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May 2023 Newsletter
Dear FCPS Families and Community Members:
Spring is well underway, which means our high school Performing Arts Departments are hard at work in Fairfax County! So far, I attended performances at both Madison High School and the South Lakes High School. I am always amazed and inspired by the talent and commitment of our students. Many thanks to our staff and family volunteers who work hard behind the scenes to help students prepare and perform. Your dedication is appreciated.
 As we celebrate excellence in the performing arts, we also continue to celebrate the academic success and achievement of our students and staff. This newsletter spotlights several examples of students who were recently recognized for their accomplishments in our schools and the community. In April, we recognized our military families. This month, we celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and Jewish American Heritage Month.
In case you missed it: Teacher Appreciation Week is May 8-12. I am still grateful for the many teachers who played an important role in my education over the years. See the article below to learn how you and your children can say thank you to your favorite FCPS teacher!
My colleagues and I have been working on several policy issues and initiatives to continue to promote academic excellence and to provide support for student achievement. There are many opportunities for you to provide input and feedback in our strategic planning and other division-wide planning processes.
It’s hard to believe that summer is just around the corner. Please use the updates in this newsletter to help your students gear up for a strong finish to the 2022-2023 school year.
I look forward to visiting our schools and seeing many of you at community events and activities in the days and weeks ahead.
 Inside this newsletter:
Eight Students Awarded 2023 National Merit Corporate-Sponsored Scholarships
Eight Fairfax County Public Schools students have been awarded 2023 corporate-sponsored scholarships from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. The students are part of a group of more than 840 National Merit finalists chosen to receive scholarships financed by corporations, company foundations, and other business organizations. See the complete list in our web release.
176 Named to All-Virginia Band, Chorus, and Orchestra
One hundred seventy-six students representing all Fairfax County high schools have been named to the 2023 All-Virginia Band, Chorus, and Orchestra. The students will rehearse and perform with other premier musicians from across the state beginning Thursday, April 27, through Saturday, April 29. The performances are free and open to the public. See the list of students and more information in our web release.
Two FCPS Projects Win Grand Prize at State Science Fair
The Virginia Science and Engineering Fair was held on April 15 at Old Dominion University in Norfolk. Sixty-nine students from FCPS participated in the state level fair. Two FCPS student projects received the Grand Prize award. Read about these winners and other FCPS projects that were recognized.
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FCPS Students Earn Awards at 2023 DECA International Conference
Thirty-three Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) students from six high schools earned DECA’s highest honors at the organization’s annual International Career Development Conference, held in Orlando, Fla., April 22-25.
DECA is a career and technical student organization that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs to be college- and career-ready. The competitions are designed to simulate real-life business scenarios and test students’ academic understanding and skills development.
In the Commonwealth of Virginia, DECA members are enrolled in a marketing education class at their high schools.
Supporting Military Families
April was the Month of the Military Child! Fairfax County Public Schools is proud of our over 14,000 military-connected students and grateful for their families’ service. I had the privilege to honor military families at Mosaic Elementary School. We were joined by a Coast Guard pilot on a beautiful day. Thanks to our leadership who shared this moment with me.
Military families face similar challenges as civilian families while also navigating unique experiences like frequent moves and deployment. Here’s a few ways to show your support:
- Welcome military families into your school and neighborhood. Military families want to feel accepted and included. Extend an invitation to a local event or personal gathering. This is also an opportunity to learn about military life and what support these families need.
- Thank a service member and their family. When you see service members in your community, take a moment to thank them and their family for their service. Kids serve too!
- Learn about military culture. Make an effort to understand deployment and learn about the different military branches. Quiz yourself and your family on military acronyms, and encourage your schools to teach students about military culture.
- Advocate for military families. Military families often experience increased stress due to their service members’ employment requirements and frequent relocations. Understand military spouse employment and underemployment, and encourage your community to acknowledge, include and celebrate our military families.
- Be kind. Support the business of a military family; volunteer your time with an organization that serves the military community; and always be kind.
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AmeriCorps Briefing and Exploring Support for After School Programs
 Recently, I had the opportunity to visit Aspire Afterschool Learning. Aspire's mission is to expand learning opportunities that help historically underserved young people fulfill their potential through afterschool and summer learning programs that support and connect families, schools, and communities. My visit was an opportunity to learn more about how AmeriCorps volunteers help provide and expand afterschool learning opportunities for children.
