Superintendent's Weekly Reflections

Hello Team FCPS!

What another great summer week we have had!!  Thankfully, the weather has also cooled a bit so we can return to a more traditional summer routine ;>)

Thank you to Jenny Cunneen from our Office of Professional Learning for sharing about our recent Leadership Kickoff. She writes “This week, our school division’s leadership team came together for an energizing kickoff event themed around the Olympic Games. Over three days, principals, assistant principals, directors of student services and student activities, and central office leaders bonded and learned with and from each other.  Thank you to all those who supported this work; it matters. 

The most impactful aspect was the collaborative approach – a whopping 185 FCPS leaders led choice sessions on various leadership topics for their colleagues. It was a fantastic display of shared expertise and peer-to-peer learning, mirroring the teamwork that drives success in the Olympics and, of course, in our own school district. Let’s go for the gold this year!” Thank you to everyone on Team FCPS and to our special guests for helping put together this inspiring event. And thank you to everyone who joined us — I know you’re just as excited as I am to kick off school year 2024-25!!

During last Thursday’s School Board meeting, I presented the addendum to the baseline report for Goal 2 of our 2023-30 Strategic Plan: Safe, Supported, Included, and Empowered. The addendum is a follow up to our original Goal 2 report from April. It includes the addition of Measure A, “Student academic inclusion and engagement,” along with baseline data, current and future high-leverage strategies for achieving it.

Thefocus of the presentation was inclusion for students with an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), using data from the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) Special Education Performance Report to measure our progress towards state targets. Two VDOE indicators were included: Indicator 5: Learning environment for students with an IEP in kindergarten through age 21, and Indicator 6: Learning environment for students with IEPs who are ages 3-5 and enrolled in preschool. Although our division is currently falling short of the state’s targets for these indicators, we are moving in an upward trajectory to meet those goals. 

We have a number of inclusion efforts underway, including:

• Use of a Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) tool to assist IEP teams as they consider the appropriate setting for a student to receive their special education services and document the discussion and data being used for this critical conversation.
• Professional development on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to increase capacity to address barriers to learning that exist in the environment and design with an inclusive mindset.
• Selection of and training on a basal curriculum for K-6 Language Arts instruction that includes numerous scaffolds and supports which assist all teachers in providing instruction that is responsive to learning differences.

Strategies under development or consideration are below.

I’m really excited about working over the next three to five years to meet (and surpass!) the state targets in order to create a more inclusive learning environment for our learners; this work matters. 

In recent good news from our Human Resources Team, the recent separation report indicated that from SY2022 to SY2024 there was a 37.6% decrease in teachers leaving the division. (Of those teachers leaving in 2024, 22.6% were retirees.)   Also, teacher vacancies for the first week of July 2024 compared to the same week in July 2023 are 47.3% lower, from 647 to 341, respectively. Cross departmental teams from DSS, IS, and HROTA are using weekly school by school position level vacancy data to strategize how to most effectively fill remaining vacancies.  We continue to be so grateful for the efforts of our teachers, principals, and support staff who are working hard on filling these positions; this work matters.  There is no more important work in this country than the education of our students!!

On Friday night I attended a production of Drowsy Chaperone at Westfield High School. I thoroughly enjoyed the show and continue to be impressed with the talent of our students, staff, and community volunteers.  It was a great show and it was fun to connect with so many students, staff, and community members as we enjoyed an evening together.  The show featured more than a hundred of our FCPS students!!

Lisa Brown of the Westfield Theatre Boosters and Westfield Summer Stage group continues to be a strong cheerleader and producer of the summer show with students in the cast and crew from all over the county.  The show also included three FCPS drama teachers as staff and one FCPS music teacher as the music director as well as an FCPS dance team coach as the choreographer.  Learning happens best in community and we continue to have an amazing and inspiring community.  Well done!!

It was great to connect with Mr. Samuel Hagos, from the Office of Professional Learning at the Leadership Kickoff Week!  It was great to learn more about his home country, Eritrea.  I was inspired to learn about Biniam Girmay, the Eritrean cyclist in the Tour de France.  I love bicycling and am impressed with this performance. 

According to Sam, “The 2024 Tour de France started on June 29 in Florence, Italy, and concluded on Sunday, July 21, in Nice, France.  Professional cyclists from different World Tour Teams compete in this oldest and most prestigious professional cycling race.  In this year’s Tour de France, Eritrea’s Biniam Girmay made history as the first Black and African rider to win three of the 21 stages of the race. With his three stage wins and other top 10 finishes, he still maintains the Green Jersey, signifying the fastest sprinter, starting at stage 5.   Biniam Girmay followed the footsteps of other Eritrean professional cyclists. His success, along with his talent, tenacity, discipline, and dedication, is inspiring other riders from the underrepresented countries and Africa in particular. As he said it after one of his stage wins, the motivation for him is “Vitamin N- Never Give Up.” Sam knows Biniam and shared how dedicated he is to his sport and persistence; it matters. 

Finally, as we welcome the summer Olympics at the end of the week, I am looking forward to seeing the world come together, celebrate the Olympic spirit, and compete. “We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort.” – Jesse Owens

Take good care,

Michelle Reid, Ed.D.

Superintendent

Fairfax County Public Schools