Limited Early Release Mondays for 2024-25 School Year
Elementary school students will be released three hours early on seven Mondays during the 2024-25 school year
Providing an excellent education to all students and meeting individual student needs requires appropriate planning time for teachers. This means teachers need a dedicated block of time to prepare lessons, participate in professional development and training, and collaborate with peers.
With that in mind, FCPS has developed a divisionwide plan for seven three-hour early release days (Mondays) for elementary students in the 2024-25 school year.
Reasons for Early Release Mondays
Demands on teacher time have increased dramatically since the pandemic. With the adoption of new textbooks, differentiated support plans for students, required professional development for the new Virginia Literacy Act, new reading and math Standards of Learning exams (SOLs) from the state, and other initiatives — teachers have a lot to do in addition to actually teaching! These demands require blocks of uninterrupted, in person, and collaborative time to plan.
A well-supported and continuously improving teaching staff will lead to better educational outcomes for students.
Start Date
Early release Mondays will start in mid-September of this year. Each elementary school will have a total of seven early release days throughout the school year, which is about one per month.
Lunch will be provided on early release Mondays.
How It Works
We encourage all parents/caregivers to have their student take their normal route home (bus, walk, kiss and ride) on early dismissal days. While these are designated as early release days — where necessary, we will ensure that every student has supervised activities at the school and returns home at the regular time if that is what works best for your family.
FCPS is offering student supervision at no-cost to families for those who have unique childcare needs. Students will be supervised by FCPS school-based staff, substitute teachers, and central office staff. Students who stay after school may be placed in mixed-aged groups. Students will not receive instruction between early release and the regular dismissal time. Instead, they will participate in afterschool activities under the supervision of FCPS staff. Supervision of students may involve activities such as:
- Quiet Time/Independent Reading/Listening
- Completion of Missed Schoolwork/Homework
- Laptop/Tablet time (ST Math, Myon, Lexia, Varsity Tutors, etc.)
- Library rotation
- Physical Activity
- Crafts
- Board Games
Group 1
- 12:30 | Arrival
- 12:45 - 1:15 | Quiet Time/Snack
- 1:15 - 1:45 | Physical Activity
- 1:45 - 2:15 | Laptop Time/Sub Time
- 2:15 - 2:45 | Board Games
- 2:45 - 3:15 | Reading/Library
- 3:15 - 3:30 | Dismissal
Group 2
- 12:30 | Arrival
- 12:45 - 1:15 | Quiet Time/Snack
- 1:15 - 1:45 | Laptop Time/Sub Time
- 1:45 - 2:15 | Physical Activity
- 2:15 - 2:45 | Reading/Library
- 2:45 - 3:15 | Board Games
- 3:15 - 3:30 | Dismissal
Group 3
- 12:30 | Arrival
- 12:45 - 1:15 | Quiet Time/Snack
- 1:15 - 1:45 | Crafts
- 1:45 - 2:15 | Reading/Library
- 2:15 - 2:45 | Schoolwork/Homework
- 2:45 - 3:15 | Singing/Dancing
- 3:15 - 3:30 | Dismissal
Group 4
- 12:30 | Arrival
- 12:45 - 1:15 | Quiet Time/Snack
- 1:15 - 1:45 | Board Games
- 1:45 - 2:15 | Schoolwork/Homework
- 2:15 - 2:45 | Singing/Dancing
- 2:45 - 3:15 | Laptop Time/ Sub time
- 3:15 - 3:30 | Dismissal
PTAs and community clubs may offer events and activities if they choose to do so. Parents will need to opt in for their student(s) to participate in these types of activities and events.
Students With Disabilities
All elementary students will be dismissed three hours early on early release Mondays, including students with disabilities. Special education teachers in grades K-6 are required to participate in the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) professional development per the Virginia Literacy Act. Students with disabilities who are not able to return home at the early release time will participate in supervised activities, such as those listed above, until the school’s normal dismissal time.
FCPS staff will ensure that students with disabilities receive appropriate accommodations or modifications to participate in the supervised activities. FCPS will also ensure students’ specific needs, including safety, communication, and personal care needs, are met so that they can access the care. Additionally, students’ individual needs will be considered as activities for early release Mondays are planned.
Parent advocacy groups, families of students with disabilities, and special education teachers are on the Steering Committee to ensure concerns are addressed regarding how to best support students with disabilities during early release Mondays.
Please Note: The following information was sent to families on Friday, September 6:
As FCPS prepares for the upcoming early release Mondays, we want to ensure your child has the accommodations and supports in place so they may successfully participate in any optional after-school activities. If your child’s IEP or 504 Plan currently includes accommodations or modifications for extracurricular activities, those supports will be provided as written during the early release Mondays after-school activities. If you have any questions about accommodations or supports for your child who is staying after school on an early release Monday, or is participating in other optional after-school activities, please contact your child’s case manager.
Transportation
For the first two months, buses will run their regular route at elementary schools’ designated early release time and again at their normal dismissal time. FCPS will then evaluate whether double routing for buses is necessary. We will do our best to meet the needs of our students, families, and staff.
Instructional Hours
The three-hour early release will not impact the state-mandated number of instructional hours, but it will reduce the amount of built in snow days.
