What a fabulous week !!  We have made it through week six since our return from the winter break.  “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”  ― Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities.  During these last several weeks, we have successfully navigated innumerable challenges, and together, we have done it with grace.  As we anticipate the spring of hope, we know we must plan ahead knowing we will continue to both face and meet new challenges in the coming weeks and months.  Having worked through the last several weeks inspires confidence that we will not only meet these new challenges; but together we will rise in ways we might not have imagined possible.  We’ve got this!! 

We hosted our second week of community forums and welcomed stakeholders to share their feedback at five different events throughout our division. Three of the community forums were held virtually, and one was offered to Spanish-speaking families. I am so grateful to the 150 FCPS staff members who have helped make the community forums a success. Your support matters!

There are two remaining in-person community forums. Check out the schedule of Community Forums and influence the direction of FCPS’ Strategic Plan, prior to its completion and formal adoption by the School Board. This week, we also held five focus groups with students in grades 3-12 who shared their perspectives. You can still provide feedback online if you are not able to attend an event, or have more to share. Strategic planning materials continue to be updated on the Strategic Planning website.

During Thursday night’s Academic Matters segment of the School Board meeting, I shared the news of a five year $13.5 million grant that FCPS has received to support a School-Based Mental Health Services project. School-based mental health service providers include school counselors, school social workers and school psychologists. We continue to have a shortage of school-based mental health service providers and this grant will enhance our ability to provide prevention and early intervention services, increase student access to school-based mental and behavioral health services, provide targeted and timely mental health consultation to families and teachers, and reduce caseloads and ensure greater attention to student needs. Supporting student success is about more than just academics. Student health and wellness is critical to being ready to learn. Thank you to all of our school counselors for your work to focus on the whole child. We look forward to providing professional development for all staff and students on the tenets of Mental Health First Aid as together we address mental health strategies. 

Last week, I had the honor of watching more than 30 Bryant High Schools graduate. These students represented a wide variety of cultures, languages, religions, and base schools. Many students were recognized for receiving scholarships and awards, and for participating in programs such as Genesys Works, Dream Catchers, and Project Opportunity for young parents. The student speaker, Mateo Feijoo Zambrano, told a heartfelt story about finding his way to Bryant after arriving in the United States less than two years ago from Ecuador. The guest speaker for the ceremony was Lucy Pineda, a former Bryant student and Project Opportunity participant who graduated in 2013. She shared that when she came to Bryant, “she felt accepted in more ways than one…and was surrounded by possibilities.” Lucy was proud to tell the graduates that she was recently accepted to the University of Virginia and starts this fall and encouraged them to never give up!

Bryant graduates will begin workforce training, enter credentialing programs, prepare for military careers, start working, or enter NOVA with some having the goal of transferring to a 4-year college. As Dr. Larrick, principal, shared in his opening remarks, "the uniqueness of our students and their stories resonate with us every year, this year being no different”.  As Bryant begins the second semester and looks ahead to their June cohort of graduates, this winter ceremony is a reminder that this is an incredible school and learning community of students, staff, families, and community partners. This is the power of perseverance partnered with the equitable access of public education!

Friday afternoon, I got a sneak peek at the Gold Key and Silver Key student award winners of the 2023 Regional Scholastic Art Awards. Our talented students continue to inspire me! The 2023 Regional Scholastic Art Awards program has awarded FCPS students in grades 7-12 a total of 533 awards for outstanding artwork, including 174 Gold Key awards, 171 Silver Key awards, and 188 Honorable Mention awards.

Four works by FCPS students were nominated for the best-in-show American Visions Award. Artworks were submitted and judged in categories including drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, ceramics, sculpture, digital art, design, architecture, jewelry, fashion, film and animation, mixed media, and art portfolios. You can see these amazing artists for yourselves at Northern Virginia Community College’s Ernst Community Cultural Center in Annandale from Friday, February 9, to Thursday, March 23, with an award ceremony on Wednesday, March 1. I hope you will stop by!

In a Fairfax Inspires moment, I want to give a shout out to our Interim Chief Equity Officer, Dr. Nardos King. Dr. King will be honored later this month at the Northern Virginia Leadership Awards, hosted by Leadership Fairfax. Dr. King is the president of three non-profit organizations including; the Donna M. Saunders Foundation, the DC Metro HBCU Alliance and the National Alliance of Black School Educators. Leadership Fairfax shared, “Through Dr. King's leadership, our community is impacted in a positive way. Her work with the Donna M Saunders Foundation has provided both financial assistance to breast cancer patients who need assistance with rent, food, car payments, health co-payments and other needs. The HBCU community day and 5K run brings 1300 plus members of our community together to learn about health issues and HBCUs. The day also raises funds and donations for scholarships.” Thank you, Dr. King for making our community a better place and a shout out to all of our amazing employees who are making a difference.   

Friday evening I had the opportunity to join the Centreville HS community as the Wildcats battled the South Lakes HS Seahawks in boys’ basketball.  It was a great game for sure!!  Friday night was also a big night for sports across FCPS pyramids. Both the West Potomac and Mount Vernon pyramids held their own "Pyramid Nights" and invited all their feeder schools to a High School Game Night. Community advocates from both pyramids (particularly their PT(S)As/PTOs), have been working hard this school year and prior, to unify and raise up their students, families and staff.

At West Potomac High School, the Wolverine girls basketball team took on Woodson High School, supported by stands packed with families from feeder elementary schools and the feeder middle school, Carl Sandburg. Every single PT(S)A in the pyramid was represented by at least one officer, along with staff members (principals, assistant principals or other faculty) from each school. Region 3 Asst. Superintendent Dr. Grace Taylor and Mt. Vernon School Board Member Karen Corbett-Sanders visited both High Schools and showed their support for our schools and communities. Local PT(S)As sold pyramid shirts featuring the logos of all pyramid schools to show pride in their region.  For former alumni of these elementary and middle schools, the support was loud and strong from the rows of guests in their own school spirit wear. For the elementary students and families who have just begun their journey within FCPS, this was a window into what could be their future.  Such exciting events!!

Saturday brought several opportunities.  I want to especially thank all those involved with the Job Fair held at Oakton HS.  With over 570 registered educators attending the conference, it is clear that FCPS is where educators know they will be able to make a difference for our community as well as setting the public education vision for our country.  We are so grateful for our HR team and all the school based leadership teams for setting the tone as we hire and develop our next generation of FCPS educators.  I also want to thank all those behind the scenes who make these events happen, especially our custodial and maintenance staff as they set up and take care of so many details; together all things are possible…

I want to share that like many of you, I am watching the Super Bowl this evening.  It was inspiring to see the first all-women Super Bowl fly over prior to the game starting. The flyover commemorates 50 years of women flying in the US Navy and included women from different air stations across the country who are serving in the Air Force including our very own Fairfax County pilot, Naomi Ngalle, from Springfield.  It reminded me of one of my favorite thoughts; “I dwell in possibility.” – Emily Dickinson. 

And as we close out our weekend and contemplate the week ahead, I invite you to join me in keeping all of our neighbors in Turkey and Syria who have suffered greatly with the earthquake and its resultant devastation and destruction, in our thoughts and prayers.  The magnitude of this tragedy continues to grow in lives lost – currently estimated at over 30,000.  And as we know too well, each of these lives lost impacts so many lives and neighbors all across the world… We remain grateful for the many first responders, volunteers, and all those working to nurture and keep the light in these darkest of times.  And, … on to our week…

Warmest Regards,

Michelle Reid, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Fairfax County Public Schools