Superintendent's Weekly Reflections
Hello Team FCPS!
Brrr... It has definitely been scarf and mitten weather this past week !! I want to take a moment and especially thank all of our hard-working custodians, maintenance staff, grounds staff, warehouse staff, support services staff, and transportation staff as they kept our students, staff and facilities safe this past week. I also appreciate our office and communications staff as they handled so many front line communications and questions. Many thanks to all the classroom and support staff for their flexibility all week and our food and nutrition staff coming in so early and for keeping us well nourished.
Truly loving the ‘Can Do’ attitude so exemplified by this amazing FCPS family …. "A snow day literally and figuratively falls from the sky — unbidden — and seems like a thing of wonder." – Susan Orlean. Further, there are so many amazing things going on in our schools and departments, and the energy is contagious.
Congratulations to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology student Ray Zhang, who was named a finalist in the 2025 Regeneron Science Talent Search, the nation’s most prestigious pre-college science competition! Ray is among 40 finalists chosen from a group of 300 scholars. His project is Biofilm Composition in Clinical Isolates of Fungal Fusarium and Development of a Multi-Targeted Antifungal Treatment to Inhibit Proliferation. Wow! He will receive a minimum $25,000 award, and will be invited to Washington, D.C., in March to participate in final judging, display his work to the public, meet with notable scientists, and compete for awards, including the top award of $250,000. Great job Ray! Go Colonials!!
Tuesday evening, I attended the girls and boys basketball games at Annandale High School. Both teams played Mount Vernon High School, and the Mount Vernon winter cheer squad brought their spirited energy to the games. It was a great evening for our student athletes as they competed and the cheer squads for both schools also did a great job of keeping the spirit positive and alive. I was actually inspired to think about taking the court ;>) !! Go Atoms and Majors!!
Wednesday morning, I met with a group of faith leaders at Gatehouse Administration Center. We had a great discussion that touched on a wide range of subjects, including navigating difficult conversations with children; mental health and social resilience; encouraging thoughtful and knowledge-based interactions; diversity, immigration, and community support; technology and its impact on children; community engagement and volunteerism; addressing polarization and stereotyping, and the change in the boundary policy. We have so much more in common than we at first glance realize.
I remain so grateful for the time spent with these leaders of our community and for their thoughtful, collaborative effort to support the children of Fairfax County. This work matters!!
Wednesday afternoon, I attended the Superintendent’s Teacher Advisory Committee (STAC) meeting at Kilmer Middle School. Each school has a STAC representative, and the purpose of the committee is to provide us with input and feedback from instructional staff members on matters of importance to the school system, and to provide a venue for them to bring matters of concern to the attention of the Leadership Team. Then, each representative is expected to share the results of the meeting with colleagues at their school. Working together with employee groups to better address the needs of students and staff members is part of the 2023-30 Strategic Plan’s Pillar C: Diverse, Adaptive, and Supported Workforce.
On Wednesday we held a meeting of the Boundary Review Advisory Committee at the Gatehouse Administration Center. Some of the key takeaways from the meeting can be found here. You can also see materials that were shared with the committee. To recap, the Superintendent’s Boundary Review Advisory Committee includes parents, caregivers and/or community members from each of FCPS’ 24 high school pyramids, together with school-based and division administrators, teachers, operational staff, and other community representatives. Their unique perspectives and insights will be invaluable as we work together to ensure this process is transparent, includes significant community participation and feedback, and always keeps students at the center of every decision.
Saturday morning, we held a virtual Community Boundary meeting. These meetings allow attendees to hear more about the boundary review process and provide insights into our community’s priorities and needs. If you have not been able to attend a Community Boundary meeting yet, the following virtual meetings remain:
I encourage you to register and receive your unique Zoom link by clicking one of the dates above. All virtual meetings will follow the same format as the recent in-person meetings, and the same information will be shared. Please note that each virtual meeting will be capped at 400 participants to help provide a meaningful experience for all. Language interpretation will be available. You can also sign up to receive the School Boundary Review newsletter by email.
