The Dunne Dispatch (Back to School Edition) - 08/06/2024

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The Dunne Dispatch (Back to School Edition) - 08/06/2024

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

We are rapidly approaching the first day of school on Monday, August 19, so I would like to share the following information with you.

School Attendance

We are fortunate to live in a time and place where the Constitution requires the State to provide “a system of free public elementary and secondary schools for all children of school age” and “ensure that an educational program of high quality is established and continually maintained.” Fairfax County Public Schools is an exemplar of public education, but each child’s educational attainment and ability to realize their potential is contingent on regular school attendance.

During the pandemic, our children lost the habit of attending school every day. Chronic absenteeism—defined as missing 18+ days (or 2 days per month) in the school year—nearly doubled compared to pre-pandemic levels. This is a universal phenomenon, affecting students at all income levels in every region of the country. It is also highly destructive. Chronic absenteeism has been linked to reduced student achievement, social disengagement, and feelings of alienation because students miss out on opportunities to learn, to build friendships, to get involved in their school communities, and to pursue their interests.

There is no grade level at which school attendance should be considered optional. For example, students who are chronically absent in Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, and 1st Grade fall behind in learning to read. At every age level, chronic absenteeism can make it difficult for students to keep up with the pace of learning. Once students fall behind, it can be hard for them to catch up, especially if they have limited resources. If we learned anything from the pandemic, there is no substitute for being in the classroom.

Virginia is in the process of enacting school accreditation standards that will penalize schools with higher chronic absenteeism rates. FCPS is going above and beyond to ensure students attend school every day, but it is imperative that we work together as a community to reduce absenteeism and ensure every child receives a world-class education.  

Back to School Resources I was excited to co-sponsor a Back to School Community Day with Supervisor Dan Storck at the Lorton Community Center on Saturday, August 3. It was an awesome community celebration with abundant games, music, and snow cones. Hundreds of families received free backpacks and school supplies. I am extremely grateful to Supervisor Storck and his team for organizing this tremendous event, which was attended by 2,000+ community members. Thank you to all the sponsors and volunteers for everything you did to make this event an incredible success!  I am pleased to announce that additional resource fairs are scheduled in the Mount Vernon District: The Mount Vernon Pyramid will host a Back to School Resource Fair on Thursday, August 8 at 1:00-4:00 PM for all students attending schools in the MVHS pyramid. Free backpacks and school supplies will be available. In addition, parents and guardians can learn about support services to assist their families. Bryant HS will host its Back to School Open House and Resource Fair on Monday, August 12 at 10:00 AM-2:00 PM. Free school supplies will be available. In addition, students, parents, and guardians can receive class schedules and can learn about support services to assist their families.

Pyramid Advisory Councils

I am planning to establish a Pyramid Advisory Council for each of the high schools located in the Mount Vernon District: Mount Vernon HS, South County HS, and West Potomac HS. The objectives of the Councils are enhance community engagement, increase coordination within pyramids, and provide stakeholders with a voice in the direction and operation of their pyramids.

Each Council will be comprised of one representative from each elementary school, two representatives from each middle school, and three representatives from each high school. In addition, the principal (or their designee) from each school will be invited to participate. Meetings will be held at least quarterly, though they could occur more frequently as necessary.

If you are interested in serving, please submit your resume to my Staff Aide Nelda Brown (nnbrown@fcps.edu) along with a brief explanation of your interest and relationship to FCPS (such as parent/guardian, student, or community member).

Back to School Events

Each school will host an Open House and Back to School Night. I am providing you with the current schedule, but it is subject to change. Please monitor communications with your school to ensure you have the most accurate information.

Mount Vernon District School Open Houses

Mount Vernon District Schools Back to School Nights

*Hybrid event (In-person with a link for parents who choose to attend virtually).

Honoring Our Graduates

2024 Military Graduates. I would like to honor 25 Mount Vernon District students who graduated in June and committed to serve in the military. Our Class of 2024 Mount Vernon District "Military Graduates" include:

• Mount Vernon HS: 4 graduates;
• West Potomac HS: 3 graduates;
• South County HS: 11 graduates;
• Hayfield SS: 4 graduates;
• Edison HS: 2 graduates; and
• Lewis HS: 1 graduate

While I cannot disclose their names for privacy reasons, I sent each one a  letter last month to thank them for their courageous service and for helping to protect our Nation!

