Superintendent's Weekly Reflections

Hello Team FCPS,

What a fabulous late winter week!! I know there is a renewed energy borne of the increasing light each day and the surety of spring around the corner. I appreciate each of you and your continued forbearance with dynamic challenges and opportunities. "If the mind is to emerge unscathed from the relentless struggle with the unforeseen, two qualities are indispensable: first an intellect that, even in the darkest hour, retains some glimmerings of the inner light which leads to the truth; and second, the courage to follow this light wherever it may lead." Carl Von Clausewitz. I continue to be resolute in our quest to stay in the light…

In last week’s Weekly Reflections, I mentioned that the School Board adopted our FY 2025 Advertised Budget. On Tuesday, the board and I participated in a joint meeting with our county partners, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. We discussed our budget priorities which include recruiting and retaining world-class staff to ensure each and every student receives an excellent education. 

As I’ve said before, meeting our budget needs becomes more of a challenge with historic underfunding by the State of Virginia, using outdated staffing formulas that continue to result in school districts not receiving the true support needed for excellence in public education. In fact, Virginia provides less funding per student than many neighboring states including Maryland, Kentucky, and West Virginia.

Did you know that the County funds 70.1% of our budget? From FY19 to FY23, the average budget transfer from Fairfax County to FCPS was 52.6% of County disbursements. In FY23, that number was 52.2%. It dipped to 51.6% in FY24. The County’s FY25 budget proposal provides 51.4%. If the County returns to 52.6% for the upcoming year, that would equate to $63 million more as an investment in excellence. 

Despite these challenges, I remain hopeful that our funding partners will #InvestinExcellence by fully investing in our schools for the 2024-25 fiscal year. When our students succeed, the entire Fairfax County community thrives! Please visit FCPS’ website to stay up-to-date on the budget development process. 

As many of our seniors are preparing to head to colleges and universities in the fall, it’s important to remind them of the dangers of hazing. Courtney White, coordinator of the grants program in FCPS’ Instructional Services Department, recently recounted her family’s heartbreaking hazing experience and her work in preventing such future tragedies for other families.

Courtney shared that February 27 was three years since the tragic passing of her cousin Adam Oakes, a victim of fraternity hazing at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). In honor of Adam, Courtney and her family teamed up with VCU students and staff to host a hazing prevention workshop, where students learned how to identify areas of concern and develop actionable plans to address the root causes of hazing. A picture from the remembrance and workshop is below.

Courtney explained that during the workshop, “Students delved into hazing incident report data to identify the root causes of hazing and used them for an action plan which addresses their identified problem with hazing or alcohol. Each group left with a goal and three strategies to implement over the next year, and we will help monitor their progress.”

Courtney says the workshop is important because, "If we want a different outcome, we have to do things differently. Bringing students in as collaborators in our efforts to prevent hazing will help. This workshop empowers student voice through rich discussions with their peers on the current culture of hazing. It provides them with the time and space to collaborate with their peers on developing a hazing prevention plan of action. Adam always looked after others and he's still doing it today through us." 

Thanks to the efforts of Courtney, her family, and local legislators, a bill was recently passed (currently awaiting the governor's review) which requires research-based hazing prevention education in 9th or 10th grade Health and Physical Education class. Thank you, Courtney, for sharing this important message. And thank you to the Oakes family for their hard work and commitment to creating a safer environment for all students, so that we can prevent similar incidents from happening in the future. This work matters!

Congratulations to Annandale High School Principal Shawn DeRose, who received the 2024 Northern Virginia Educational Leadership Award from Leadership Fairfax! This award recognizes talented and accomplished community leaders and organizations who have made a significant impact on Northern Virginia through volunteerism, service, and community engagement. Go Team FCPS!

There were some special (and talented!) guests at the February 24 GMU Women’s Basketball Game …  Rolling Valley Elementary School’s Rockin' Robins Chorus members performed the national anthem! These fifth and sixth graders did a wonderful job, and I’m told there were more than 50 family members and friends who came out to support them and cheer them on!

It was a very special moment for our young performers. Sixth grader Katelynn says, “My favorite part of the GMU trip was when we finished singing and the crowd erupted with applause. I think we did amazing. The rest of the game was so fun. Basketball's not really my thing, but this experience is one that I will never forget.” Rolling Valley’s General Music Teacher and Choral Director Lee Larsen says that, “Besides the musical performance opportunity for the kids, these are great ways to build a sense of community. The kids get to just hang out and talk more with each other and I have a chance to get to know the parents and even grandparents of my students and actually spend time sitting and talking with them.”  Go Rockin’ Robins and thanks for sharing, Lee! You can see a video of the performance here.

