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A Note from the Principal
Dear Daniels Run Community,
Happy Friday!
What a truly wonderful day we had celebrating Field Day! It was such a joy to see our students active, smiling, and having so much fun together.
A huge thank you goes out to our incredible PE teachers for the tremendous amount of organization and effort they put into making this day special and successful. We also extend our gratitude to all of our amazing parent volunteers—we couldn't have done it without your support!
Next week marks our first full five-day school week in a little while, and we're looking forward to getting back into our consistent routines.
Kindest regards,
Susan Mullen, Principal
Upcoming Dates
October 7: Fall Picture Day!
October 13: Indigenous Peoples' Day- No School
October 15: 3 Hour Early Release Wednesday Dismissal at 12:45pm
October 20: Diwali- No School
October 31: End of Quarter- 2 Hour Early Dismissal at 1:45pm
November 3 & 4: Teacher Work Days- No School
November 7: Dragon Drive Day
🙋 Attendance Matters
Every Day Is a Stepping Stone to Success
Attendance is an important life skill that will help your child later in life. It’s a good habit to build now to help them graduate from college on time and routinely report to work on time once they have a career.
Please take a look at the FCPS Calendar. Try to schedule any trips or family events on weekends and school holidays. Every day of learning is a day toward success. Keep in mind that absences add up quickly. Students who are absent 10% of the school year (or just two days per month) are considered “chronically absent.”
When possible, schedule appointments for your child outside of school hours. If your child needs to miss school because of an illness or appointment, you must report the absence to our school. Call our Attendance Line at (703) 279-8484.
Visit FCPS’ Attendance webpage for resources on attendance.
📚 Finishing Up Uncovering Characters in Language Arts 📚
Benchmark Unit 2 in Language Arts is coming to a close! Over the last several weeks, our students have learned, read, and written about different characters in stories and their own personal sense of character.
Connect with your child’s learning at school with these fun questions and hands-on activities at home:
- Question: How does the way you act change the way you think about yourself?
- Activity: Draw a new cover for a favorite book featuring the main character in a key moment.
At the end of the unit, your child will take their unit magazine home. The magazine includes an activity calendar with fun ways to help students build on what they’re learning at each grade level. You can also find information on how to support your child’s reading at home on the Benchmark Families website.
📍 Comprehensive Boundary Review Update
FCPS will begin holding October community boundary review meetings on Monday, October 13. The new draft map, Scenario 4, will be shared with the community for feedback at those meetings. It will also be uploaded to the Boundary Explorer Tool shortly before October 13. Community members will then be able to provide feedback in the tool at their convenience.
As a reminder, the community provided feedback on draft scenarios 1-3 in the spring. Scenario 4 continues to build upon the first three scenarios. It is informed by the Superintendent's Boundary Review Advisory Committee, which reviewed community feedback received in the spring to help develop priorities that the consultant used to create Scenario 4.
Visit FCPS’ Comprehensive Boundary Review webpage for more information.
⏰ Take the School Start Times Survey
FCPS is continuing to explore options for adjusting school start times, with the primary goal of beginning the middle school day at 8 a.m. or later. In order to minimize any costs associated with this change, elementary and high school start times would need to shift as well.
Providing feedback opportunities for the community is a critical part of this effort. Since 2024, FCPS’ consultant has hosted five community forums and administered two surveys. A new School Start Times Survey is open and includes two options that are designed to support student well-being, align with research, balance transportation logistics, and minimize costs.
Staff, parents and caregivers, students, and community members may provide input on the two options by taking the survey. The survey deadline has been extended to Monday, October 6. Find more information on adjusting school start times on the FCPS website.
Science Olympiad Team
Daniels Run Elementary is buzzing with excitement as it announces the formation of its very own Science Olympiad team. For those who aren't familiar, Science Olympiad is a national non-profit that gets students excited about science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) through fun, hands-on challenges, and academic competitions.
This is a fantastic opportunity for students to dive into STEM outside of the classroom. The team is open to 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders who will practice and prepare to compete in various events later this year. Sixth graders are also welcome to join the team, giving them a chance to build their skills and get ready to compete at the middle school level next year.
Students who join the team can expect to practice after school every Tuesday and Thursday from 3:50 PM to 4:50 PM. For more details on how you can get involved and start building, creating, and learning, please email Megan Oris at mloris@fcps.edu. Practices start soon, so don’t delay!
Music News
🎵 FAIRFAX PYRAMID CHOIR CONCERT:
Come see many of our 4th-6th graders sing in this free concert on Thursday, October 23, 7pm, at Fairfax High School! Also, many of our former DRES students will perform!
🎵 INTERNATIONAL NIGHT/DAY PERFORMANCES
All students, parents & staff are invited to audition!
Save the date:
- Audition sign ups: January (online)
- Auditions (before or after school 1/25-2/6)
- Performances:
- Thursday night 3/12
- Friday during school 3/13
You may perform a dance, instrumental piece or song to honor any country. You may perform alone or with other students and/or adults, but you must practice ahead of time and be ready to audition with the finished product. Make sure your performance truly honors the heritage and culture of the country or people group.
New Webinar Offerings for Parents
Supporting Your Child with Dyslexia: October 15, 10-11:30 a.m.
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- Join us for an informative webinar on Dyslexia Awareness, designed for Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) families. This session will provide essential information about dyslexia and the resources available within FCPS to support students with this learning difference.
