Superintendent's Weekly Reflections

Hello Team FCPS!

Wow, what a great start to this epic school year we have had today!! Thank you one and all for your efforts, passion, and dedication to the education of our students -- each and every one of them; it matters. As I have been out in the schools, I have been so moved by the many intentional ways in which we are welcoming students and families to our learning communities.   Further, our staff, all of our staff, in ways large and small are taking that extra time and putting that extra effort into making this start special for all involved.  In so many ways, both personally and collectively, this is the year we have planned and prepared for and now we have the unique privilege of living our plan. I have heard so many great stories of the work going on in the schools, learning spaces, and departments these past several weeks to prepare; it matters. I will be sharing more about our first days in my upcoming Weekly Reflections that will be reverting back to Sunday evening as the school year has begun :>) 

So many excited students and families about the start of a new school year. Please know how much you are each appreciated. Our community is better for your efforts!! 

This week, we learned that Heman Bekele, a sophomore at Woodson High School, who you may remember was named “America’s Top Young Scientist” as part of the 3M Young Scientist Challenge in 2023, has been named TIME magazine’s Kid of the Year for 2024! Heman, now 15, began his scientific journey with homemade experiments at seven years old, mixing common household chemicals and eventually exploring more complex reactions.

Last year, Heman's ingenuity and dedication led him to enter and win the Young Scientist Challenge, earning $25,000 for inventing a soap designed to treat and prevent multiple forms of skin cancer. This summer, he’s working in a lab at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to advance his invention, aiming to make a significant impact on skin cancer treatment. His diligence exemplifies goal #5 of the FCPS Strategic Plan, "Leading for Tomorrow's Innovation," which seeks to ensure students are preparing for the future. Congratulations Heman! Learn more about this outstanding achievement. Our students will lead us!

Last week I attended open houses at Frost Middle School with Principal Anthony Harris (go Falcons!!), Terraset Elementary School with Principal Katherine Aldridge (go Tigers!!), and Hughes Middle School, pictured above with Principal Herman Mizell (go Panthers!!). At each school I was so energized by our teachers, students, and families. There is much excitement about ringing ;>) in the new school year!!

Wednesday evening, I joined an Education Town Hall event for military families being hosted at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall. It was an opportunity for me to share information about FCPS, and I was proud to say that we're committed to supporting and meeting the needs of our more than 14,000 military-connected students and their families. Military service often requires frequent relocations, and FCPS has many supports in place to try and make these transitions as comfortable as possible. ​This includes our Military Families resource webpage and our military-friendly Purple Star Schools. More than one third of our schools currently have the Purple Star designation, and our goal is to be at 100% by school year 2026-27 so that FCPS can be a Purple Star Division!

Thank you to the many, many members of Team FCPS who took time out of their summer break to attend training and professional development! Your hard work and dedication give us a strong, confident start to the new school year. This includes everyone who participated in our K-6 Literacy Institutes, which focused on implementing our new K-6 Language Arts curriculum and the Virginia Literacy Act. We had a total of 5,830 staff members attend training for our new curriculum between June 14 and August 14 — wow! This includes:

• 3,858 at our Literacy Institutes.
• 353 new teachers at Great Beginnings.
• 1619 at in-service last week.

Thank you to the K-6 Literacy Institute planning team for facilitating this important professional development! They shared feedback from the participants about what they found most valuable from the sessions:

• “The wealth of materials given to teachers.”
• “Understanding what the program offers and how it empowers teachers to help students learn.”
• “How this program benefits multilingual learners.”
• “Getting to see how lessons build on top of each other so that students can grow.”

I’m thrilled about how this new curriculum will help our students grow their reading skills and I know our incredible educators will be putting it into very good use across our division. I so appreciated all the efforts to implement the new strategies and materials. Go Team FCPS!! 

We continue to resolutely focus on our bold strategic plan and are convinced that this is the year we have planned and prepared for and now we have the unique privilege of living our plan. As it is so often said, “Purpose is the reason you journey. Passion is the fire that lights the way.” …Loving the passion out there — in Our House…  Thank you!

Take good care,

Michelle Reid, Ed.D.

Superintendent

Fairfax County Public Schools