As we close the 2025-2026 school year, we are filled with gratitude and pride as we reflect on an incredible year of learning, growth, leadership, and community. Our students, staff, and families have continued to embody our core values of Caring Culture, Community, and Achievement in everything we do.
This year was marked by remarkable academic growth, meaningful partnerships, strong student leadership, and a continued commitment to ensuring every child feels connected, supported, and challenged. Together, we have created opportunities that helped our Mustangs thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.
Thank you for your partnership, support, and belief in our students. We invite you to celebrate some of the many accomplishments that made this school year so special.
Mustang Proud ,
Kelly Sheers and Jason Potten
Academic Excellence & Growth
Strong School-Wide Reading Growth
Our students demonstrated impressive literacy growth across grade levels this year.
-
SOL Success: 87% of students passed the Reading SOL, with approximately one-fourth earning an Advanced score. Furthermore, 89% of students demonstrated academic growth—a 6% increase from last year.
- Grades 3-6 iReady Reading Growth:
-
Meeting Expectations: Increased from 58.2% to 80%.
-
Approaching Range: Decreased from 25.9% to 13%.
-
Below Range: Decreased from 15.9% to 8%.
Exceptional Mathematical Achievement
According to the nationally-normed Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment, WSES students continue to outperform their peers across the country in both performance and growth. Every grade level earned the dual distinction of "High Performance" and "High Growth."
-
MAP Performance: School-wide MAP Math performance climbed from the 75th to the 85th percentile nationally over the last two school years.
-
Advanced Curriculum: 41% of our students are now enrolled in advanced math programs, including nearly two-thirds of our 5th-grade cohort.
-
SOL Success: WSES maintained an exceptional 89% pass rate on the Math SOL, with about one-fourth of students achieving an Advanced score. Overall growth rose by 3% compared to last year.
-
CodeUP Success: Our 3rd and 4th graders thrived in the CodeUP computational thinking program. The percentage of students scoring "Proficient" surged from 30% to 65%.
Multilingual Learners Surpass Expectations
One of our most significant accomplishments this year was the outstanding progress made by our Multilingual Learners:
-
66% of multilingual learners met or exceeded their expected growth on the WIDA Assessment.
- We increased the number of students exiting Multilingual Learner services by 50%.
- Consequently, 26.4% of our multilingual learners have successfully transitioned out of requiring language support services.
School Culture & Student Well-Being
A Strong Sense of Belonging
Our end-of-year Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Screener results highlight the positive, inclusive culture we continue to build together:
-
Sense of Belonging: Grades 3-5 scored 5 points above the FCPS average, and Grade 6 scored 3 points above average.
-
Inclusivity: Multilingual Learners scored 10 points above the school average in Sense of Belonging, while students receiving special education services scored 6 points above the school average.
-
Social-Emotional Skills: Grades 3-5 exceeded FCPS averages by 7 points in Emotion Regulation and 8 points in Social Awareness and Relationship Skills.
-
Trusted Adults: Students reported stronger, growing relationships with trusted adults from fall to spring across all grade levels.
The Mustang House System
The Mustang House System continued to be a cornerstone of our school culture in its second year. Students earned House points by demonstrating Caring Culture, Community, and Achievement. We also expanded leadership roles to include House Leaders, Spirit Leaders, Representatives, and House Buddies.
🏆 Congratulations to Resilio House, our overall House Champion for the 2025-2026 school year! Through teamwork, perseverance, and positive school spirit, Resilio earned the highest point total and claimed the House Cup.
To wrap up the year, every House participated in an end-of-year celebration featuring Rita's Italian Ice to recognize the contributions of all our amazing students!
Making Every Day Count: Attendance Improvements
Our school's focused efforts on consistent attendance produced significant results, showing that families and staff are successfully working together to keep kids in the classroom.
-
Chronic Absenteeism dropped school-wide to 2.6%, a massive improvement from 6.8% during the previous school year.
Community Partnerships, Grants & Sustainability
Through multiple grants and community partnerships, we expanded student learning, service, and environmental stewardship:
-
Environmental Spaces: Received Fairfax County's Revitalize, Restore, Replant! (R3) Grant to support a hands-on environmental learning space near our playground.
-
Baked for Good Program: Fourth-grade students partnered with King Arthur Baking Company, applying math and science skills to bake and donate 60 loaves of bread to a local food shelter.
-
Fairfax250 Commission: Secured support to enhance our end-of-year school-wide picnic for our families.
-
Sustainability Initiatives: Students led the way in environmental stewardship through lunchroom upcycling, Get2Green projects, school garden planting/harvesting, student-created ecosystems, and SCA food drives.
-
Educate Fairfax Grant: We secured funding to bring school-wide Mood Meter posters into our classrooms! The Mood Meter is an emotional intelligence tool that helps students build self and social awareness by plotting emotions across two axes: pleasantness (left to right) and energy level (up and down). By organizing emotions into four colored quadrants (Red for high-energy/unpleasant, Blue for low-energy/unpleasant, Green for low-energy/pleasant, and Yellow for high-energy/pleasant), it teaches our Mustangs that all emotions are okay, while empowering them with strategies to manage their feelings and make positive choices.
Strong Family and Community Engagement
Our partnership with families thrived this year, and we could not have done it without you:
-
297 registered volunteers supported our school.
- Expanded Parent University opportunities.
- Continued growth and success of the Watch D.O.G.S. program.
- Incredible attendance at Heritage Night, the Veteran's Day Celebration, Glow Night, school performances, and community events.
Looking Ahead to 2026-2027
Next year, our AAP Local Level IV Full-Time program will expand to include 6th grade, completing full implementation of the Level IV program and we look forward to expanding our successful CodeUP program into the 5th grade.
As we prepare for the 2026-2027 school year, we remain committed to accelerating academic growth, expanding enrichment, strengthening student voice, and deepening family partnerships. The achievements highlighted above reflect a dedicated community where students are known, valued, challenged, and supported every day.
Thank you for making this an extraordinary year. We wish all of our Mustang families a safe, restful, and joyful summer!
To read this newsletter in other languages, please visit our website.
Para leer este boletín en otros idiomas, visite nuestro sitio web.
ይህንን ዜና መፅሄት በሌሎች ቋንቋዎች ለማንበብ፤ እባክዎን ድረ ገፃችንን ይጎብኙ።
اس نیوزلیٹر کو دوسری زبانوں میں پڑھنے کیلئے ، براہ مہربانی ہماری ویب سائیٹ ملاحظہ کیجیئے۔
|