Thank you to FCPS’ Paul D’Andrade, executive director of our Transportation Services Department, for sharing the winner of their Love the Bus Art Contest. The lovely artwork above was submitted by Bus Driver Supervisor Bryan Huynh and created by his daughter Samantha. Congratulations!

The art contest was part of Love the Bus Month, a time for us to appreciate all that our transportation teams do. Thank you to our leadership team for helping make Love the Bus Month special with a raffle, recognitions, and special treats for our bus drivers.

And a big thank you to our transportation teams for their dedication and commitment! Not only are their skills indispensable in making sure our students are getting to school safely, our bus drivers are also the first members of Team FCPS that many of our students see each day. Creating a friendly, welcoming environment for our students starts at the bus stop … this work matters!

The Love the Bus Art Contest winner Samantha wasn’t the only FCPS student artist whose work was recently recognized! The 2024 Regional Scholastic Art Awards program recently awarded FCPS students in grades 7-12 a total of 714 awards for outstanding artwork. Five FCPS students were nominated for the best-in-show American Visions Award.

The awards were for Beautiful Poisons by Chelsea Gramling, Lake Braddock Secondary School (pictured above), See You After School by Dayoon Lee, Westfield High School, Hark! My Letter of Resignation by Rhiannon Stevens, South Lakes High School, I’m Being Possessed by the Ghost Inside my Hat I Got from the Thrift Store by Dan Tiongco, South County High School, and Shake It Off by Meredith Yu, Langley High School.  Congratulations! You can read more about the program and our winners here.

On Monday evening I was honored to attend the official dedication of the Dr. Larry Bussey Family and Community Library. It was an important opportunity to honor one of FCPS’ most prominent advocates of educational equity. I was touched (as were Dr. Bussey’s family members who were in attendance, I’m sure) to see all the community members who had come to celebrate him. 

From his time as a teacher in the New York City Public School System to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, to his time at FCPS, Dr. Bussey never stopped championing opportunities for each and every student. His dedication to parent and family engagement and to addressing the needs of underserved students was unparalleled. 

As I shared during the event, with Dr. Bussey’s many decades of community advocacy, and the countless lives he touched, I’m reminded of a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr.: “We must use time creatively, and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.”  For Dr. Bussey, his time certainly was always ripe to do right. My hope is that at FCPS, each and every one of us can remember that our time to do right is ripe, too. 

I was invited to speak at our Equity Lead Institute, which is an all-day professional learning opportunity for FCPS’ 350 school-based and central office-based Equity Leads. The institute empowers our Equity Leads to come together for breakout workshops and to plan, reflect, and connect on their work. This includes our initiative towards universal design for learning and how we will strive to create instructional experiences that remove barriers, and attune to human uniqueness. 

The theme for this year’s institute was “Building Bridges, Breaking Barriers.” The focus was on building connections across diverse communities and breaking down barriers through open dialogue, empathy, and understanding in order to enhance mutual healing and progress. Thank you to our Equity Leads for the work they do in helping make FCPS a more inclusive, equitable, and just school division!!

On Tuesday morning I visited Stenwood Elementary School, where I was greeted by Principal Erica Riley. Our first stop was in the fourth grade classrooms of Marlee Shope and Julie Kromer, where the students were learning about oceans.

I also ran into Lauren King’s students, who had been working on science experiments with lava lamps (see above). So fun! I also got to see what kindergarten students in the classrooms of Jennifer Flynn and Catherine Wideman were doing, which was learning about letters. Go Stingers!!

My next stop was to Westgate Elementary School, led by Principal Hallie Demetriades. I was met by Westie the Wolf and some very enthusiastic student greeters. I was first able to visit the kindergarten classroom of Michelle Scherbenske, and then the first grade classroom of Casey Coggins, where the students were working on math. 

In Richard Bishop’s physical education class, the students were getting some exercise and participating in a fun game where they had to keep a balloon from hitting the ground without using their hands. And in Sam Pubal’s sixth grade classroom, the students were sharing the research papers they had just finished with their classmates. Go Wolves!!

I hit the trifecta of elementary school visits on Tuesday by ending with Franklin Sherman in McLean. I was led through the beautiful school by their new principal, Farris Thomas, and Assistant Principal Scott Ralston.  We stopped into Evelyn Mastakas second grade classroom where Sadie (pictured above) showed me how she estimates sums like a pro. We talked about why knowing how to estimate is important and how we can use it in our everyday life. 

