• To read this newsletter in other languages, please visit our website.
• Para leer este boletín en otros idiomas, visite nuestro sitio web.
• Để đọc bản tin này bằng ngôn ngữ khác, xin quý vị truy cập vào trang mạng của chúng tôi.

.يرجى زيارة موقعنا الألكتروني لقراءة هذه النشرة الإخبارية بلغات أخرى

اس نیوزلیٹر کو دوسری زبانوں میں پڑھنے کیلئے ، براہ مہربانی ہماری ویب سائیٹ ملاحظہ کیجیئے۔

Note: This newsletter contains links to translated versions of the content for your convenience. These translations are generated by Google Translate and are not intended to be a substitute for professional translation services.

Mason District Community,

Welcome to the 2024-25 school year! In just over a week, our students will return to begin another school year. I hope that Mason students were able to take advantage of the various summer offerings throughout Fairfax County over the last several weeks.  

This fall, we welcome new leadership in several Mason District schools including Justice High School, Glasgow Middle School and Woodburn Elementary School. Changes to several FCPS practices will also be introduced to students and families including a revised school boundary policy and more structured plans to reduce cell phone access and use during instructional periods in classrooms. Please read below for these important updates.

Later this month, the School Board will review Policy 2418, Reporting Student Progress to Parents and Guardians to revise the procedures used by teachers to grade students such as use of a rolling gradebook vs. quarterly grades, weighting of formative and summative assignments and re-assessment expectations. Please be mindful of these important discussions as they are of great consequence to our students and impact their post-secondary opportunities.

I look forward to seeing many Mason District families at upcoming open house and back-to-school events!

I value the input I receive from the Mason Community and am happy to address questions or concerns via email or phone. You can reach me by email at rjanderson@fcps.edu. If you are interested in scheduling a phone call, please reach out to my assistant, Cristy Coffey, at cmcoffey@fcps.edu to arrange a time.

Included in this issue:

Mason News

Justice HS Addition The new classroom wing at Justice High School will be ready for students on the first day of school. Families will be able to tour the new space during Back-to-School Night on August 28th.

Cell Phone Storage Pilot Program In response to the School Board’s May 9th direction, the Superintendent has developed a cell phone storage pilot program for middle and high schools. Seven middle schools will participate in the Cell Phone Storage Pilot Program, including Jackson and Poe. Nine high schools have elected to participate in the high school pilot which will require students to place their cell phones away in hanging organizers and/or storage lockers in the classroom during the class period. These schools include Justice and Falls Church high schools.

Limited Early Release Mondays

The Virginia Literacy Act (VLA) requires that during the 2024–2025 school year, contracted teachers, including General Education, Special Education and ESOL teachers, receive 27 hours of evidence-based literacy instruction (EBLI) training. Initial training should be concluded by the end of the 2024-2025 school year.

Early Release Monday Presentation

To accomplish this requirement, FCPS will release Elementary students three hours early on seven Mondays during the 2024-2025 school year. For example, if your child’s school day typically ends at 4:00 p.m., the early release time will be at 1:00 p.m. However, the early release schedule will NOT require students to leave the school. Supervised enrichment activities will be provided for ALL students who remain at school until the school’s regular dismissal time.

Please note that there will be NO impact to the daily schedule of 6th grade students attending Glasgow, Holmes and Poe middle schools.

For the first two months of early release days, buses will run their routes twice - once during the early release time for students who chose to go home and a second time at the school’s regular dismissal for students who remain at the school. FCPS will then evaluate whether double runs for buses is necessary.  As per the Superintendent, this review is to determine efficiencies in FCPS routing and all students will continue to receive a choice of the two dismissal times from transportation services. 

Mark your calendars: Early release dates for Mason District elementary students are scheduled for September 16, October 21, November 18, February 10, March 10, April 21, and May 12. 

Important Family Feedback: Parents/caregivers of elementary students will receive a survey from their child’s school this week asking for their dismissal preferences regarding the first two Early Release days. Parents/caregivers will be asked to communicate whether their students will go home early or remain at school until the regular dismissal time.

