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Welcome back for the 2025-26 school year!
Click the photo above to hear more about what to expect this school year.
Dear friends,
I hope you’ve had a wonderful summer break! I’m excited to welcome you back for the 2025-26 school year. As you’ll read below, I’ve just returned from leading an experiential learning study tour to China this summer and am energized for a new year! My daughters are also thrilled to embark on new journeys in pre-K and 3rd grade.
What to expect in schools this year
I’m pleased to share many of the new initiatives coming to Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) this year. Here’s what to expect when you come to our schools this fall:
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Safety and security
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Advancing construction on school vestibules: Beginning several years ago, FCPS began an effort to ensure that vestibules were installed in all schools to provide an extra layer of security and screening before entering the buildings. This fall, FCPS will begin the third of five phases of this retrofitting project.
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Implementing new security screening technology, security cameras in elementary schools, a new visitor management system, and a panic alert system: FCPS piloted a weapon screening system across our high schools last spring, and that system will be expanded to all middle and high schools this fall. Security cameras in elementary schools, a new visitor management system, and a Raptor Emergency Response Button (ERB) program will also be rolled out this year.
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Enrolling in Rap Back background check monitoring program: New Virginia legislation authorizes public schools to enroll employees, volunteers, and contractors in Rap Back—a continuous background check monitoring system—which will help FCPS maintain a secure environment.
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Adding speed cameras in school zones: Last year, nine speed zone cameras began issuing tickets to drivers in school zones, and FCPD has now installed speed zone cameras in 10 additional locations. Citations will begin on August 18 outside of Cardinal Forest ES, Mount Vernon HS, and Belvedere ES. Citations will begin on September 17 outside of Chantilly HS, Edison HS, South Lakes HS/Langston Hughes MS/Terraset ES, Marshall HS, McLean HS, Robinson SS/Oak View ES, and Stone MS.
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Mental health
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Promoting a new cell phone policy: To help combat the mental health toll of a smartphone dominated world, the School Board passed a new policy last spring stating that middle schoolers will not have access to phones for the full school day, while high schoolers will have the opportunity to access phones at lunchtime.
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Food and nutrition
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Rolling out scratch-made meals and culturally diverse cuisines: FCPS Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) will continue its multi-year effort to train school-based food and nutrition staff to cook scratch-made meals and to promote culturally diverse cuisines. Coming this year, look for these new breakfast options: cinnamon apple overnight oats, egg & cheese breakfast quesadilla/taco/bagel, and french toast sticks; And new lunch options: sofritas, Peruvian chicken drumstick, Spanish rice, tomato grilled cheese, chicken masala pizza, and teriyaki chicken.
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Promoting share tables and composting: After piloting programs over many years, FCPS will be broadly rolling out share tables in cafeterias and composting programs that can take advantage of economies of scale.
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Launching a mobile feeding bus: FNS staff has been working to retrofit a bus that can be used to bring hot meals to our title I neighborhoods when schools are closed.
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Facilities and transportation
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Purchasing a beautiful school complex: FCPS is in the process of procuring the former King Abdullah Academy property near Dulles to serve as our newest western high school. The property will undergo minimal renovations over the coming year with plans to determine curricular programming decisions in the coming months and open the campus in the 2026-27 school year.
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Finalizing boundary and start time changes: As part of our ongoing boundary change process, this fall a second round of draft boundary maps will be shared with the community for comment. Changes to school start times—with the goal of starting middle schools later—will also be incorporated into the boundary change process to avoid multiple transportation routing changes over several years. A final vote on boundary changes will take place early next calendar year.
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Implementing solar on the schools: Earlier this year, after many years of effort, the School Board approved a solar power purchase agreement for installing rooftop solar panels on 15 elementary schools, including Braddock, Clearview, Columbia, Crossfields, Fairhill, Fox Mill, Glen Forest, Hybla Valley, Louise Archer, Mosaic, Oak Hill, Shrevewood, Wakefield Forest, Washington Mill, and White Oaks.
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Piloting a tablet-based system on school buses: FCPS is piloting a new tablet-based system that will support our bus drivers with turn-by-turn navigation, real-time route adjustments in case of detours, and accurate tracking of student riders. The system includes Radio Frequency ID card scanning which allows drivers to verify student identities, track when and where students get on and off the bus, and confirm that students are on the correct route. Eventually, families will also be able to monitor their child’s location through the Here Comes the Bus app.
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Athletics reforms
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Addressing school transfers: FCPS has made significant changes to its sports transfer policy to align with new Virginia High School League (VHSL) guidelines. Changes include centralizing the management of student transfers, revising eligibility rules for transfer students, and enhancing the process for verifying transfers to ensure compliance and consistency across schools. An external investigation into all student transfer practices remains ongoing.
