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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.
What We’ve Learned in the First Month!
Message from Ilryong Moon
I hope you had a fantastic start! Are you thrilled for another month of adventure?
I'm so excited to share that earlier this month, I was invited to the Chantilly High School Homecoming Parade. Some of my colleagues and I were lucky enough to join in on this wonderful day. We had an absolute blast!
We were on a truck marching in the parade with the rest of the Chantilly students and families.
Thank you for your invitation, Chantilly Chargers!
(With School Board Members Seema Dixit, Sandy Anderson, and Ryan McElveen and their families)
Wishing you all to have a pumpkin-blast October!
Best,
Ilryong Moon
Former FCPS Intern Teacher visits Home School
I was pleased to welcome a special guest, You Jin Lee, from Korea.
She was an intern teacher for a semester at West Potomac High School in 2012.
You Jin was a college student back then and is now a dentist married to a military spouse. Her husband is a dentist, too!
On her belated honeymoon, she came to Washington, D.C. with her husband Dr. Cho to visit her school. We were fortunate to have Principal Jessica Statz and Assistant Principal Brian Valentine show us around.
While on our tour, You Jin met her former mentor teacher Kathy Bowdring, who is a retiree working as an interim assistant administrator at school now.
This was a huge surprise to You Jin and Kathy!
It truly was a remarkable moment to see them reunite.
(Assistant Principal Brian Valentine, Former Teacher Intern Lee, Principal Jessica Statz, Lee’s husband Cho, and her former mentor teacher Kathy Bowdring)
Dunn Loring Welcome Center
Recently, I had the privilege of visiting our Dunn Loring Welcome Center with my Staff Aide Sarah.
The Welcome Center is the first and most important step in enrolling in Fairfax County Public Schools.
The center is the central hub for families new to the district or seeking to register their children for school. It offers a range of services, including student registration assistance, information about FCPS schools and programs, immunization clinics, health services, language support, and technology assistance.
The Welcome Center provides a one-stop shop for essential resources, helping families navigate the enrollment process smoothly and effectively. Annually, the Student Registration Welcome Centers at Dunn Loring and other 2 satellite sites welcome approximately 5,000 students from outside of the U.S. (enrolling from international schools).
While visiting, I stopped by MAPS (George Mason and Partners) clinic.
About 90% of students who register at the Welcome Centers need access to healthcare services to meet the FCPS school health entry requirements. Options include the FCPS health department and the MAPS clinic, one of which is located at Dunn Loring Center.
In front of MAP Clinic at Dunn Loring Welcome Center
FCPS has an MOU with MAPS clinic, which specifies the types of healthcare services to FCPS students, including:
- Physical exams
- Immunizations
- Mental Health counseling
- Sports Physicals
- Chronic Disease Management and Education (Ambulatory Clinic)
Immunizations help prevent the spread of contagious diseases within schools and the community. By ensuring that students are vaccinated, FCPS can create a healthier learning environment for all. Vaccinations protect individual students from serious illnesses that can have long-lasting consequences. Many of these diseases are preventable through immunization.
Sadly, it typically takes about 2 to 6 weeks for a student to get an appointment at a free/low-cost clinic. That is a too long a time to wait for students as they are not permitted in schools until they receive the shots first.
Even a day lost in a child’s schooling is too long.
We need to find ways to do better than now.
Lastly, during my visit I have heard some of our staff share their experiences, which have been bittersweet. They have dedicated a great deal of time to FCPS, yet most of them are still only considered hourly workers, even after 25 years for some.
FCPS also enrolls some students who are considered ‘unaccompanied youth’. There are also students in the district without a parent as a caregiver. They require significant support and resources.
Dunn Loring Center has a team of language community liaison specialists who are dedicated to helping students and families from abroad.
(Samuel Ramatowski, Kendra Dyer, Christina Mendoza, Rodrigo Aviles, Helen Ko)
The FCPS Welcome Centers offer essential resources to new students and their families, including snack packs, clothing, and school supplies. With the help of local partners, the centers have distributed over 1,000 snack packs and provided clothing items to families. Additionally, through Educate Fairfax, a recent donation of 2,000 school supply kits from the Mahan Hope Foundation has been distributed through the centers.
I would like to express my gratitude to all staff members who have provided invaluable support to our new students.
Thanks Samuel and Kendra for inviting us over!
Workforce Readiness
As a School Board Member At-Large, I am fortunate to be invited to many events and meetings across Fairfax County.
I had the privilege of joining our School Board Member Kyle McDaniel and Superintendent Dr. Reid at the Mason District Government Center with the County Supervisor Andres Jimenez and Kathy Smith to discuss the current state of workforce development and potential areas for improvement in our efforts to support students and families in Fairfax County Public Schools.
Our goal is to identify ways to enhance these efforts and create more promising opportunities for both employers and job seekers.
I emphasized on the need to provide more support for the English language training for those County residents who are new to our country.
Many of them are underemployed because of lack of sufficient language training.
The next meeting will be in January 2025.
Workforce Readiness Working Group
Upcoming School Board Business & Meetings
Broadcast & open to the public:
- Tuesday, October 8, 2024 10:30 a.m. - Work Session
- Thursday, October 10, 2024 7:00 p.m. - Regular School Board Meeting
- Tuesday, October 22, 2024 5:00 p.m. - Work Session (HOLD)
- Thursday, October 24, 2024 7:00 p.m. - Regular School Board Meeting
School Board Regular Meetings and Work Sessions are broadcast live and available to the public on several platforms:
If you miss the live broadcast of any School Board Meeting or Work Session, you can also watch archived broadcasts:
** Dates & times are subject to change. Please check the 2024 School Board Annual Work Calendar for the latest information **
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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