Superintendent's Weekly Reflections
Hello Team FCPS!
Well, it has been another beautiful early fall week here in this amazing community. It is hard to believe that we will be in November next week ;>) There continue to be amazing moments, large and small all over this amazing school division. Thank you one and all for everything each of you do to support our mission driven work; it matters.
Congratulations to Lauren Paz Soldan, a Spanish teacher at Annandale High School, who received the David Cox FLAVA (Foreign Language Association of Virginia) Award for Excellence in World Language Teaching, K-12! This award is presented annually to a K-12 educator who has demonstrated excellence in world language teaching. The recipient of this award is recognized for their outstanding contributions to language education, their innovative teaching practices, and their commitment to student success in language learning. Lauren will represent Virginia in the regional World Language Teacher of the Year competition. Her work includes active participation in cultural and heritage language programs, leadership roles in the Sunshine Committee and Faculty Equity Teams, and contributions to professional development through publications and presentations. Go Team FCPS!!
In more great news, Nick Anderson, an after-school program specialist at Stone Middle School, was named the Citizen of the Year by the Centreville Day Planning Committee! According to the announcement of his award, “Mr. Nicholas Anderson has served the youth and families of our community for many years. Fifteen years ago, Mr. Anderson applied for a grant position as the After-School Specialist at Stone Middle School. In his role at Stone, Mr. Anderson (or Mr. A as he is known to the students) organizes after-school programs to engage and further develop the students' intellectual, physical, and social-emotional well-being. Stone was a pilot school for the after-school program and Mr. Anderson continuously shared his learning and provided leadership to other middle schools and to new specialists. Mr. A's office, Room 141, is the heart of the Prowlin' Panthers Afterschool Program. Students and parents appreciate the extra efforts that Mr. Anderson puts forth to keep everyone informed and to provide a variety of opportunities. There were five school clubs when Mr. Anderson began and now there are more than 30, including the first competitive hip hop and jazz dance teams. Mr. A also encourages leadership and mentors students into their high school years and generally helps students find reasons to be at school for learning and growing. The middle school years can be challenging for many students and Mr. A is an encouraging and friendly role-model who helps guide their development. As one student said, he's a cool staff member and helped me develop my athletic interests." Congratulations, Nick!!
I recently heard from Mollie Kropp, education specialist for accessibility in the Office of Special Education Instruction, who shared how universal design and technology can help break down the barriers in some environments that make learning harder for some students.
For some of our learners, this may mean using computer programs that help block out text so they can focus on fewer words at a time, or bolding or highlighting certain parts of words. Other students may need text-to-speech programs to read directions or assignments so they can listen as they follow along with the words. Others may use alternative or augmentative communication tools to express themselves. The many ways students share their voices are amazing! I hope you will take a minute to learn from our student (and assistant technology ambassador!) Madeline about how she uses assistive technology to communicate with her teachers, peers, and friends.
October is Disability History and Awareness Month. As educators, we must challenge our perceptions of what we think a student is capable of, and support each and every student and their unique potential. While accessible learning materials, accommodations, and technology benefit all individuals, they are critical for many individuals who identify with or have been identified as having a disability. We know that many of our environments were not built or designed with all abilities in mind.
We celebrate the unique qualities that each and every student brings to our diverse — and neurodiverse! — community. Everyone thinks, communicates, and experiences the world in different ways. We can only come to celebrate, affirm, and create spaces of belonging for every FCPS by listening to them. Listening to our students and allowing their experiences to inform our approaches is critical to achieving FCPS 2023-30 Strategic Plan’s Goal 2: Safe, Supported, Included, and Empowered.
Monday, I held a Community Conversation at Virginia Run Elementary School. These opportunities are critical in building relationships and giving voice to our parents, students, and community members. Learning happens best in community! The final Community Conversation of the fall will be held on October 30, 6:30-7:30 p.m., at Herndon Middle School. You can register (not required, but it does help with planning) at https://www.fcps.edu/superintendent-engagement.
After the Community Conversation, I stopped by Westfield High School to watch Westfield play Centreville in field hockey under the lights. Go Bulldogs and Wildcats!! I so enjoy watching our student athletes participating in events that amplify their efforts.
Tuesday morning, I visited Centre Ridge Elementary School, where I was joined by Principal Jen Hertzberg. I stopped by the library, where staff from 25 of our Title I schools were excited to dig into Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) training.
Thank you to Team FCPS for supporting this important program, which helps students become college-and-career-ready by building skills like organization, communication, and collaboration. These are essential tools for our learners to experience a strong, successful trajectory throughout school and beyond! AVID is currently implemented in 23 Title I elementary schools, four Title I middle schools, and one Title I high school. By next year, we plan to strategically broaden AVID across 50 Title I schools. Go Team FCPS and go Rams!!