At last Thursday’s School Board meeting, I presented my proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 budget. This Proposed Budget anchors FCPS as our nation’s education destination by keeping the needs of students, families, and taxpayers top of mind. These needs include recognizing taxpayer fatigue and acknowledging chronic state underfunding, while meeting the changing needs of today's students and the expectations of our families.
This budget is fiscally responsible and invests in excellence — not just for FCPS, but for all of us in Fairfax County who want a strong community with successful young people, dedicated educators and support staff, and a thriving economy. Our priorities include:
- Providing competitive compensation for all employees, including a 7.0% salary increase for all staff.
- Investing in students who require additional support and empowering our educators to meet their educational needs through micro credentialing.
- Continuing multiyear initiatives such as inclusive preschool, certified athletic trainers at each of our high schools, family liaisons, fine and performing arts stipends, and replacement of our Human Resources Information System.
The FY 2026 Proposed Budget totals $4.0 billion. This is a net increase of $297.1 million, or 7.9%, over the FY 2025 Approved Budget. As part of this proposal, I am requesting an additional $268.3 million, a 10.4% increase from what was provided in the prior year’s transfer. This transfer request is only a 5.6% increase from last year’s request. More than 85% of the budget is dedicated to instruction and it reflects the changing needs of our community’s young people in response to the changing world around us. I encourage you to keep up with the budget process by watching our upcoming February 4 School Board work session or visiting FCPS’ Budget webpage.
In the Academic Matters section of the School Board meeting, I discussed Lighthouse Schools, which is a partnership between FCPS and the International Society for Technology Education (ISTE) and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD). It aims to pilot emerging practices and technologies with a cohort of schools, measure outcomes and impact, and scale successful innovations throughout the school Division. To date, Lighthouse Schools have included:
- 17 teams.
- 1,837 educators.
- 840 hours of school leadership action planning.
- 12,200 hours of professional development for school champions and leaders.
- 15,645 hours of self-paced professional development for teachers.
- 17,750 FCPS teachers provided access to ISTE membership.
With artificial intelligence tools like Gemini Advanced — which we have access to as part of a partnership with Google — teachers and staff in Lighthouse Schools are empowered to enhance lesson planning, engage students, and provide meaningful feedback. My presentation included this video that shares insights from educators in the pilot from Madison High School, McLean High School, and Bryant High School. School leaders talk about how the Lighthouse program fosters creativity, collaboration, and impactful learning experiences.
In the Strategic Plan update portion of the School Board meeting, I discussed positive school climate, such as inclusion and sense of belonging, which is part of the 2023-30 Strategic Plan’s Goal 2: Safe, Supported, Included, and Empowered. In particular, every student will experience an equitable school community where student health and well-being are prioritized, and student voice is centered. One way we are doing this is through student-driven menu options. Our Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) office is prioritizing student voices in menu planning so that school meals are enjoyable for students through: annual food shows where students sample diverse menu options; small focus groups for detailed feedback; and a commitment to student-tested and approved menu items. As a result of this work, more than 20 new scratch-made food items have been added to the menu for this school year. As part of my presentation, I included this video about student-driven menu options, in which FNS Director Shaun Sawko provides more details on how we are working to make menu decisions through the lens of what is best for students, recognizing their unique preferences.
Friday evening, I stopped by Woodson High School for “Dessert on Broadway,” which is an annual musical theater production put on by the school’s Choral Department. It features Broadway musical numbers with a live band, beverages, and desserts — including Woodson’s famous Black Magic Cake! It was a great event that showcased so many memorable moments on Broadway and highlighted the incredible talents of our students. Go Cavaliers!!
Saturday, I attended and spoke at the Chinese New Year Festival at Luther Jackson Middle School. There were many outstanding performances, delicious food, and a Lunar New Year dragon parade. These events are made possible by one of our division’s greatest strengths: our incredible diversity. Each of us has a unique story, perspective, and culture that enriches our collective experience. It’s this diversity that makes our community so vibrant and our schools such dynamic places to learn and grow. This year is the Year of the Snake, which represents wisdom, resilience, and embracing change. Much like a snake sheds its skin to grow, we, too, must be willing to adapt and embrace new opportunities for learning and progress. It’s through these moments of transformation that we discover our greatest potential!