Nationally, AmeriCorps engages more than 75,000 Americans in intensive service to serve their communities and address the nation's most pressing challenges, improving lives and strengthening civic engagement. Learn more about the national AmeriCorps service program here.
Aspire's Learning Links AmeriCorps program delivers real results for children by providing a critical link across the three main aspects of a child's daily experience: at school, after school, and at home. AmeriCorps members are placed in our local partner schools where they provide direct service and support to kids in their classrooms. Members take this classroom experience back to our programs to align lessons from the school day with our afterschool programs. AmeriCorps members serve as a vital part of our afterschool and summer programs by providing direct service to our students in our summer and afterschool classrooms. Learn more about Aspire.
I look forward to exploring how AmeriCorps and other similar efforts can help support afterschool and summer learning for children in Fairfax County Public Schools, particularly in Title I school communities.
Board Committee Reports
Comprehensive Planning Development Committee Update
As Chair of the Comprehensive Planning Development Committee (CPDC), I have worked with my colleagues and FCPS staff to make sure our families and community members have the opportunity to weigh in and share their perspectives on our Capital Improvement Program and related projects. Approximately two out of every three Capital Improvement Program dollars are earmarked for renovations, modular classrooms, additions of existing school facilities, and construction of new schools. This significant expenditure reflects the age of FCPS facilities and the School Board's commitment to ensuring that all schools contain the facilities necessary to support current educational programs.
For the past year, we’ve been working to ensure that the process is both transparent and clear how and when the community can advocate during the process. Visit Building Our Future:Capital Projects on the FCPS website to learn more about some of the currently funded projects, which are underway based on their order in the Renovation Queue Status. Through this site, community members can see which projects are underway based on their order in the Renovation Queue Status. This has done a lot to help keep the public informed and aware of opportunities to provide input and feedback in the development process.
Educate Fairfax: 2023 FCPS Hall of Fame
As the School Board Liaison to Educate Fairfax, I was proud to join the Foundation Board and staff to introduce the 2023 class of inductees to the FCPS Hall of Fame on April 19th. This distinguished group of 12 individuals spans four decades and represents high schools from across Fairfax County.
Visit the Educate Fairfax website to learn about them, see photos from the event, or to nominate an alumnus for the 2024 FCPS Hall of Fame.
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Community Conversation: School Safety and Security, May 8, 6:30 p.m.
FCPS will host a community conversation to discuss our approach to safety and security, and the work we do every day to keep our schools safe. Join us Monday, May 8, 6:30-7:30 p.m., at South Lakes High School. Registration information will be available soon.
FCPS staff and experts will review our risk assessment processes, the physical measures we already have in place to protect our students and staff, pilot programs to detect vaping, and how we communicate and collaborate with our partners when there is an incident at our schools.
Final Feedback Opportunity - Strategic Plan Survey. Responses due May 17
FCPS has almost completed the process of drafting a new Strategic Plan, which will guide our school division in the years ahead. Please participate in our brief survey regarding final input on the Strategic Plan’s draft goals, measures, and pillars. The goals are what we want for all students, and the measures are how we will determine our progress in reaching those goals. The pillars are the things that FCPS must do well to reach our goals. Your voice matters! Take the survey.
Thank you for being a part of this important work! Learn more about the Strategic Planning process.
Say “Thank You!” to Your Favorite Teacher
May 8 to 12 is Teacher Appreciation Week! You can submit a recorded message thanking and celebrating our school’s amazing teachers and staff.
Your video message may be selected to share with our teachers and community on FCPS’ website and social media channels throughout Teacher Appreciation Week. Surprising our teachers and staff with these messages of gratitude and support is part of the fun, so keep your contribution under wraps until May.
More information and a submission form are available online. Please be aware, the submission form requires a Google account. If you do not have a Google account and wish to be part of the celebration, share your messages on social media and tag FCPS on Facebook or Instagram.
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Academic Matters Board Update
In the fall of 2021, FCPS received $188.8 million in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER III) funding to support the safe operation of schools and address the impacts of COVID-19 on students.
FCPS has an intentional multi-year plan to ensure maximum value from the ESSER funding it received to assist with the post-pandemic recovery.