Staff will make every effort to ensure responses are received from all parents and caregivers of FCPS elementary students. In addition to email, families will be engaged during Open House with laptops set up at the schools; school-specific QR codes with the survey link will be included in back-to-school communications. Office staff and/or a family liaison will reach out to individual families as needed and teachers will include the survey link in their welcome-back emails and communications. Outreach will also be conducted using Talking Points and upon registration of new students and via the school’s PTA and PTO.

Staff has confirmed that families will not be locked into their response and will have the flexibility to make changes. However, parents and guardians are asked to communicate their plans to schools.

Please be sure to respond as soon as possible to this request!

Back-to-School Events

Please check your school’s newsletter and/or website for any changes.

Open House Events

Back-to-School Night Events

School Board Work Updates

Updated Boundary Policy

The School Board approved updates to the Boundary Policy (Policy 8130) at the July 18 Regular Public Meeting. The revision serves to define the school boundary policy for the assignment of students to schools and programs, to close, open or consolidate schools and programs where appropriate, and to outline the considerations for such determinations. The policy further prioritizes access to programming, enrollment and capacity, proximity and transportation as primary factors.  

The revised policy does not propose specific boundary changes. The Superintendent will present a detailed project management plan to the Board at a Regular Business Meeting in August.

The revised policy compels regular review of the school attendance zones which should result in timely and equitable response to school capacity challenges and access to various academic programming. However, the approved policy does not include language ensuring that middle and high school students would be guaranteed continued enrollment at their current schools.

The policy leaves a gap which could result in middle school students at Glasgow, Holmes and Poe to potentially attend those schools for grade 6 and then move to another middle school for grades 7-8. High school students are similarly impacted. As written, the policy could result in students in grades 10 and 11 to enroll in a new school in the middle of their high school career.  

It is my position that the School Board should be clear in its direction to the Superintendent and should be explicit regarding non-negotiable factors as related to phasing students out of schools - especially at the middle and high school levels given concerns about student mental health, community and consistency.  

Guaranteeing student attendance at schools in which they have begun would have resulted in a much stronger policy, increased community support while reducing anxiety and foster consistent practices across the division. As it currently stands, it is possible for some schools to be granted longer phasing allowances than others which directly contradicts our commitment to equity and the One Fairfax policy.

Unfortunately, a majority of the Board did not support these proposals and without such assurances in the final language, I was unable to vote in the affirmative for the updated policy.

Glasgow Boundary

In response to the strong advocacy to reduce capacity at Glasgow Middle School, I presented a motion for the School Board to “direct the Superintendent to adjust the boundaries/capacity at Glasgow Middle School during the implementation of the county-wide boundaries adjustment anticipated after the completion of the initial review of school boundaries to include a Regional community engagement in Region 2 and in the Justice HS pyramid.” This motion was passed unanimously by the Board and will guarantee a boundary adjustment plan for Glasgow Middle School.  

FCPS News

2025 Graduation Schedule

Immunization Requirements

The Code of Virginia requires all students to be immunized against certain communicable diseases prior to entrance into FCPS. Effective September 30, 2024, students who were enrolled prior to SY 2024-2025 who do not provide acceptable immunization documentation will be excluded from school.

For questions regarding immunization requirements, visit the FCPS immunization webpage or contact your child’s school.

Back-to-School Immunization Clinics

The Fairfax County Health Department is offering appointments to all Fairfax County students who need immunizations. 

The Annandale District Office clinic hours are listed below. Schedule your appointment by calling 703-246-7100. Appointments are limited. 

• Monday, August 12, 2:00 - 6:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, August 13, 2:00 - 6:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, August 14, 2:00 - 6:30 p.m.
• Friday, August 16, 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
• Tuesday, August 20, 2:00 - 6:30 p.m..
• Friday, August 23, 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.

 View a schedule for all clinics. 

Accommodation Request Deadline for PSAT/NMSQT and SAT School Day

The College Board accommodation request deadline for this fall’s PSAT/NMSQT and SAT School Day exams is Monday, August 19. Please reach out to your child’s school directly with any questions regarding accommodation requests.

New SOL Tests in Spring 2025

The Virginia Department of Education has announced that new SOL tests will be administered in spring 2025 for all testing grades/courses in Reading and Mathematics. The new SOL Math tests will assess the 2023 Mathematics standards, and the new SOL Reading tests will assess the 2024 English standards. 

