar Lane basketball team, which competes with other non-traditional schools in the area. This past spring, they won the championship, and I can’t wait to cheer them on in person next season. Go Panthers!!

Wednesday evening was the first meeting of the 2024-25 cohort of Supporting the Mission, facilitated by Lewis High School Assistant Principal Matthew Johnson and Director of Payroll Melissa Russell. This year-long leadership development program provides members with the opportunity to develop their leadership skills and learn more about the different departments and offices within FCPS.

I stopped by the meeting to answer the cohort’s (insightful!) questions and spoke to them about my vision for FCPS, important leadership qualities, and the importance of equity in decision making. I was thrilled to see how many different positions and offices were represented — as I told the cohort members, FCPS sets the stage as a model of public education in our nation. Developing leaders with integrity and efficacy is critical to the success of our students and our division. Go Team FCPS!!

On Friday night I attended the Fairfax High School versus West Potomac High School football game at Fairfax High School. After so much rain recently, the weather was perfect for football. It was also great to see the Fairfax HS cheerleaders celebrate the pyramid night and mentor our younger FCPS students. Go Lions and Wolverines!!

My Saturday began with the Original Mount Vernon High School groundbreaking ceremony. Following this historic event, I attended the Hispanic Heritage Month celebration at Culmore Community Center. So many of our students, staff, and families attended and shared songs, dance, and fellowship. Learning happens best in community, and our community remains strong. 

Later Saturday afternoon, I attended the Providence Day and Back to School Celebration at Marshall High School, which was co-sponsored by School Board Chair and Providence District Representative Karl Frisch and Providence Supervisor Dalia Palchik. It was quite the event, with a performance by the Marshall Cheer Team, as well as food trucks, a resource fair, pumpkin painting, face painting, musical performances, and a magic show! It was great to see so many of our students, staff, and families.

Saturday evening, I had the opportunity to attend a concert at the Capital One Hall, commemorating the 50th anniversary celebration for the Korean Community Service Center. It was an amazing evening of music with a Korean group, La Poem, performing. Along with School Board member, Mr. Ilryong Moon, I joined a sold out crowd in appreciating the first USA concert of this very talented ensemble. As we enjoyed their incredible musical talent, I was reflective of the many things we have in common around the world that the arts are able to join us in appreciating. What a wonderful weekend for coming together in community!

I’m already looking forward to next weekend’s STEM FEST! This STEM-focused event will take place from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. on Saturday, October 12, at Mount Vernon High School. The event is designed for elementary and middle school kids, who will have an opportunity to participate in various hands-on activities related to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects. I hope to see you there!

On Tuesday of this week, the School Board will be holding a work session from 10:30 to 4:30 p.m. to discuss the progress on our work to achieve Goal 1 and the work plan for our Boundary Policy. All School Board meetings and work sessions can be viewed live on FCPS Cable TV Channel 99 (Verizon Channel 11), the FCPS YouTube Channel, and the FCPS website. If you aren’t able to watch the meeting live, recordings of School Board meetings and work sessions can be viewed on the FCPS YouTube channel (English), as well as the FCPS en Español YouTube channel (dubbed in Spanish). 

As I think about our week ahead, I am reminded of the thoughts shared so long ago: "Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less." — Marie Curie. I look forward to a great week!!

Take good care,

Michelle Reid, Ed.D.

Superintendent

Fairfax County Public Schools