2024 Honor Graduates. I would also like to recognize the Mount Vernon District students who were Honor Graduates in June. This is a testament to their hard work, dedication, and commitment to academic excellence. 

Mount Vernon HS 2024 Honor Graduates

• Makayla Adams
• Rachel Adu
• Farjan Ahmed
• Jovana Allotey
• Zane Ammar
• Teya Banford
• Virginia Grace Belzer
• Ryan Chicoine
• Frisky Senior Dorgbadzi
• John Eckardt
• Mohammed El-Ghazali
• Sara El-Ghazali
• Cristina Garcia-Montalvo
• Ashley Gonzales-Rojas
• Phillip Ha
• Hannah Hamilton
• David Hammond
• Zermah Jafri
• Alanna Lee
• Chloe Leiterman
• Elie Lervik
• Garrett Lien
• Godwin Mensah
• Imoen Murphy
• Angelee Christine Nelson
• George Ofori
• Anna Ovsijenko
• Oliver Pabich
• David Runkle
• Savannah Russell
• Welid Saed
• Haithem Salmi
• Natalie Santangelo
• Emanuel Serrano
• Zaybish Tariq
• Morgan Tilghman
• Madelyn Torres
• Alec Vaughan
• Wilman Vlach
• Olivia Whitridge
• Mark Wilson

South County HS 2024 Honor Graduates

• Zaynab Abdulquddos
• Saron Abebe
• Dinah Addisalem
• Marjan Afzal
• Ariana Ahmadzai
• Amir Al-Husainawi
• Mustafa Ali
• Stella Alpaugh
• Issac An
• Michael Ardrey
• Emmanuel Asamoah
• Helen Ayalew
• Arman Bajwa
• Claire Baringer
• Lillian Barry
• Ellie Bartee
• Natalie Beasley
• Margaret Claire Behan
• Betanya Binyam
• Ryan Birrell
• John Cabrera
• Riley Cameron
• Harris Choudhary
• Ramla Chowdhury
• Sean Cousins
• Caury Crusoe
• Ryan Dang
• Haylee Delew
• Hannah Diep
• Minh Do
• Danielle Edwards
• Fatma Elsayed
• Madelyn. Emert
• Eden Fikru
• Syan Garg
• Sanaa Gates
• Philip Gigrich
• Steven Gigrich
• Caitlin Gross
• Pavini Gupta
• Abdul-Raheem Haroon
• Henry Hunt
• Victoria Hurtado Frackiewicz
• Justin Hyun
• Theodore Jones, III
• Esther Jung
• Nayan Kasperowski
• Khushdeep Kaur
• Christian Kim
• Sera Kim
• Ethan Ko
• Queenster Koranteng
• Varun Korisapati
• Mark Krynski
• Taylor Kurz
• Thu Le
• Ian Lee
• Siu Yan Lee
• Jaime Lopez
• Kyla Luby
• Ethan Lugo
• Kaitlin Luong
• Maryam Mahmoodi
• Judith Malley
• Lydia Malley
• Olivia Marlowe
• Marcus Martinez-Breitenstein
• Ashley McCoy
• Zoe McDowell
• Holly Miska
• Sophia Mitchell
• Viraj Multani
• Khastur Munkhtur
• Vance. Nguyen
• Giovanni Ortuso
• Kush Patel
• Reese Pavlak
• Taylor Pavlak
• Khloe Peacock
• Reagan Peresta
• Julius Person
• Noah Pflugrath
• Kathy Pham
• Kevin Pham
• Jackson Plummer
• Ariana Rahman
• Nimah Rahman
• Adam Ressom
• Lukas Richardson
• Luis Rivera Lopez
• Meklit Samuel
• Mateo San Diego
• Alton Schilling
• Eshaan Shah
• Ayaan Shaikh
• Adhiraj Sharma
• Jack Shifflett
• Alexandra Silva
• Natazya Simunyola
• Shreya Singh
• Delaney Spradlin
• Mikael Tefferi
• Carolyn Telford
• Joseph Thibodeau
• Luc Tran
• Sophia Uriostegui
• Abigail Van Gilder
• Miguelangel Velez Aviles
• Jada Wallace
• Matthew Walsh
• Michael Waugh
• Caelan Wommack
• Mora Wyllie
• Aileen Zheng
• Shaun Ziadie