Wednesday was our inaugural State of Our Schools event, which was an opportunity for us to share our story with community partners. I was so proud to highlight our important work, our dedicated staff, and our wonderful students! Each and every one of you continue helping to transform lives through the power of public education. This work matters!!
It was our hope that attendees left the event with a deep understanding of why FCPS is truly an exceptional place to learn and work and how we each play an important role in shaping the future of our students, our schools, and our community.
Thank you to our student and staff performers and speakers, our sponsors, and our staff that made this event possible! Down to the beautiful (and delicious!) cookies made by students at the Davis Center, we quite literally could not have done this without you! You can watch a video of the event at www.fcps.edu/state-of-our-schools.
Later that day, I had the opportunity to meet with West Point staff. They shared all the opportunities so many of our students can have if they choose to attend the academy. I appreciated their interest in the STEM career paths and their interest in supporting our students and this amazing country.
Later that afternoon, I was honored to attend the Carter G. Woodson High School rededication ceremony alongside students, staff, alumni, School Board members, FCPS leadership, community members, and local officials. We were also joined by members of the late Dr. Woodson’s family, including his great, great nephew, a current student at Greenbriar West Elementary School! What a wonderful connection!
Principal Kevin Greata shared that he’s planning another field trip to Buckingham County, Virginia, where Dr. Carter G. Woodson was born — something I know his students are very excited about! He also shared that the rededication is serving as a “launchpad for many rich learning experiences for students,“ including visits to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. and the Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site, as well as guest speakers. These types of interactive, engaging learning opportunities are so important for our students. As Dr. Woodson said: “The mere imparting of information is not education.” Agreed!
The ceremony was a wonderful reminder of Dr. Woodson’s legacy of educational excellence and equity as a renowned scholar, author, educator, and journalist. I have no doubt that his legacy will inspire all those who learn and work in the newly rededicated Woodson High School! I’m proud of our community for their fierce support of this initiative and the work we’ve done together to make this happen. As Dr. Woodson once said, “No one knows what he can do until he tries.”
His passion for the transformative power of education and his belief in the importance of diverse representation is as urgent today as it was during his lifetime. And I’d like to focus on that phrase — “transformative power of education” — because this initiative truly was transformative! This is a new chapter for our Cavaliers, for Carter G. Woodson High School, and for our FCPS community! You can read more about the rededication celebration in this FCPS news article. Go Cavaliers!!
At last Thursday’s School Board meeting, I provided an update on the 2023-30 Strategic Plan’s Goal 1 – Strong Start, Pre-K-12. Specifically, I discussed the availability of preschool programs to meet community needs, multilingual learner progress towards English language proficiency, and kindergarten readiness.
We have a growing need for income-eligible pre-K programs. We have seen a rise in the number of students served over the past few years, but we also have seen a rise in the number of students on the waitlist. Pre-K is a worthwhile investment. We know from the data that the percentage of students who are ready for kindergarten is significantly higher for those that have been in a pre-K program than those who have not. You can see the full Goal 1 report online.
View data from the “Substance Use: Overall Trends” graphic in an accessible format.
In the Academic Matters section of the School Board meeting, I shared the results of the 2023-24 Fairfax County Youth Survey, which covers topics such as substance abuse, mental health, physical health, nutrition, bullying, and aggressive behavior. As I reported in an issue of Weekly Reflections last month, some good news from the survey is that most students reported no use of any substances. Alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use continued to decrease in 2023. This year’s rates were the lowest since 2010 and are lower than those reported nationally for most substances. Students in 8th, 10th, and 12th grade also reported lowered levels of mental health challenges (rates of stress, sadness, and markers of mental health crises). We measure the health of our community by the health of our children. When our children are well, our community is well! More information about the Youth Survey can be found at https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/data/youth-survey/.
On Thursday, I joined the All-County Principals’ Meeting to discuss some of the events and issues currently impacting our school leaders, including changes in the New Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) 2024 Accountability System. This new framework from the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) will be used to report accreditation status and summative performance categories separately for each of our schools in fall 2025, based on student academic performance and outcomes from this school year. As we learn more details about the new framework’s intended implementation from the VDOE, I will share more with all of you. As a school system and community, it’s important for us to recognize and respond to areas of both promise and potential concern, through our Strategic Plan’s lens of excellence, equity, and opportunity.
This week we have a cornucopia ;>) of fun Benchmark activities to highlight in our Advancing Literacy segment! Thank you to Jamie Gadley, Dranesville Elementary School principal, who shared that “Our fabulous fifth grade team is implementing Benchmark while being particularly mindful of engaging our scholars. The culminating celebration included an experience of gathering as a learning community, shucking corn, “corny” jokes, and Mr. Hudlin’s Corn Rap.” You can view the video here — what a performance! Bravo and go Dragons!!