Steering Committee
Since July 2024, a Steering Committee for Early Release Mondays has regularly met to make logistical decisions that would provide consistency in how the early release Mondays were implemented. The Steering Committee includes representation from the following groups:
- Central office staff from FCPS’ Office of the Chief of Schools, Department of School Improvement and Support, Instructional Services Department, Department of Special Services, Office of Transportation, Office of Equity and Student Relations, Office of Communications, and Office of Community Relations.
- School-based staff including administrators, teachers, and instructional staff representing the six regions.
- Parent representatives from each of the six regions.
- Teacher representatives from Fairfax Educators’ Association (FEA) and Fairfax County Federation of Teachers (FCFT).
- Community members including representatives from Fairfax County School-Aged Child Care (SACC), Special Education Parent Teacher Association (SEPTA), Fairfax County Council Parent Teacher Association (FCCPTA), and Minority Student Achievement Oversight Committee (MSAOC).
Some of the Steering Committee decisions have included:
- The types of afterschool activities students engage in.
- How to support students with disabilities who have varying needs afterschool.
- How staff should use the three hours of time:
- Staff with Virginia Literacy Act (VLA) responsibilities should spend one hour of their time on planning, one hour of their time on VLA training or other responsibilities, and one hour of school-led professional development. These staff include but are not limited to classroom teachers, special education teachers, and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teachers.
- Staff without VLA responsibilities are expected to support student supervision and engage in planning and professional development where possible.
In addition to these types of decisions, the Steering Committee considers the feedback received from staff and families, problem solves challenges, and shares successful practices.
Community Engagement
Superintendent Reid hosted two Community Conversations to answer questions from the community about limited early release Mondays. Popular questions centered around the following topics.
Mondays were chosen for multiple reasons, including familiarity of Early Release Mondays for the FCPS community, reduction of the risk of student chronic absenteeism, timing for teacher planning, and timing for staff to support student supervision.
At the end of the 2024-25 school year, we will evaluate the plan’s effectiveness. This includes researching whether staff had enough time to understand their training and whether student learning increased.
The Steering Committee will make their recommendation by June 1, 2025, if not earlier, to determine whether limited early release Mondays should continue.
Classroom teachers, ESOL teachers, and special education teachers are required to take the training in accordance with the Virginia Literacy Act. Therefore, Early Release Mondays were designed with these teachers in mind. This means that specialists, counselors, service providers (e.g., school psychologists, PHAs, PHTAs, SLPs, and social workers) may be asked to supervise students. However, we want to make sure specialists get their planning time, too. Schools have received guidance that they should rotate their use of specialists and ensure that they receive the hour of planning time during that week that classroom teachers, ESOL teachers, and special education teachers receive as a result of the early release Mondays, Principals will defer to FCPS Regulation 4422 to ensure that specials teachers receive their planning hours.
Some parents/caregivers have asked if it’s possible for teachers to do their required training during the summer. This is not an option for several reasons:
- Many of our teachers take second jobs and/or teach summer school for extra income.
- Besides having a summer job, teachers may have other conflicts during the summer.
- Teacher contracts with FCPS state the number of days a teacher will work. We would need to pay teachers for their time outside of their contracted hours. We used substitutes in the past, but it’s very hard to find quality subs.
- The majority of elementary teachers will also receive three days of training this summer on new basal resources (reading materials for students).
The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) study showed that Virginia schools are continually underfunded, which impacts our ability to provide competitive compensation for our teachers.
The Early Release Mondays will not impact preschool teachers or scheduling.
All general and special education teachers in grades K-6 are required to participate in the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) professional development per the Virginia Literacy Act. However, early childhood teachers are not required to participate in the VDOE-mandated Evidence-Based Literacy Instruction (EBLI) training and professional development. As a result, students in Early Head Start (EHS), PreK, Early Childhood Class-Based (ECCB), and Preschool Autism Class (PAC) programs will maintain their normal Monday – Friday school schedule throughout the year.
Instead of the VDOE-mandated training, early childhood teachers will receive job-embedded literacy professional development for Heggerty and Alphabet Animal Friends throughout the school year.
Starting in October 2024 and continuing through May 2025, SACC will support supervision of students currently enrolled in their Aftercare Program during the three-hour early release.
Dates for Early Release
Each elementary school will have seven early release days, which works out to roughly one per month. Those days will depend upon the pyramid under which a school falls. Check FCPS' Region and Pyramid Map for a breakdown.
Early release Mondays for elementary schools in the following pyramids are planned for the dates below: Edison, Hayfield, Lewis, Mount Vernon, South County, West Potomac, Annandale, Falls Church, Justice, Lake Braddock, West Springfield, and Woodson.
- September 16
- October 21
- November 18
- February 10
- March 10
- April 21
- May 12
Early release Mondays for elementary schools in the following pyramids are planned for the dates below: Herndon, Langley, Madison, Marshall, McLean, South Lakes, Centreville, Chantilly, Fairfax, Oakton, Robinson, and Westfield.
- September 23
- October 28
- December 9 (Changed from November 25)
- February 24
- March 17
- April 28
- May 19
Questions?
If you have questions about early release Mondays, please email [email protected].
