Superintendent's Weekly Reflections

It is so great to be back to school this past week !! 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 and community events recently, I continue to see wonder aplenty. So exciting and inspiring!! 

Thank you to Brian Howells, Adaptive Physical Education teacher for the Centreville Pyramid, for sharing information about the Unified Sports Special Olympics Event that he organized at Centreville High School. Every elementary school in the pyramid was represented, as well as students from Centreville High School. The event was hosted by Jimmy Sanabria, the director of Student Activities for Centreville High School, with lots of support from students and teachers. Special shoutout to Jenny Murray from Union Mill ES, Derrick Christie from Centreville ES, and Brian Flynn from Colin Powell ES for helping to set up the event. There were around 50 participants with another 100 peer buddies to support the athletes.  What a beautiful day and wonderful show of learning happening best in community!

During Thursday night’s Academic Matters segment of the School Board meeting, I shared examples of the robust science programs across FCPS. In March, FCPS hosted the 68th Annual Regional Science Fair. Regional science fairs represent examples of authentic, externally moderated research science projects. Our students go on to compete in state, local, national, and international fairs. In 2023, more than 476 students participated in regional science fairs, 55 made it to the state fair and ten will compete at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair next month in Dallas. More than $15,000 prizes have been awarded from more than 40 STEM organization partnerships.

Science is also supported in the classroom by our warehouse team who pridefully prepare the science learning kits that are distributed to schools. In fact, last year, 669,785 pieces of equipment went to schools to support science learning kits!  Wow!!

One last example is our Environmental Sciences - Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience, which has strong community partners in George Mason University and the Fairfax County Park Authority. Students explore the question, “How can we assess, protect and restore the health of our local watershed and, in turn, the Chesapeake Bay?” They focus on four topics: Land Use and Runoff, Water Quality, Biodiversity, and Macroinvertebrates. I am hoping that I can get my boots on soon and join our students as they explore the world around us and how we can keep it safe and clean. Our students will continue to lead us!

Thank you to Joey Kearns, Hayfield Secondary School alum, teacher, and robotics team coach, for sharing his pride in the hard work, collaboration, and ingenuity of all our students who compete in robotics. Joey shared that the FIRST Robotics Competition is a high school program where students work with engineers to build robots to compete in new challenges every year. The season is coming to a close and our FCPS teams have done well!  Team 614, the Night Hawks from Hayfield hosted a competition last month for 40 area teams. At the District Championship this past weekend, eight of our 11 FCPS teams qualified to compete. After weeks of competition, the season concluded with the Night Hawks ranked 19 and Team 623, Oakton Cougar Robotics ranked 22 out of 112 teams in the Chesapeake region (DC, MD, and VA). Having highschoolers build and compete with a robot is no small feat! Congrats to all FCPS teams who competed this season:

• Epsilon Delta, Herndon HS
• Saxons, Langley HS
• Chantilly Robotics, Chantilly HS
• Night Hawks, Hayfield SS
• Warbots, Madison HS
• Oakton Cougar Robotics, Oakton HS
• Dogs of Steel, Westfield HS
• Aegis Robotics, Centreville HS
• Gryphon Robotics, Marshall HS
• FCHS Jagwires, Falls Church HS
• CAVBOTICS, Woodson HS

Saturday, I stopped by the Real Food for Kids Culinary Challenge to check in on our amazing student chefs and staff at Robinson SS. Thank you to our community partners Real Food for Kids, for hosting this event. Real Food for Kids business partnership with FCPS continues to reap extraordinary benefits for the organization and the school division, both through building the connection between healthy school meals and academic success, as well as the connection between health, culinary skills, workforce learning and building an awareness of career pathways. This was my first time, and I loved to see the creativity the kids showed being able to work within the nutritional standards and cost of school food service. Back in December, while I was visiting Franklin Middle School, I met Ellie, Hannah, Anvita and Janya, the students behind the “Vegejita Wrapadilla” - winner of last year’s Community Choice Award in the lunch category. Ellie, Hannah, Anvita, and Janya shared the process they used to develop this dish and the creativity, critical thinking, and collaborative skills that they utilized on their journey. These real-world skills will serve our students well whether they explore a culinary career or anything other future that they can imagine.

