📣 State Standards and the FCPS Budget Story, ❄️ Go on a Literacy Adventure This Winter

Second grade students celebrate their upcoming winter break at Great Falls Elementary School.

Reid Reflects: State Standards and Our Budget Story

In her latest Weekly Reflections, Dr. Reid thanked every member of our community for supporting FCPS as we remain fully accredited. Referencing a news release on accreditation, Dr. Reid shared how FCPS needs funding to support and maintain this excellence. 

Visit the Budget Story webpage to learn more about the FCPS budget and the funding challenges that schools across Virginia, not just FCPS, face because of outdated state funding formulas.Read more of Dr. Reid’s Weekly Reflections. 

📣 Make Your Voice Heard! 

Encourage your neighbors, friends, and community members to follow the budget process and look for opportunities to share your ideas about funding public education. Several key decision dates and engagement opportunities are coming up in the next few weeks:

• Thursday, December 18, 2025 - The Virginia Governor will introduce the fiscal year (FY) 2026 state budget. 
• Wednesday, January 7, 2026, beginning at 10 a.m. - There will be virtual regional public hearings on the governor’s proposed 2026-28 biennial state budget. 
• Thursday, January 22, 2026 - Dr. Reid will present the proposed FCPS budget to the School Board. 

Visit our budget webpage for more information. 

❄️ Go on a Literacy Adventure This Winter Break

Engaging in literacy activities over winter break helps students maintain the reading, writing, and speaking skills they built during the first half of the school year. Even a little daily practice, such as these 10 fun family activities, helps ensure they return to school confident and ready to continue growing in literacy. 

Additional winter activities are also available. FCPS’ winter resources webpage features information on academic support, mental health support, and county resources related to food, clothing, housing, and other needs.

Family Academy Offers Support to Parents and Guardians

The Family Academy offers resources and in-person and virtual classes, workshops, webinars, and programs for families. The following webinars and workshops will take place in January:

• Co-Parenting: Two Parents, Two Homes (in English and Spanish)
• The Connected Family: Navigating the Digital World Together
• Loving Solutions
• Parent Project
• Sibshops and SibTeens

There will also be Family Resource Center webinars on topics including planning for the future for special needs children, traumatic stress, developing motivation, and reducing parent stress and anxiety. 

Visit the Family Academy Catalog to explore these and other resources.

$200,000 Donation to Support Health and Medical Sciences at FCPS

Falls Church Academy’s Health and Medical Science Program celebrated a generous gift of $200,000 from the Claude Moore Scholars Foundation. Since 2016, the Claude Moore Scholars partnership has invested more than $2.19 million in FCPS Health and Medical Sciences programs, strengthening Career and Technical Education pathways for students across Fairfax County. Read more about the latest gift. 

A high school academy is a center within an existing high school that offers advanced technical and specialized courses that successfully integrate career and academic preparation. Learn more about academies and other specialized programs offered in FCPS.

Decoding the Future: AI Lab Brings Innovative Tech to Students

As artificial intelligence transforms the way many of us work and learn, Vienna Elementary School staff want to stay ahead of the curve. One corner of the library has been transformed into an innovative space where students learn how the emerging technology works. Read about the Vienna.i.Lab.

🎭 “Arsenic and Old Lace” Delivers Laughs and Strong Performances

This review of Herndon High School’s production of “Arsenic and Old Lace” was written by Mary Campbell of Westfield High School.

FCPS students are talented actors, musicians, and visual artists. Many FCPS high schools participate in the Washington, D.C., chapter of the Critics and Awards Program for High School Theatre, otherwise known as the Cappies.

The Cappies is a program through which high school theater and journalism students are trained as critics, attend shows at other schools, write reviews, and publish those reviews in local newspapers.

🏆 Finding Their Voices in a Second Language

In November, several Hayfield Secondary School AP Japanese students participated in the J.LIVE Talk competition, a national TED Talk-style event that challenges students to present complex ideas entirely in Japanese. Read about the competition and Hayfield’s Japanese program.