Because spring 2025 will be the first time these tests are administered, reporting of student scores will be delayed due to post test equating requirements. 

Paid Parental Leave Program

FCPS is excited to announce its new Paid Parental Leave (PPL) program! Effective July 1, 2024, eligible employees can receive 8 weeks of paid leave for childbirth, adoption, or foster placement of a child. Employees are eligible to receive PPL on the first of the month after completing 12 calendar months of service from date of employment or re-employment. PPL will coordinate with Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave to provide employees with paid time off. Please note: the birth, adoption or foster placement must have occurred on or after July 1, 2024.

More information can be found on the PPL Program website.

Online Tutoring

FCPS has replaced Tutor.com with Varsity Tutors – a free system that provides weekly live online classes and on-demand chat tutoring, essay editing, study resources such as recorded content, practice problems, and diagnostic tests. Varsity Tutors is available in English and Spanish.  Learn more about Varsity Tutors.

Checking SIS ParentVUE

Parents and caregivers are able to view important information in SIS ParentVUE such as student attendance, grades, progress reports, and assessment scores. Watch this video for help creating a SIS ParentVUE account. 

Families with a current account are asked to update phone numbers and/or email addresses (in the Parent/Guardian section).

Consent Forms

Consent forms previously available on ParentVue have been moved to the Parent Digital Consent System (PDC). Families can log into the PDC using their ParentVue credentials to complete consent forms assigned to their child. Please take a moment at the beginning of the school year to review this information. If you are creating a new ParentVue account, you will need to wait 24 hours to use the PDC.

Forms available include:

• School Counseling Opt-out
• Digital Resources Consent: allows student access to various instructional websites.
• SEL Screener Opt-out
• Family Life Education Opt-out: guardians to decide student participation in Family Life Education.
• SOL Retest Permission: allows students to retest an SOL assessment if their score falls between 375-399; 400 is the minimum passing score. 
• Objection to Release of Directory Information to the Public
• Objection to Release of Information to Outside Organizations

Please find more information about the Parent Digital Consent Application here.

2024-2025 School Year Calendar The 2024-2025 FCPS School Year calendar includes important information about student holidays, early release days, and religious and cultural observance days. Monday, August 19, is the first day of school for the 2024-25 school year!

Opportunities

Back to School Resource Fair

Visit the Back-to-School Resource Fair at Bailey’s Community Center for school supplies and other resources.

Saturday, August 10

10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Governor’s Student Advisory Board Are you a rising high school senior interested in state policy? Applications are open for the Governor’s 2024-2025 Student Advisory Board. Provide student perspective and ensure that student voices are heard in the creation of policies affecting education in the Commonwealth. Learn more and apply by September 15.

Taste of Annandale Celebrate community at the 2024 Taste of Annandale on September 21, 10:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. This FREE, family-friendly festival will be at a new location this year – the Eileen Garnett Civic Space (7200 Columbia Pike, Annandale, VA 22003). The Taste of Annandale features live music and dance performances, a chili cookoff, 5K race, children's events, a pet contest, and of course food from local restaurants and food trucks.

Upcoming School Board Meetings

Regular School Board Meetings (Luther Jackson Middle School)

• August 29, 2024 at 7:00 p.m.
• September 12, 2024 at 7:00 p.m.

Work Sessions (Gatehouse Administration Center)

• August 27, 2024 at 10:30 a.m.
• September 10, 2024 at 10:30 a.m.

All meetings will be broadcast live on Channel 99 (Verizon channel 11) and on the FCPS website. The meetings are recorded for future viewing and posted to the FCPS School Board YouTube channel.

Would you like to share your ideas and concerns with the School Board and staff?  Register to speak at a regular meeting or public hearing.

Reuniones de la Junta Escolar de FCPS en Español Para ver las reuniones de la Junta Escolar grabadas o para ver en vivo durante las reuniones regulares en YouTube, por favor vaya al canal de YouTube de FCPS en Español o escanee el código QR.

@masonfcps

@MasonDistrictSB

@masondistrictsb

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: Ricardy Anderson |  Phone: 571-423-1083 | Twitter

Cristy Coffey, Executive Admin Assistant, 571-423-1064, cmcoffey@fcps.edu