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The Feather Report

October 16, 2026

Photo of the Week

Congratulations to our Safety Patrol Officer Class of 2026! These four students took the oath of office earlier this week, and are looking forward to leading our Safety Patrols and modeling safe and ethical behavior for all students!

Leadership Ledger

Westlawn Families,

We are writing to share information about our school’s rating under Virginia’s School Performance and Support Framework (SPSF). This system provides information about our school’s performance on academic and readiness measures. 

Our school has been designated as Approaching Expectations, based on data from last school year. This means the state believes we need additional support to improve our overall school performance.

I want to be clear in saying that our students are much more than the results of standardized tests and point systems. Every day in our classrooms, our amazing educators are leading moments of joy in learning. Our students are working hard and making progress. I am proud to lead our Eagles and I am proud to be a part of this amazing community.

Understanding Virginia’s School Performance and Support Framework

The School Performance and Support Framework is in its second year and replaced what you may remember as Accreditation. The framework places emphasis on standardized test results, alongside student growth, graduation, and readiness measures that vary by school level. 

Westlawn has an overall framework score of 83.78, which falls into the “Meets Expectations” state performance category. However, because we also received a federal designation of Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI), our state performance category was lowered to “Approaching Expectations.” We also want to note that our score improved from last school year when we scored only 79.2.

Our TSI designation means we will receive additional federal resources that support improvement for specific student groups within our school. 

How We Are Addressing These Concerns

• Maximize student access to grade-level tier 1 instruction and ensure interventions and supports do not take away from Tier 1 instructional time.
• Ensure all IEPs clearly and accurately document the Specially Designed Instruction (SDI), related services, and the exact minutes/frequency required, reinforcing that these documents legally dictate the student's program.
• Ensure consistent implementation of accommodations.

(Listen as Mr. Hill discussed these strategies in more detail during this past week’s Community Conversation.)

We remain committed to transparent communication with a continued focus on academic rigor, and supporting each and every student’s learning. Thank you for your trust and partnership in this journey.

In partnership,

Christoph Hill, Stephanie Carpenter, and Erin Theiss

Proud Principals

News

Keep Our Roads in Good Shape

If you ever see something wrong with one of our neighborhood roads, please tell the Virginia Department of Transportation! Fill out the form on the VDOT website so that road crews can be scheduled to fix things such as potholes, drainage problems, crumbling sidewalks, missing paint, and other issues.

Westlawn Spirit Wear: Gear Up for Fall

The weather appears to (finally) be turning. Do you need more Westlawn gear? The Westlawn store has you covered!

Reminder: Picture Day is October 22

Get those outfits and haircuts ready because Picture Day is coming on October 22! All students will have their pictures taken so that we can update our school databases, and families will also have the opportunity to purchase photo packages. Paper order envelopes were sent home in Thursday folders. If you choose to order using the paper envelope, please send in exact change for the package you select. Families can also order online at mylifetouch.com using the code EVTP29TVG. We look forward to seeing all those smiling faces!

Reminder: Free Trees

Fairfax County residents can get a free tree to plant on their property through the Arbor Day Foundation. Trees are noninvasive, native to Northern Virginia and won’t need much maintenance once they are established. Fall is an excellent season to plant a tree! Families who apply to get a free tree early will also have their choice of various native trees.

FCPS Is Participating in Virginia Quality Birth to Five (VQB5) 

Virginia Quality Birth to Five is Virginia’s system for measuring and supporting quality in early childhood programs so children enter kindergarten ready to learn. VQB5 builds on health and safety standards by measuring the quality of teacher-child interactions and the use of the curriculum. Visit the Virginia Quality Birth to Five website for more information.

FCPS News

In case you missed it in FCPS This Week, the school division shared updates on the following topics:

• Facilities Survey
• Transportation Survey
• Health Department Letter on Preventing the Spread of Illness

Read FCPS This Week to learn more about these topics. If you are not already receiving this weekly newsletter, please sign up today.

Dates and Events

October 21: Color Day: Wear Pink

October 22: Fall Picture Day

October 23: Help support the PTA through dining at Chuck E. Cheese in Fairfax from 3 PM - 9 PM! Westlawn can earn up to 25% back! Students will bring home coupons in next week’s Thursday folder.

October 26: A series of Community Conversations is being held across the school division. Share your thoughts with Dr. Reid and ask her questions. The closest school to Westlawn that Dr. Reid will appear at is Beech Tree. Register for the event at Beech Tree.

October 28: Color Days: Wear White

October 30: It’s Book Character Day! Students and staff are invited to wear a costume that shows their favorite book character. A book character parade will take place in the building during the day. Families are reminded that costumes cannot include masks or weapons. We ask for your help in ensuring that your child wears a costume that does not interfere with learning.

October 30: Two-Hour Early Release; all students will be dismissed at 1:30 PM. There is no afterschool care unless your child is in Beyond the Bell (SACC).

To see more schoolwide and community events, remember to check out our website calendar! You can also subscribe to our calendar to make it even more convenient. Click on the little calendar icon in the top right corner of the calendar page of our website to add all current and future events to your cell phone calendar.

Engage with Westlawn

Ongoing Opportunities: Join Mr. Hill and Ms. Dushok for Westlawn’s Community Conversation each Wednesday at 11 a.m. via Zoom, and visit our website for archives of the three most recent conversations. If you plan to volunteer regularly in FCPS during the 2026–2027 school year, please register through the FCPS volunteer portal to complete any required background checks and fingerprinting.