And thank you to Principal James Marotta of Bull Run Elementary School for sharing the photos above, which were captioned “Ms. Rasdolsky’s 6th grade class engaged in a camp day themed party to celebrate finishing the first unit of Benchmark Advance. After learning about nature for the past month, they created a fun camping atmosphere right in the classroom, complete with stories, activities, and a delicious treat: s'mores!” These learners look like they’re having a great time — who doesn’t love settling down with some snacks and having a good cob-versation ;>) about books! Go Bulls!
I’m so appreciative of everyone on Team FCPS who has shared their stories for Advancing Literacy, and of the hard work being done all around our division to help our students become strong readers and writers. This work matters!!
We recently celebrated Virginia Farm to School Week, which highlights the importance of students being able to access locally grown food in cafeterias, preschools, and summer food programs while enhancing educational opportunities in school gardens, student farms and land labs, classrooms, and cafeterias.
Part of Virginia Farm to School Week is the annual "Crunch Heard ‘Round the Commonwealth," a day where school districts show their support by taking a bite out of Virginia-grown apples. Thank you to our Food and Nutrition Services team for sharing the pictures above. As you can see, our students and staff were excited to celebrate the day with apples. What a fun — and apple-solutely delicious ;>) — way to highlight the importance of fresh, local produce!
Friday morning, we were treated to a sneak peek of Langley High School’s Theater Group production of Beauty and the Beast. The group, known as Saxon Stage, will be performing the full show from November 14-17 at the school. Their singing and dancing was fantastic! FCPS has a thriving high school theater scene. I encourage you to see what performances your local high school is planning and to check out a show if you can! I look forward to attending as many as my calendar permits!!
On Friday, I attended a luncheon event sponsored by Arts Fairfax. ArtsFairfax is a non-profit organization that expands support for and access to arts and culture opportunities for the residents of Fairfax County, the City of Fairfax, and the City of Falls Church. The arts remain an integral part of a well rounded education. I continue to appreciate all whose efforts support this important work; it matters.
Friday evening, it was a real treat to attend the West Potomac Athletic Hall of Fame Dinner and the beginning of the football game. It is such a rich tradition to honor and celebrate those that have competed at such a high level. I appreciate all of the time and attention we pay to these celebrations; they matter. West Potomac Principal Jessica Statz and I enjoyed spending a bit of time together while also raising funds for breast cancer.
Later Friday evening, I attended the football game at South Lakes High School. The Seahawks hosted the Madison High School football Warhawks and provided a great evening of entertainment as the student athletes worked hard on both sides of the ball.
Saturday morning, I attended the First Annual Middle School Cross Country championships at Liberty Middle School. The weather was perfect for running, and it was great to see so many schools represented. It was such an incredibly beautiful early fall morning with so much excitement!!
Liberty Middle School hosted the First FCPS Middle School Cross Country Championships, featuring 439 athletes from all 26 middle schools—219 boys and 220 girls. Frost Middle School won both championships, claiming the Girls Championship with Robinson as the runner-up and the Boys Championship with Twain as the runner-up. The spirit and energy of this event will last for a long time. I so appreciate all those who made this event possible; it matters!!
Later Saturday, I attended the Carson-Hughes Panther Orchestra Day which was a resounding success! Middle schoolers from Carson and Hughes, led by Directors Christoffer Fyhr, Eric Renne, and Joycelynne Jimenez, joined forces with eager 6th graders from local elementary schools. High school orchestra students from South Lakes, under the direction of Bryan Baldwin, also volunteered their time to mentor and perform. Together, they explored new sounds, learned from each other, and created a wonderful fall performance. Families and community members appreciated the efforts!!
The event showcased the power of music to unite students across grade levels and schools. A strong foundation laid by elementary strings teachers from Clearview (Darwin de la Cruz), Coates (Eric Renne), Crossfield (Mary Frank), Dogwood (Andrew Juola), Forest Edge (Ellen Ellis), Floris (Tori Rehder), Hunters Woods (Brian Smith), Lake Anne (Harley Robertson), Navy (Robert Salzberg and Tanya Stanley), Oak Hill (Rachel O’Connell), Terraset (Tanya Stanley), and Sunrise Valley (Jilleen Read) was instrumental in the event's success. Again, I continue to be so inspired by the efforts of our educators and students; this work matters. Let’s go FCPS!!
As I think about so many opportunities we each have to experience this amazing world around us, I am also reminded by the thoughts of one of my favorite chemists; "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. Here is to understanding more in the coming days…
Take good care,
Michelle Reid, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Fairfax County Public Schools