- What You'll Learn:
- Understanding Dyslexia: Gain a clear understanding of what dyslexia is, its common signs, and how it can affect students' reading, writing, and spelling.
- FCPS Support Systems: Learn about the various supports and interventions FCPS provides, including evidence-based, structured literacy approaches and the role of reading specialists.
- Virginia Literacy Act: Discover how the new Virginia Literacy Act (VLA) and FCPS's Equitable Access to Literacy (EAL) Plan are changing literacy instruction to benefit all learners, especially those with dyslexia.
- Resources for Families: We'll share practical tools and strategies you can use at home to support your child's literacy development and partner effectively with their school.
- This webinar aims to empower families with knowledge and resources to help their students with dyslexia succeed.
- Register here
Reading Plans and Your Student: October 22, 10-11:30 a.m.
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- This 1.5-hour webinar is designed to help parents and caregivers understand the new reading plans in Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS). Parents will learn about:
- What a reading plan is: A reading plan is a support system for students who are not meeting literacy benchmarks. It outlines specific, evidence-based instruction and interventions to help them improve their reading skills.
- Who requires a reading plan: All students from kindergarten through eighth grade who are identified as needing additional support based on literacy assessments will receive a reading plan. This is part of a broader effort by FCPS to implement the Virginia Literacy Act.
- How schools will support students: The webinar will explain how FCPS is using a science-based reading approach and will discuss the role of reading specialists, the curriculum used, and the assessments to monitor student progress.
- Resources and tools for parents: Parents will leave with practical resources and tools they can use at home to support their child's literacy development. The webinar aims to empower families to be active partners in their child's reading journey.
- Register here
Blue Star Welcome Week
Every year, approximately 600,000 military-connected families relocate, and schools are a primary way they get integrated into their new location. Most of these families move to new duty stations, while some transition out of the military and others transition in. Most of these moves take place over the summer, and Fairfax County Public Schools is committed to ensuring our military families feel welcomed and a sense of belonging to their local community.
Blue Star Welcome Week is an opportunity for our community to welcome our military-connected families and show them our appreciation for their service and sacrifices. Throughout the week, FCPS will help ease their transition through events, messages, actions of welcome, and opportunities to make meaningful connections. Please help us welcome our military families during Blue Star Welcome Week, September 27 - October 5, 2025, and throughout the year! #BlueStarWelcomeWeekFCPS
AAP Parent Information Sessions
Screening and Identification for Full-Time AAP
- Our in-person Screening and Identification Session will be held on October 9th at 6:00 PM in the library. During this session, we will explain and answer questions about the screening process for part-time school-based and full-time Level IV services. (Grades 2-6)
Beginning in October 2025, elementary and middle schools will implement the Naglieri General Ability Tests (NGAT) as our universal abilities screener in grade 2 and for selected students in grades 3-7. This assessment measures a student's general intellectual ability in three key areas: verbal, nonverbal, and quantitative. Abilities tests are differentiated from achievement tests as students should not be preparing for the assessment. Individual schools will be sending notification letters to families whose students are scheduled to participate in this assessment. Families can reference the testing requirements for each grade level in FCPS the Grade Level Tests page on the FCPS website.
🎤 Community Conversations With Superintendent Dr. Reid
Your voice matters, and Dr. Reid wants to hear from you! Parents are partners, working with us to set our students up for long-term success at school and in life.
A series of Community Conversations will be held across the school division to discuss current challenges and future opportunities. These events are also a chance for you to share your thoughts with Dr. Reid and ask her questions. Events are planned for the following dates from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. To register for the October 3 meeting, please click that date below. Registration links for the other dates will be available soon:
Child care and interpretation services will be provided. Events are open to all. Please check our website for updates.
Ensuring Student Safety: Register for Volunteer FCPS
At Daniels Run ES, our volunteers are a vital part of our school community. We deeply value the time and care they give to our students.
Recent updates to our volunteer process focus on one primary goal: keeping students safe.
These updates — such as checks against the sex offender registry and, in some cases, criminal background checks — are safety measures that will help us maintain a secure and supportive learning environment for every student in our care.
We encourage all our parents and community members interested in supporting our students by volunteering at school to visit [Volunteer FCPS], click “Learn More,” and then “Sign Up.” After you create a profile, you will view an orientation video and complete a volunteer application.
Volunteer FCPS ensures a safe, consistent, and welcoming environment at all of our schools. All volunteers must be registered in Volunteer FCPS. This includes individuals who volunteer to chaperone on field trips, work at book fairs, and help out regularly in classrooms, libraries, or cafeterias. Volunteers who work unsupervised with students will also be required to undergo a background check.
We understand these changes may seem disruptive, especially for long-time volunteers. Our intent is to ensure that our students feel safe and supported with each and every person they encounter at school.
As a reminder, all volunteers — and visitors to a school — are required to sign in by scanning their ID at our visitor kiosk. Visit the Volunteer FCPS Frequently Asked Questions page to learn more.
FCPS News
In case you missed it in FCPS This Week, the school division shared updates on the following topics:
- FCPS Welcomes Military Families
- October Community Boundary Review Meetings
- Community Conversations
Read FCPS This Week to learn more about these topics. If you are not already receiving this weekly newsletter, please sign up today.
FCPS Calendar
 FCPS 2025-2026 Standard School Year Calendar
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