It was great to note that Herndon High School competed in this 11th annual Real Food For Kids Culinary Challenge at Robinson Secondary School. Thank you to Herndon HS instructor Lauren Spector who shared that students Brayan Serrano Rivera, Jocelin Monges-Ortega, Daniel Wacek, and Angelina Vera-Fernandez received the Community Choice award, as well as placing 2nd in the School Lunch category of the competition. The theme for this year’s Culinary Challenge was “Fresh Take on Tradition,” in which students were asked to create a plant-forward meal that reflects the school community and experiences of the team members. Herndon High School created Bocado de Tostada, which is a fresh take on a traditional Mexican dish, taking the beloved tostada and making it bite-sized. The dish was veggie-forward and is plant powered by jackfruit and homemade, refried beans. On the side they served Elote Loco Salad. Herndon High School was fortunate to collaborate with Beanstalk, a local vertical farm located in Herndon, Virginia who donated cilantro, arugula, and radish confetti for the dish. For their fruit requirement, Herndon created a refreshing, frozen mango sorbet topped with Tajin. The team was led by Herndon High School’s instructors, Heather Palm and Lauren Spector.  Such a tasty and inspiring achievement!!  Go Hornets!!

Additionally, the Luther Jackson MS Tigers roared this weekend to win first place in the snack category at the Real Food for Kids culinary competition! This year’s theme for the competition was, ‘a fresh take on tradition’. The Tigers focused on each member’s cultural heritage (Spanish, Moroccan Turkish, and Italian) and came up with the snack, Tiger Tostadas. The ingredients used in this recipe, the crispy base, chickpeas, Moroccan spice blend, feta, eggplants, red peppers, cilantro, and lemon, highlighted each member’s cultural heritage. The students had a lot of fun preparing for the competition by testing, tweaking, and perfecting the recipe as well as working on their t-shirt design, slogan, and display to make the most impact! Thank you to Neha Mathur, their Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher.  Go Tigers!!

Our strategic planning process continues with input from stakeholders across Fairfax County. The strategic plan will provide our North Star for how we provide excellence, equity, and opportunity for each and every FCPS student from now until 2030. Last week, we hosted the final Family Team meeting as well as two additional community forums. Participants shared their input on the most current version of the goals, and brainstormed strategies to consider when implementing the goals. 

There is one final community forum on Monday, April 17. I hope you will take advantage of this opportunity to share your input on the most current goals and measures and provide recommendations for strategies. Your voice matters! Community forum registration is open for the final community forum. Details can be found on the community forums page of the Strategic Planning website. In the weeks ahead, we will have three planning teams hold their final convenings including the Core Planning Team (April 24), the Alignment Team (April 25), and the Faith Community (April 26). The School Board will also participate in a work session to review feedback to date. 

As we traverse this incredible spring season, I am planning to host several conversations about topics of interest to you in an open forum format.  Please join me for one of the following Teacher and Classroom Instructional Staff Town Halls:

• Thursday, April 20, at West Springfield HS (Door 11)
  4:30 to 6:00 p.m. - Hybrid
  6:30 to 8:00 p.m. - In Person Only
• Tuesday, April 25, at Herndon HS (Door 8)
  4:30 to 6:00 p.m. - In Person Only
  6:30 to 8:00 p.m. - Hybrid

While an option for virtual participation via Zoom is available on both dates, I encourage you to consider joining in person for a more engaging experience. An American Sign Language interpreter will be at each event. Interpretation services in Spanish, Arabic, Korean, and Vietnamese will be provided, based on staff availability.  Please register to attend.  Thank you for the enormous impact you make with our students every day. I look forward to seeing you at one of these conversations in the coming weeks.

As we approach another beautiful spring week and start our fourth and final quarter, I trust you will find time to enjoy the mission driven work we do and its ever evolving moments.  As we engage in this transformational work, I am reminded of a quote I hold dear; “May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.”  -- Nelson Mandela

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

Michelle Reid, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Fairfax County Public Schools