On April 27, Sloan Presidio, chief academic officer for FCPS, presented the proposed ESSER expenditures for the 2023-24 school year, the last year of ESSER funding. This funding is in addition to the FCPS operating budget and is specifically targeting the impacts of COVID-19.
The proposed plan presented at the recent School Board Meeting is intended to maximize the dollars remaining in our funding. At least 20% of the funding must be spent toward unfinished learning. The proposed plan has nearly 80% of ESSER funds allocated to support student learning needs.
In FCPS those funds have been used toward expanded summer learning and tutoring services directed to the students with greatest academic need. More than 30,000 students participated in summer learning programs the last two years. And in a single year, about 40% of students deemed to need the highest degree of intervention saw marked improvement through high impact tutoring—a tutor working with small groups of students over a prolonged period of time.
Some of the recommended projects for remaining funding include the continuation of special education teacher contract funding, funding school-based wellness and SEL staff; academic interventions both at the school-level and through centrally assigned academic tutors; summer learning programs; school health coordinator; and a provider to address chronic absenteeism.
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Tutor.com Services for All Students
Does your student need help with homework or preparing for a test? Don’t forget, FCPS students still have no-cost access to Tutor.com 24/7. Do you have questions about the service? View this FAQ.
How to Register for Pre-K or Early Head Start
Fairfax County offers pre-K for students 3-4 years old whose parents meet income requirements and Early Head Start is for infants, toddlers, and expectant mothers who meet income requirements. To register, parents or caregivers should:
- Complete the application form.
- Make a copy of the child’s birth certificate and a residency document (lease, dead, or mortgage).
If your child is selected for one of the programs, the following will need to be completed:
- a school physical
- dental exam
- FCPS school registration forms.
A family service partner will be assigned to guide families through the entire application process. Learn more on the Early Childhood application webpage, or call 703-208-7900 (English) or 703-208-7901 (Spanish).
Colleges and Universities Still Accepting Applications
The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) has released their annual list of colleges and universities that are still accepting applications from prospective freshmen or transfer students for the fall of 2023. Students and families are encouraged to use this tool to search colleges that still have space available. Users may narrow down the list of schools by state and view whether a school still has financial aid, as well as unfilled housing.
Additionally, NACAC has created an enrollment deposit fee waiver request form, considered by some institutions, for students experiencing significant financial hardship. Families can learn more about the enrollment deposit fee waiver and eligibility on the NACAC website. It is recommended that students and families contact their school counselor and college and career specialist with any questions.
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What Is ParentVue and How Do I Sign Up?
If you do not already have a ParentVUE SIS account, sign up now to monitor and support your child’s academic success! Through ParentVUE, you are able to monitor your student’s attendance, grades, and assignments at any time. You can also access special reports for your student like progress reports and assessments score reports.
Once you have activated a ParentVUE account for an FCPS student, you will keep the same account until the student graduates. Information about students in the same family can be accessed through the same ParentVUE account. SIS ParentVUE can be accessed using an app on your iPhone, iPad, or Android devices.
Need help creating a SIS ParentVUE account? This video walks you through the steps on how to do so. You can also find out more about SIS ParentVUE on our website.
Update Contact Information in weCare@School
Within SIS ParentVUE, Fairfax County Public Schools provides weCare@school (weCare), an emergency care information system. weCare helps manage contact and emergency medical information by allowing parents/caregivers to enter and update their children’s data online.
That contact information automatically enrolls parents/caregivers to receive critical updates from the district and their child’s school through the eNotify system. FCPS uses eNotify to communicate emergency, transportation, attendance, weather closing and delay, and essential outreach messages. Messages are sent by email, text, and occasionally by phone. Learn more about updating your emergency care information.
Parent Resource Center Is Now the Family Resource Center
FCPS’ Parent Resource Center has changed its name to the Family Resource Center (FRC), as a way to acknowledge and support the broad diversity of families in our community. The FRC continues to offer a wide range of essential resources and education for caregivers and students including:
Families can find printable resource guides and details about the center’s free lending library on FRC’s homepage. They may also sign up to receive the FRC newsletter for updates on webinars, resources, and other information. If you have questions, please contact the FRC via email at frc@fcps.edu or call 703-204-3941.
