Superintendent's Weekly Reflections

Hello Team FCPS!

What a great time of the school year!! So many exciting and inspiring events going on all across the district. As we continue through this glorious spring, I love the quote; "Always be on the look out for the presence of wonder." — E.B. White. After visiting schools recently, I continue to see wonder aplenty. So exciting!! 

Last week I met with the High School Directors of Student Services Association, the Hispanic Educators Association, retired educators, and hosted a roundtable for principals. I also stopped by the All-County Principals meeting to provide updates on FCPS’ work around Universal Design for Learning (UDL). We have so many staff engaged in this collectively transformational work; the most important work happening in this great country — public education.  Thank you one and all for everything each of you do every moment of every day to nurture a bright future for each and every one of our students; it matters. 

UDL training sessions have been rolling out this spring for our school-based leaders and will be the focus of staff development in August. I’m excited to implement UDL, with the knowledge that it will help us become a more inclusive division by breaking down the barriers to learning. Each of our students is unique. Their traits — perception, language, comprehension, and communication, among others — are all different. There’s no “average brain” or “average student.” And our excellence as a division isn’t despite these differences. It’s because of them, because of the unique qualities that our students bring to our schools and our community. UDL will help us find and remove the barriers that keep us — and our learners — from making progress. By finding those barriers in our materials, methods, assessments, or environments we can make changes to benefit everyone. This work matters!

Monday was the last of our spring Employee Conversations, held at Frost Middle School. Lots of insightful discussion around consistent division-wide communication and ideas for minimizing disruptive cell phone use in classrooms. One staff member mentioned that our division’s efforts to be more inclusive of military-connected students, families, and staff members has been “fantastic.”

These efforts are in part a result of feedback I had received during Employee Conversations last year, and I’m glad to hear that this work is noticed and appreciated! Thank you to everyone who came out to Frost and all the members of Team FCPS who have attended our other Employee Conversations over the last several weeks! I so appreciate your insights and your time as we continue to further FCPS’ mission. 

I am grateful for how involved our families are, in every part of our community! Last week I attended the Special Education Parent Teacher Association’s quarterly meeting, met with the FCPS Family Vision Group at Fairview Elementary School, and then attended the Annandale Town Hall community event primarily focused on safety. 

I also hosted the first of our spring Community Conversations at Graham Road Elementary School. We had a nice turnout and a thoughtful conversation. 

During the Community Conversation, the discussion centered around student safety and academics, how to empower teachers in training, and recognition and support for the work of our wonderful educators, especially those in Title 1 schools. Thank you to everyone who joined us! We have several more Community Conversations throughout the month of April and May; I encourage you to register for one of the events and look forward to seeing you there.

Saturday was our 2024 Family Summit at Marshall High School, and the theme was “Safe, Supported, and Included.” Thank you to everyone who helped make this event possible, including those in the picture above, as well as our special speakers, members of Team FCPS, the Fairfax Alliance of Black School Educators, the D.C. Chapter of the Black Women's Educational Alliance, Asian Educators Association, and Hispanic Educators Association. And thank you to all the families who came out to connect with FCPS! Partnerships like these are critical to supporting our students throughout their time in our division and preparing them for whatever future they choose. 

Celebrations for the Month of the Military Child in April are going strong in FCPS! Thank you to everyone who dressed up for Purple Up! Day last Wednesday! It was wonderful to see so much appreciation for FCPS’ more than 14,000 military-connected students and their families. And thank you to those who joined me for a military-connected student town hall lunch at West Springfield High School last Friday. Go Spartans!!

West Springfield High School is one of our Purple Star Schools, which means they’ve been recognized by the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) and the Virginia Council on the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children for being military-friendly and committed to the needs of military-connected students and their families. I’m proud to say that more than one-third of our division’s schools have received this recognition! It was great to have the opportunity to have lunch with military connected students and staff. I appreciate our many staff members who work hard to keep FCPS a division that’s known for being welcoming to military families; it matters.

Wednesday, I joined visitors from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as well as school board members, school division leadership staff, and other elected officials, at Lorton Station Elementary School to celebrate the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program. Sustainability has long been a focus at FCPS and in Fairfax County; we were the first school division to buy electric school buses with a 2019 Dominion Energy grant.

A recent grant from the Clean School Bus Program will enable us to buy 42 more electric buses, more than doubling our electric bus fleet! With one of the largest bus fleets in the United States, I’m looking forward to the ways that this grant will enable us to improve the transportation safety and efficiency standards for the more than 141,000 students we transport each school day. For our children, our families, and our community as a whole — this work matters!