Mind Matters

AAP Service Highlight: Young Scholars

Did you know we have about 90 students at Westlawn designated as Young Scholars? A Young Scholar is a student who has been identified for advanced academic services in one or more subject areas and may be from a historically underrepresented population or a potential first-generation college student. These students may face barriers to access and therefore are given some additional opportunities to try new and challenging experiences. Our Young Scholars enjoy monthly morning meetings with Mrs. Maxwell where this year they will be working on ways to increase memory skills, study habits, focus, ownership of their learning, and embracing challenges. We also have field trips (some during the school day, some after school hours with families), encouragement to take part in Westlawn enrichment opportunities, and other support.

Gretchen Maxwell is Westlawn’s Advanced Academic Resource Teacher, and she is passionate about creating opportunities for each Westlawn student to soar. You can email Mrs. Maxwell or reach her via TalkingPoints.

Tech Talk

Cybersecurity and Credit Reports

One way to mitigate the financial cost of cybersecurity is to proactively monitor your credit report. Keeping tabs on this report allows you to see when new accounts have been opened in your name or the names of your children.

There are three credit bureaus that you will want to monitor: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. You want to monitor all three because lenders sometimes only report to one of them, not all of them. You can get a free report from each bureau each week through AnnualCreditReport.com. Beware of other sites offering a similar service! They are often scams.

You might also consider freezing your credit and your children' s credit. When you freeze your credit, it blocks lenders from accessing your information, which means that other people are not able to file for loans or credit cards in your name. Freezing credit is free and does not lower your credit score. It also does not stop you from using your current cards or from accessing your credit reports. You can thaw your credit at any time.

To freeze your credit, you will need to contact each of the three bureaus independently. Learn more about placing or lifting credit freezes at USA.gov.

Lexia Family Information Sessions

Want to learn more about Lexia® Core5 and Lexia® PowerUp? These virtual sessions share how FCPS is using both programs in classrooms across the division this school year to support students’ literacy growth and give families a chance to ask questions.

Every one-hour session covers the same content. Choose the option that works best for your family:

• Wednesday, October 21, at 5 and 6 p.m.
• Wednesday, November 4, at 6:30 p.m.

Join a Lexia Family Information Night Session.

Is there a technology topic you want us to tackle in a future issue? Email your questions to Ms. Dushok (school based technology specialist) and Mr. Dinkins (technology support specialist).

The Inclusion-ist

Annual Special Education Family Conference: We Need You!

Register now to attend the annual Special Education Family Conference, Connected Communities, Thriving Students, on Saturday, November 14, from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Hayfield Secondary School. 

Educators, families, and community members are invited to this in-person event at no cost. Participants can connect, learn, and explore available special education services, supports, and resources. Lunch will be provided for all participants. Register to attend the conference. 

Volunteers Are Needed to Make This Event a Success! 

Find out how to volunteer:

• Adult Volunteers: Sign up through Volunteer FCPS. 
• Student Volunteers: Sign up through the Student Volunteer Interest Form. Students will receive service hours for their time. 
• Student Showcase Opportunities: Students can complete the Student Participation Form to lead a performance or share information about a club or research project. Service hours will be awarded to students serving in these roles.

Visit the Special Education Family Conference webpage for more information. Email questions to SpecialEdFamilyConf@fcps.edu.

Is there a topic in special education that you’re curious about? Need more information about the process of being identified for special education services? Westlawn’s Special Education Department Chair, Mrs. Ashley Claros, would love to hear from you! You can reach her via email or TalkingPoints.

Zoom into the Room

Top: A student who finished his work early earned the opportunity to practice writing his name using a reusable name envelope. Middle: Ms. Cardenas worked with a small group of students on science and reading skills. Bottom: Both students and teachers love glitter! Students also know that once an item gets glittered, it needs a chance to dry in the drying rack before it can be displayed or taken home!

In Mrs. Gaither’s kindergarten classroom, learning is full of color, curiosity, and growing independence. This week, students are diving into the color purple through a variety of engaging learning centers, including purple webs, purple booklets, purple I-Spy, and name tracing. Fall is also in the air as students create fall name wagon crafts to practice letter recognition and build fine motor skills. In math, the class has kicked off its first numeracy unit, where young learners are busy recognizing, writing, counting, and building numbers 1 through 10.

Throughout these activities, students are showing remarkable self-reliance—smoothly following directions to retrieve crayon boxes from their named bins, practicing name writing with dry-erase markers on reusable envelopes, and carefully placing finished artwork on the drying rack. Mrs. Gaither intentionally weaves student contributions directly into her lessons, such as recording student-suggested words starting with the letter "b" during language arts, letting every child see their ideas valued on the board. Supported by instructional assistant Ms. Montoya, who offers bilingual assistance in Spanish, and small-group instruction from teachers like Ms. Cardenas, every child gets the targeted support they need to thrive. The room itself is a welcoming haven, complete with seasonal picture books, cozy pretend-play spaces, and an interactive calendar math setup on the rug for daily math routines.

For Mrs. Gaither, the absolute best part of teaching kindergarten is watching this remarkable transformation unfold—witnessing students grow from learning how to hold a pencil in August to confidently sounding out and writing words by June. With her favorite season of the year now underway, she is looking forward to the months ahead filled with rich social studies holiday units, community celebrations like the Book Character Dress-up parade and class feasts, and plenty of crafts and glitter along the way.

Connect With Westlawn

• Contact the main office: 703-241-5100
• Submit an absence: 703-241-5151 | email the absence box | using ParentVUE
• Contact Ms. Caballero (student information assistant): email Ms. Caballero | 703-241-5100 | TalkingPoints: Silvia Caballero
• Contact Ms. Reyes (family liaison): email Ms. Reyes | 703-241-5125 | TalkingPoints: Hilda Reyes
• Contact Ms. Cortez (social worker): email Ms. Cortez | 703-241-5190 | TalkingPoints: Pamela Cortez

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