📍Superintendent’s Boundary Review Advisory Committee Meeting Update

The Superintendent’s Boundary Review Advisory Committee met for the last time on Friday, December 12. Visit FCPS’ website to access the meeting agenda and other materials that committee members received. You can also learn more about the comprehensive boundary review and sign up for the School Boundary Review newsletter. 

Next Steps in the Boundary Review Process

Dr. Reid will present her recommendation on proposed boundary changes to the School Board on Thursday, January 8, 2026. A public hearing on the comprehensive boundary review is scheduled for Saturday, January 10, 2026. The board is scheduled to vote on the boundary recommendations on Thursday, January 22, 2026. 

Boundaries for the new high school in western Fairfax County will be determined by early June. More on that process will be available in the coming months. Stay tuned!

📆 Calendar Reminders: Winter Break

❄️ Winter Break 

Winter break is Monday, December 22, 2025, to Friday, January 2, 2026.

To help make sure you and your children have a restful break, we have asked that no homework be assigned during this time. Teachers may assign long-range assignments in the weeks before the break, allowing students to practice time management skills, but no assignments will be due immediately after the break.

We look forward to welcoming students back in the new year. Classes resume on Monday, January 5, 2026. 

Three Kings Day and Orthodox Christmas (Observance Days)

FCPS has designated Three Kings Day/Epiphany and Orthodox Christmas, Tuesday, January 6, 2026, and Wednesday, January 7, 2026, as religious and cultural observance days. There is school on these days, however specific events that cannot be made up will not be held on these observance days. See the complete school year calendar.

Follow Us During Winter Break

This is the last issue of FCPS This Week for 2025. The next issue will be sent on Wednesday, January 7, 2026. 

Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram during winter break as we look back on some of the highlights of 2025.

School Board Meeting Thursday, December 18, at 7 p.m.

The School Board will hold its next regular business meeting on Thursday, December 18, at 7 p.m. Topics on the agenda include:

• New Western High School Naming
• FY 2026 Midyear Review 
• Boundary Phasing Decision

View the complete agenda. Find out how to watch and participate in School Board meetings.

🎀 Celebrate the Holiday Season with Fairfax County Parks

Join family, friends, and neighbors at the parks this holiday season. With more than 50 holiday-themed activities and events to choose from, Fairfax County Park Authority has something for everyone — from wagon and train rides to candlelit tours.

💻 Fairfax County Public Library Loans More Than Just Books

Need to borrow a Chromebook or internet hotspot? Borrow them, or other helpful items, for free from a Fairfax County public library. Dozens of items are available to check out from the Library of Things at no cost with your library card. Items such as artwork, binoculars, games, Conserve Energy Kits, early literacy Launchpad tablets, nature backpacks, and thermal cameras are available. 

The library’s Family History Kits include everything you need to capture tales from the past and present, such as a voice recorder, instructions, and interview prompts in English, Spanish, and Korean.

Visit your local Fairfax County Public Library branch or the Library of Things webpage for more information.

🐕‍🦺 Service Animals Permitted in FCPS Buildings

FCPS permits service animals access in all public areas, including schools, in accordance with federal and state law. A service animal has been individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. A service animal is not a pet, and the work or tasks performed by a service animal must be directly related to the individual’s disability. 

Generally, therapy animals are not considered service animals and are therefore not permitted. 

The ongoing use of a service animal by staff members, parents, or members of the community must be coordinated through the Office of Employee Relations. Contact EERADA@fcps.edu to submit an accommodation request. 

To coordinate a student’s use of a service animal, please contact the Due Process and Eligibility section of the Office of Special Education Procedural Support at 571-423-4290. 

If you have any questions regarding service animals in FCPS buildings, you may contact the Office of Employee Relations at 571-423-3070.

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