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Academic updates
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Changing secondary grading policy: New secondary grading policies will be implemented this year with the goal of increasing consistency and clarity of grading practices. These changes include a rolling gradebook, reassessment opportunities, and adjustments to how grades are calculated. The goal is to create a fairer system that allows students more opportunities to demonstrate their understanding.
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Piloting Algebra 1 Honors in sixth grade: FCPS will begin offering Algebra 1 Honors to sixth-grade students who have demonstrated readiness for advanced math. Selection will be based on passing the Math 6 SOL at an advanced level and an 1125Q quantile score on iReady assessment. This initiative will increase the number of students accessing Algebra 1 Honors from 25-30 to approximately 500 students, while giving families the option to opt-out their student.
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Introducing mariachi clubs: FCPS will expand offerings of extra-curricular mariachi programs and clubs around the district, providing students with opportunities to learn and perform mariachi music.
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Family, community, and staff engagement
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Launching a new volunteer system: This new system will deepen FCPS family and community engagement by expanding awareness about volunteer opportunities in FCPS, while also ensuring student safety.
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Launching the FCPS Family Academy: This one-stop site allows families to connect, engage, learn, and get support in person and virtually. It compiles classes, webinars, workshops, programs, resources, and tools to empower families in supporting their children at home and beyond.
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Implementing collective bargaining: Earlier this year, the School Board adopted the first collective bargaining agreement in almost 50 years in collaboration with employee representatives, reinforcing the division’s ongoing commitment to supporting its staff and students.
Leading summer experiential learning study tour to Yunnan, China
 (Clockwise from upper left) Group visits Dali’s Three Pagodas; students learn traditional door painting; group tours Beijing’s houhai; and students craft “wamao” black pottery.
I’ve just returned from co-leading an experiential learning China study tour to Beijing, Kunming, Dali, Jianchuan, Tacheng, Cizhong, Shangri-la, and Shanghai with 30 students from FCPS and independent schools. Participants in this program included graduates of the Global Leaders of Fairfax County program (see below). Over the course of a month, we experienced the contrast between places both overwrought and untouched by tourism. During time in Jianchuan, students undertook intensive projects mapping traditional homes, as well as weeklong apprenticeships in the traditional Yunnan crafts of housebuilding, door painting, black pottery, silversmithing, farming, and gardening. We witnessed the endangered Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys; visited homes of Bai, Naxi, Malimasa, and Tibetan ethnic minorities; and memorialized villages that will soon be flooded by the construction of a new hydropower project on the Jinsha River.
Recognizing Global Leaders of Fairfax County graduates
 (Clockwise from top) Honoring the Global Leaders Class of 2025 at a closing celebration; students share their work on the UN Sustainable Development Goals at the annual FCPS Global Classroom Project Showcase; and students present at a Brookings Institution conference on youth agency.
The Global Leaders of Fairfax County program was launched five years ago during the pandemic to provide high school seniors the opportunity to engage on global issues that they might not otherwise encounter in the classroom. In collaboration with the FCPS Global Classroom Project (GCP), Global Leaders fellows participate in a yearlong project focused on applying one the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals to the Fairfax County community. Outcomes of their projects that were presented at the FCPS Global Classroom Showcase and at a Brookings Institution conference on “Centering young people’s voice and agency in and through research and policy” included
- Room 4 – Quality Education: Participants hosted information sessions throughout the county to provide resources for first-generation students unfamiliar with the college application process.
- Room 5 – Gender Equality: Participants hosted STEAM nights and booths at events to promote gender equality in STEM fields.
Rising high school seniors are invited to apply to be part of this year’s class at www.fairfaxleaders.com.
Cheering on the Class of 2025
 (Clockwise from top) Cheering on South Lakes High School graduates; celebrating graduates at the Robinson Secondary School ceremony; preparing to go on stage with West Springfield High School student leaders; and a student preparing to receive her diploma at the Fairfax High School ceremony.
Graduation season is always the most jubilant time of the year in FCPS, and this year was no exception. In June we bid farewell to nearly 15,000 graduates, and it was a joy to participate in upwards of 30 ceremonies honoring them. Thank you to everyone who has supported and prepared our graduates to spread their wings, and we wish them all the best as they take flight!
Honoring top academic achievers
 The School Board recognizes the FCPS participants in the 2025 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (top) and the FCPS winners of National Merit Scholarships (bottom).
In June, I was pleased to bring School Board proclamations honoring many of our top academic achievers. The Board recognized the 18 FCPS participants in the 2025 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) and the 43 FCPS recipients of National Merit scholarships, including those sponsored by corporations and higher education institutions.
As always, don’t hesitate to reach out to me if I can be helpful in any way. Best wishes for a wonderful, productive, and joyful year!
Yours in service,
Ryan McElveen
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
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.
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