West Potomac HS 2024 Honor Graduates

• Julian Allan
• Laura Altwies
• Sasha Angielski
• Mezgeb Babcock
• Benjamin Bachmore
• Samantha Barry
• Willa Bowers
• Maeve Bradley
• Natalia Bufano
• Jenna Butikofer
• Alice Byrnes
• Caroline Christensen
• Jack Coffee
• Jake Cohn
• Liam Conmy
• Elizabeth Cooke
• Gabriella Copty
• Quinn Correll
• Nora Curtis
• Ella DePumpo
• Alec Dillaplain
• Reagan Dronen
• Cassady Dunn
• Colin Elsinger
• Miles Fazackerley
• Joshua Fondriest
• Anna Foote
• Liliana Fore
• Ryan Gamez-Montoya
• Georgia Giannetti
• Chloe Godbout
• Wesley Gonzalez
• Kye Greenfeld
• Annalise Grindstaff
• Olivia Hamilton
• Katherine Hardy
• Bella Hook
• Hana Keenan
• Miriam Keller
• Lily Kernan
• Brielle Keyes
• Ayesha Khan
• Kathryn Kilbride
• Margaret Kretzer
• Stephanie Kulinski
• Charles Lamb
• Jessica Larkin
• Jonathan Larkin
• Katherine Leibowitz
• Riley Long
• Jacob Luhman
• Ava Mamienski
• Lucy Marshall
• Nairi Masih
• Tess Maxwell-Bundy
• Samantha McElwain
• Joshua McGuinness
• Nora Meadows
• Avalon Mikulski
• Yordanose Moges
• Melanie Molino
• Emery Mounts
• Joseph Murphy
• Dennis Ni
• Amanda Nolan
• Meredith Odegard
• Avery Olsen
• Hayden Painter
• Monica Palacios
• Sophia Papa
• Alexander Pece
• Ryan Pollio
• Jacob Ross
• Francesca Russell
• Monica Rusten
• Phoebe Schultz
• Sydney Seyfert
• Mina Silwany
• Nathaniel Sinn
• Julianna Stutts
• Tabitha Thomas
• Genevieve Tierney
• Tyler Tillman
• Luke Trumbo
• Richard Trumbo
• Lillian Try
• Miguel Tsang
• Cole Wallach
• Adam Watterson
• Sophia Webster
• Molly Weisel
• Lydia Welch
• Luke Westmoreland
• Logan Williams

Hayfield SS 2024 Honor Graduates

• Zabir Arham
• Chelsea Asante
• Princess Atefah
• Autumn Avery
• Yuriel Ayala
• Yohanna Belay
• John Berrigan
• Destiny Bishop
• Griffin Bonner
• Callie Boyd
• Emma Branca
• Scarlett Brown
• Annemarie Bulmer
• Cadence Candelaria
• Aunya Craigwell
• Viktoria Cseke
• Hasset Daniel
• William Egger
• Hafiz Elnahas
• Ana Escobar
• Isabella Fonnegra Carrillo
• Jackson Fries
• Tinsae Habte
• Nessa Holbrook
• Nathan Howard
• Jasmyn Jagwe
• Will Johnson
• Ephrata Kassaye
• Khadija Khan
• Hadyn Kurle
• Charles Lyons
• Saba Mahgoub
• Delena Markos
• Bethel Mesfin
• Naomi Million
• Tigerlily Moran
• Phuc Nguyen
• Rocco O'Mallan
• Kristen Peterson
• Vincent Pham
• Sana Raheem
• Valerie Roblero Andino
• Abigail Sanborn
• Emily Shepherd
• Cameryn Sierra
• Jordyn Sooley
• Yarely Soto Torrez
• Mouhamadou Sow
• Myla Toliver
• Andre Tran
• Jaslyn Truong
• Catherine Weingold

Edison HS 2024 Honor Graduates

• Abel Addis
• Caspar Ahrens
• Gabriel Chesney
• Agata Colon
• Samantha Cowen
• Isaiah Green
• Mohammed Jaldi
• Nebil Mohammed
• Khadijah Muhammad
• Shaniya Smoot
• Paul Simonik
• Jenelle Smith
• Lily Pflugradt

Lewis HS 2024 Honor Graduates

• Michael Banks
• Trung Doan
• Rafah Iftikhar
• Taofia Mehzabin
• Kaitlyn Nguyen

Contact me anytime if you have questions, concerns, or comments. I also encourage you to follow me on Twitter and Instagram.

Very respectfully,

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

E-mail: Mateo Dunne  |  Phone: 571-423-1086

Staff Aide: Nelda Brown, 571-423-1049