Principal Thomas also told me about the STEAM elective available to students. Currently, the students are working on growing lettuce beds among other environmental projects. It is wonderful to see our young leaders engage in hands-on learning that goes beyond the classroom. Our students will lead us!  Thank you Principal Thomas and Assistant Principal Ralston for hosting me. Keep up the great work, Pandas!

It was a great week for our students to showcase their athletic skills! On Tuesday evening I attended a spirited state girls basketball playoff game at Centreville High School. Go Wildcats!! And on Friday evening I caught the boy’s basketball semifinal game at Westfield High School, with Hayfield (Go Hawks!!) facing off against South Lakes (go Seahawks!!).  I appreciate the hard work of our student athletes and coaches. 

On Wednesday I met with the Fort Belvoir Community Leaders.  The partnerships that we have with our local faith leaders, elected officials, and business leaders are critical to building a strong future for our young people and for each other. When we can share our perspectives and challenges, we can discover our common goals and work toward them in community!

On Thursday morning I attended the All County School-Based Administrator meetings for assistant principals, Directors of Student Services, and Directors of Student Activities. The focus of the meetings was on school discipline and Restorative Justice.  It is great to celebrate the work of our FCPS staff; it matters. 

Restorative Justice (RJ) does not replace regular school discipline, but supplements it. It allows students who are facing disciplinary measures to take responsibility — not just face consequences — for their actions. As I told those in attendance at the meeting, FCPS’ mission is to provide a school environment where students feel safe, supported, included, and empowered. And those challenging times when a student may be facing school disciplinary measures? Those are often the times when our students need us the most! Especially students who have been impacted by discipline disparities. It’s also critical to consider our students who find themselves on the receiving end of wrongdoing by another student – they deserve to be heard and to have a voice in the process, too. 

FCPS has recognized the importance of RJ for some time now, with implementation at various schools and levels throughout our division. Recently we’ve been aligning on this initiative as a school division through our Responsible Pathway to Restorative Justice Facilitation program. By October of this year, our goal is to have two trained, credentialed FCPS team members serving as RJ facilitators in each and every school. To that end, I’m thrilled to share that the first two cohorts of RJ facilitators have been trained. I’m excited for the further rollout of this program and how it will strengthen the partnerships we have between students, schools, and families.

This week I attended a principals roundtable and met with both the Middle School Principals Association and the High School Principals Association. Members of Team FCPS who work with eighth and 12th grade students may be feeling particularly aware that we have less than a month left until spring break and the start of our fourth quarter. Lots of excitement is in the air as our learners are preparing to move on to their next chapters. Supporting these learners (and the educators who are preparing them!) is critical for a smooth transition, whether a student is starting high school or finding their postsecondary footing. This work matters!

I am thrilled to announce a new eco-friendly initiative from our Office of Food and Nutrition Services. In the coming weeks, wooden forks and spoons will be available for student use in every school cafeteria! The aim is to reduce waste and promote sustainability in our schools by replacing plastic utensils with new wooden ones. At FCPS, we believe that small changes can make a big difference. In the next few weeks, I will share pictures of students using these new biodegradable and compostable utensils.

Saturday morning, I attended the Teen Job Fair at Chantilly HS.  It was so inspiring to see all the possibilities for work that our high school students can maximize.  It is clear that our community benefits from the employment of our students,  Learning happens best in community and our community is well indeed!!

Saturday it was great to spend time with our students and staff as well as community partners, in thinking about nutrition and new recipe development.  More specifically, I attended the Real Food for Kids Culinary Challenge — what a treat! ;>) This event empowers students from across Northern Virginia to create school meals which align within the USDA nutritional guidelines. The winning recipes are considered for adaptation into district school lunch menus!  Representing the voices and cultures of our young people through new menu concepts is an important way that we celebrate the unique qualities that each and every one of our students bring to our community. We had several FCPS schools in this year’s competition:

Thank you to the aspiring chefs for their wonderful creations! And thank you to Real Food for Kids for their partnership, which helps our students forge the connections between nutrition and health, culinary skills, workforce development, and career building.

In thinking about the possibility of a glorious winter week ahead, and with the impending month of March ahead, I thought I would look to find someone who was born in March, and plumb the depths of their thought for inspiration. It is often during these cold winter days that we are able to see with a clarity seemingly not possible at other times.  “Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art.” – Frederic Chopin. Wishing you a simple and unapologetically joyful week ahead with those you love...

Take good care,