Upcoming FRC Webinars
The FRC is hosting the following upcoming webinars. Events are virtual unless stated otherwise:
Click on the titles above for more information or to register for a webinar. Check out the May webinars at the Family Resource Center!! Registration is available online.
Child Find Screenings
Child Find is the process of identifying children with potential special education needs as well as educating the community about child development and the importance of early intervention. Child Find screenings and services are provided by the FCPS Early Childhood Identification and Services program for children ages 20 months through 5 years who live in Fairfax County or Fairfax city. Learn more on the Child Find website.
Five Strategies to Activate Empathy in Children
Feeling understood and cared about is a human need and a way we relate to others. That’s why empathy is considered essential for building strong communities. Empathy is the ability to understand another person's perspective and share in what that person is feeling, thinking, or experiencing. In other words, it is having an understanding of what it must be like to walk in another person's shoes while demonstrating compassion for that individual.
Find strategies on helping raise empathetic children on the Healthy Minds blog.
Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
People with ancestral roots in Asia and the islands of the Pacific have been integral to the story of America. In 1992, May was designated Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month to celebrate their heritage and contributions.
Celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month
May is also a national month of recognition of the history of Jewish contributions to American culture, acknowledging the diverse achievement of the Jewish community in the U.S.
Learn more about the heritage months, celebrations, and traditions celebrated in FCPS.
Scholarship Opportunities
Young Women in STEM Scholarships
Three $5,000 awards available. Deadline: May 23, 2023
Women in STEM make up 27% of the STEM workforce, despite women workers as a whole making up 48% of the workforce.
Over the past fifty years, efforts have been made to increase female representation in STEM. The efforts have thus far been successful, but now is not the time to let up on this progress. Women are being encouraged to pursue STEM more now than ever before.
The Young Women in STEM Scholarship looks to encourage the future generation of women in STEM fields, especially those coming from low-income backgrounds. Female high school seniors and undergraduate students that are from a low-income household and are pursuing a degree in STEM can apply.
Learn more this scholarship online.
2023 There’s Space for Everyone Scholarship Program
Eight $3,000 awards available. Deadline: May 31, 2023
At Extra Space Storage, we believe everyone should have equal opportunity to access quality education and pursue their dreams. And we want to help make it a reality with the 2023 There’s Space for Everyone Scholarship program.
Nobody is better suited to change the way we look at the world than you, the leaders of tomorrow. You’re not afraid to challenge authority and question the status quo in order to make the world an equitable and inclusive place for all people, no matter their age, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, national origin, nationality, physical ability, race, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status.
We see what you’re doing and want to make it easier for you to make a difference and achieve your goals with the 2023 There’s Space for Everyone Scholarship. For this program, we will award a total of eight $3,000 scholarships: Five (5) scholarships to any student attending an accredited college or university in the U.S., and three (3) scholarships to employees or immediate family members of Extra Space Storage.
Learn more about this scholarship online.
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Joe Francis Haircare Scholarship Foundation
Fifteen $3,000 awards available. Deadline: Jun 01, 2023
To be considered, an applicant must be currently applying for entrance into Cosmetology/Barber School, OR actively enrolled in a Cosmetology/Barber program.
If you graduate from Cosmetology or Barber School between the dates of January 1st through August 31st of the current award year, you are NOT eligible. Esthetician or Nail training students are NOT eligible.
Learn more about this scholarship online.
Avonte Oquendo Memorial Scholarship Sponsored by Perecman Firm P.L.L.C.
One $5,000 award available. Deadline: Jul 31, 2023
The Avonte Oquendo Memorial Scholarship is open to high-achieving students who meet two key criteria:
- Either you or a close family member has been diagnosed with a form of autism, including Asperger syndrome, and
- Applicant must be an enrolled student at an accredited college, university, or vocational school, or be accepted to begin school at an accredited college, university, or vocational school in the semester for which the application is being offered.
Additionally, applicants should submit an essay on one of the topics listed below with a minimum of 500 words and a maximum of 1,000 words.
This scholarship is intended to help offset the financial burden of attending school for a deserving student who is facing unique challenges because of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Learn more about this scholarship online.
The views contained within this newsletter reflect the views of the individual school board member who is the publisher of this newsletter and may not reflect the views of the Fairfax County School Board.
© Fairfax County Public Schools, Fairfax County, Virginia
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