At STEM Fest, Blue and Yellow Make… 

On Saturday, October 8, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Michelle Reid joined students and community members at STEM Fest, an event orchestrated by the not-for-profit STEAMOLOGY.  

STEM Fest is an activity-filled event where students from any school in Fairfax County come to learn more about science, technology, engineering and math through free activities related to STEM, including robotics, coding, experiments, and more.  

At tables and booths in multiple locations at the school, students got their hands dirty testing, making, trying and failing.  Yes, blue and yellow make green, but the deeper questions asked and answered were why and how?  

Dr. Reid, a former physics, chemistry and math teacher, explored the action at STEM Fest, hearing about and confirming the value of hands-on activities for students at every age. Dr. Reid also thanked STEAMOLOGY and the host of other organizations supporting FCPS saying “We are so grateful for the many community partnerships that make these events possible.”

STEAMOLOGY, you may recall, became an Ignite Partner in June 2022 with the mission of providing a learning platform for one and all by engaging and empowering students via innovative educational activities and support.  

Along with STEM Fest, STEAMOLOGY tutors students to excel in Science Olympiad and MathCounts competitions, provides volunteers for school-based STEM labs, hosts hands-on after-school engineering workshops, and encourages and supports Service Learning opportunities for students.

An Official Brightspot

Brightspot, a Reston-based technology services company who have been supporting Aldrin Elementary School, are now Ignite Partners.

Employees from Brightspot have and will be providing the school needs-based donations, school yard clean up and landscaping support, and classroom and STEM lab volunteers.

Thank you for partnering, Brightspot.

Connecting Classrooms to the Community

Businesses and community groups looking to support the training of their future workforce are reminded of Fairfax County Public Schools outstanding Career and Technical Education Programs, and of the ways you can engage students. 

You and your business or community group are invited to help expose students to careers and the pathways to those careers, and our Ignite Partnerships program offers ways to do it. Our workforce development partnerships include opportunities such as:

• Guest Speakers
• Work Based Tours
• College and Career Fairs
• Information Interviews
• Explore career pathways and workplace readiness skills.
• Develop career interests.
• Internships
• Service Learning
• Externships
• Job Shadowing
• Career Mentorship

Career and Technical Education (CTE) offers a variety of business and industry connected programs to FCPS students at the middle and high school levels.  The program areas include the following:

Business and Information Technology

Family and Consumer Sciences

Health and Medical Sciences

Marketing

Technology and Engineering Education

Trade and Industrial Education

For more information about Career and Technical Education, please call 571-423-4526 or visit the Career and Technical Education website. Visit this policy website for more information on ADA accommodations or to request accommodations.

For assistance creating an Ignite Partnership, or sharing the good news of your existing partnership, email Jay Garant or call him at 571-423-1225.

Free Student Bus Passes Support Partnerships

All Fairfax County middle and high school students can get a Student Bus Pass to ride the Fairfax Connector and Fairfax CUE bus for free – a benefit to students involved in internships, externships, service learning and more. 

With the pass, fares are free from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week, all year. Learn more about Student Pass online. Complete the application and return it to your school office. 

Additionally, Connector and Metrobus are issuing SmarTrip cards to students at Justice, Annandale, Falls Church, and Marshall High Schools, and the Davis Center for use on specific routes in Northern Virginia. Visit the website to learn more and view the routes. Complete the application and return it to your school office.

EduTutorVA Expansion News!

Last we reported, EduTutorVA was planning to support 30-60 students at Westlawn and Mount Vernon Wood Elementary Schools, and at Whitman Middle School this fall. That good work continues, plus two new schools will be added: Hutchison Elementary School in Herndon and Poe Middle School Annandale.

Their mission is to close critical learning gaps in Title I schools through intensive research-based tutoring and to support “Tutors to Teachers,” by helping aspiring educators from local colleges and universities benefit from real world teaching experiences. 

Fairfax County Public Schools welcomes the exceptional coordination of EduTutorVA, George Mason University, Northern Virginia Community College and EduTutorVA’s supporters and funders and thanks them for their dedication to learning and teaching.

VYS Works Toward Second Futsal Court Court

Vienna Youth Soccer (VYS), Fairfax County Public Schools Facilities and Transportation Services, and the Town of Vienna are working toward the installation of a second Futsal court in FCPS, a donation that’s earned VYS an Ignite Partnership distinction.

Photographed are students playing on the recently installed Futsal court at Cunningham Park Elementary School. The court being planned will be installed at Cedar Lane School and will be positioned where the current blacktop sits.

FCPS went before Vienna’s Board of Architectural Review in August to obtain approval for  modifications that will improve the existing area with new basketball hoops, resurfacing, and added playing lines. Other planned changes include the addition of a 6-foot-tall, 488-foot-long black vinyl fence with four pedestrian gates. The application was unanimously approved.

Vienna Youth Soccer Executive Director Kevin James says, “Maintaining proper facilities is integral in achieving Vienna Youth Soccer’s goals to promote a soccer culture and active lifestyles. We’re thrilled to partner with FCPS to upgrade underutilized spaces into futsal courts at Cunningham Park Elementary and Cedar Lane schools. These unique spaces enable us to provide alternative programming and serve as gathering spaces for Vienna and Fairfax residents for years to come.” 

The FCPS partnerships team was asked and agreed to provide VYS with a fast-tracked Ignite Partnership designation as a means to ensure that their generosity is further recognized.   

Thank you Vienna Youth Soccer.

Virginia School Boards Association

Business Honor Roll

The Fairfax County School Board, members of the Virginia School Boards Association (VSBA), presented Capital One, Inova Health Systems, and Western Fairfax Christian Ministries with the 2022 VSBA Business Honor Roll awards for their exceptional support of FCPS.

Capital One, along with keeping their popular Coders after-school program dynamically running in a virtual world, donated $90,000 to our foundation, Educate Fairfax, so that we could purchase and distribute MiFi devices and ensure student connectivity.

Inova went above and beyond their work at Falls Church Academy and elsewhere, to coordinate pediatricians who FCPS videotaped to promote vaccination safety and efficacy for those ages 5 to 12. Having pediatricians speak to parents, guardians, and students on the subject proved an impactful way to provide information

Western Fairfax Christian Ministries, who has long supported students with donations of food, school supplies and more, donated and supported the installation of industrial refrigerators now in seven schools. This donation means that fresh fruits, vegetables and other perishables are getting to students who might need the support.

Thank you all and congratulations to Fairfax County Public Schools 2022 Virginia School Boards Associations Business Honor Roll Recipients.

Our Virtual Lunch and Learn series begins October 18  

Join me online!  Understand the Ignite Partnerships structure and its value; explore other ways to support FCPS; learn about the return on investment (ROI) that our partners enjoy; and get answers to your questions. 

Each Lunch and Learn will last 30 minutes and include a five to seven minute overview followed by 20 minutes of Q&A. 

Businesses, community groups and governmental groups looking to learn more about partnering with Fairfax County Public Schools, are encouraged to attend.

Leaders & Learners Breakfast.  Register Now. 

Educate Fairfax, the 501(c) 3 non-profit foundation specifically focused on FCPS, will host its annual community event, "Leaders & Learners: Education is Everybody's Business" on Wednesday, November 9, from 8 to 10 a.m. 

This event will feature a key-note address from new Superintendent Michelle Reid, and awards to two incredible supporters of FCPS and Educate Fairfax, the Claude Moore Charitable Foundation and Len Forkas, past board chairman of Educate Fairfax. 

"Education is Everybody's Business" is designed to bring area employers and leaders from Fairfax County Public Schools together and that includes Ignite Partners.