It was a wonderful week for student performances, starting with Fairfax Academy’s Dance Company on Wednesday at Gatehouse Administration Center. Above is a photo of them with Fairfax Academy Dance Director Meredith Barnes — big smiles after their impressive showcase!

Later that evening I attended a strings concert at Waynewood Elementary School. These young maestros, under the direction of String Orchestra Specialist Kelley Williams, had clearly put much practice into the performance. It was a joy to see hear them in action.

Kelley shared that “Music and the arts are so important to the growth and development of our students. It’s not just fun and games. Through music we can enhance our memory, focus, and problem-solving skills. Music fosters creativity and teamwork, making it a powerful tool for well-rounded learning.  And I KNOW that this is what sets this county apart from so many others! Our Waynewood Owls THRIVE on music, and I am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of their musical journey!” Go Owls!! 

On Friday I attended the Herndon High School step team’s 30th anniversary celebration performance. I’m so impressed by the high-energy rhythm and precision of these athletes! The music was great and the gym was full of appreciative fans and families. Go Hornets!! 

Spring sports are as abundant as the pollen but far more enjoyable! I enjoyed the girls’ varsity lacrosse game Friday night at Falls Church High School. This was also a special evening as the teams recognized kidney cancer awareness. I will be sharing more about how this continues to affect those here in FCPS in a future correspondence.  I appreciated the opportunity to spend time with student athletes, division athletic department staff, and FCHS Principal Dr. Ben Nowak. Go Jaguars!!

On Saturday I attended a middle school track meet at McLean High School. It’s been wonderful to see all of the participation in and enthusiasm for our new middle school athletics programs! These programs help build our students’ athletic skills, resilience, and teamwork. A big thank you to all those who continue to make these experiences possible.

They also strengthen students’ sense of belonging and increase their school engagement, two factors that improve school attendance. I enjoyed hearing several students sharing how they were goal setting for personal best times. These goal setting skills will support decision making far into the future. 

Thank you to Oakton High School Principal Jamie Lane for sharing this week’s Fairfax Inspires segment! Jamie writes that “I am excited to report that Oakton HS Rocketry has qualified for the second year in a row as a National Finalist in the 2024 American Rocketry Challenge. Not only did we have one team qualify, but two. Almost 1,000 teams took part nationwide, and 100 National Finalists were selected. We represent the only FCPS school that qualified and make up two of the four teams that qualified from VA. Our teams will participate in the National Finals on May 18 competing for 100,000 in prizes, the title of National Champion, and an invitation to the International Rocketry Challenge in London over the summer.” Thank you for sharing, Jamie! And go Cougars!! 

Monday is Earth Day, and our division is hard at work supporting environmental efforts! Thank you to FCPS' Joyce Matthews, who shared a recent sustainability initiative (pictured below) involving Student Leadership, Green Ambassadors, and members of FCPS.

They had a "treemendous" day planting 29 trees in partnership with Casey Trees. Joyce shared that "All the trees were provided free by a Forest Services Urban and Community Grant. Truly a memorable event! I added Supervisor Walkinshaw and Casey Trees Educational Specialist Sam Nelson to the list of Braddock ES Medals list for their outstanding support of Braddock ES programs — their medal was actually a tree!" Thank you for sharing, Joyce! This work matters!!

What a great Saturday evening event, the First Annual Music Marathon hosted by the Mount Vernon High School Orchestra Program. Orchestra Director Al Rodriguez, AKA Winnie the Pooh, launched this event as a tribute to a memory from his musical past and as a fund raiser for the program future. The student musicians showed up at 7:00 a.m. for a full day of music culminating in an evening concert with several guest conductors, pictured below ;>) 

On Sunday afternoon I visited Ravensworth Baptist Church for “Storytelling as an Advocacy Tool,” a discussion led by author Tiffany Hammond. Her children's book, “A Day with No Words,” shares the touching experience of a nonverbal young boy who uses his tablet to speak and connect with those around him. The community discussion with Tiffany and others centered on how our community can best support those who use Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) techniques and tools to enhance their communication. At FCPS, access to AAC (which can include picture communication boards, line drawings, speech-generating devices (SGDs), tangible objects, manual signs, gestures, and finger spelling) empowers the academic and social-emotional success of our students. Together, we must continue to reimagine the possibilities for our students. 

I am looking forward to a great learning week ahead. And in one of my favorite quotes from the Hundred Acre Wood, and our brave bear Winnie the Pooh, “You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.” — Christopher Robin

Wishing each of you, both a hopeful and joyful week ahead...