The theme for the event was harmony. As I was leaving the event, Luther Jackson Middle School Facility Manager, Sang Huynh, shared the decorations and plans he had for the coming week and the celebration. In particular, he shared the Vietnamese perspective on the New Year and the excitement during this season. He shared with me his appreciation for the educators at the school and the efforts he has gone to in saying thank you and appreciating all the efforts. I continue to be so inspired by our staff family; together all things are possible.
This week, for my look at the impacts of the new Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) 2024 Accountability System, I’d like to spend a moment on the shifts to graduation reporting. The state’s new School Performance and Support Framework (SPSF) includes a Graduation component for high schools counting as 15% of overall performance. This Graduation component will report outcomes using the 4-Year Federal Graduation Indicator (4YR FGI). The 4YR FGI, defined by the U.S. Education Department, only reports diplomas earned within a strict four years from a student’s initial entry into ninth grade. It’s important to know that this measure excludes students with disabilities and multilingual learners who complete their diploma requirements within an extended time period up to age 22, which is allowed under state and federal law. Additionally, the 4YR FGI only counts standard and advanced diplomas, excluding students who earn an applied studies diploma.
This SPSF approach to reporting graduation outcomes based on 4YR FGI is very different from the Graduation and Completion Index (GCI), which was used in the former Standards of Accreditation system. The GCI recognized all diploma types as well as students with disabilities and multilingual learners who leveraged additional time to graduate, as allowed under state law. Beyond diploma outcomes, GCI also awarded partial points for certificates of completion, high school equivalency diplomas, in addition to students who maintained enrollment working toward a diploma. The significant shift in which students are counted for the new 4YR FGI compared to the former GCI will mean the graduation rates reported as part of the accountability system for our high schools will see a decline under SPSF and will require an adjustment in how we evaluate and respond to these results.
In FCPS, our staff are committed to supporting every student to successful graduation while at the same time preparing them for continued success in their pursuits after high school. Our division wide data, as reported through Virginia’s on-time graduation rate, shows that our work continues to make a difference. Virginia’s on-time graduation rate – which, like GCI, includes all diploma types and allows additional time for students with disabilities and multilingual learners – shows an increase to 94.58% for the FCPS Class of 2024 compared to 91.26% for the FCPS Class of 2019, pre-pandemic. Our 2023-30 Strategic Plan’s Goal 5: Leading for Tomorrow's Innovation serves to further focus our energy and resources to build from these successes and reach every student.
In last week’s Advancing Literacy segment, we saw how daily 15-minute phonics lessons impacted student scores on the phonics domain of iReady. This week, we’ll be looking at the cohort data.
The data shows that the same groups of students continue to improve their phonics over time with consistent, explicit instruction. The students below have all received up to two years of elementary phonics core instruction and/or up to three years of intervention. We’re excited to see the percentage of our students who are currently on or above grade level in phonics in fall 2024, as compared to where the same students were in fall 2021 increased. Specifically:
- 32% more current fourth graders are on grade level.
- 42% more current fifth graders are on grade level.
- 41% more current sixth graders are on grade level.
- 39% more current seventh graders are on grade level.
- 29% more current eighth graders are on grade level.
Across these grade levels, that’s an average of 36.6% more of our students on or above grade level! It’s important to know that these big improvements were the result of focusing more explicitly on just phonics — just one part of literacy instruction. Because Benchmark Advance, our new K-6 Language Arts curriculum, helps our educators explicitly teach all parts of literacy (vocabulary, word study, comprehension, and writing) as well, I expect we’ll have even more to celebrate in the months and years ahead! This work matters! Thank you to all those working so hard to lift up our young readers. Go Team FCPS!!
I am confident that 2025 will see our Fairfax County Public School division strong and getting stronger. Our future depends on the character and competence of the children we both raise and educate. It takes all of us in moments both small and large to make the difference for our future generation. I look forward to seeing you in the schools or at an after school activity in this coming year.
As I close this weekend, I realize that I have used this quote several times in the last few weeks and months and would like to share it with you; “You can choose courage, or you can choose comfort, but you cannot choose both.” — Brené Brown. Let’s continue to treasure the gifts of this winter season.
Take good care,
Michelle Reid, Ed.D.
Superintendent
