Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Tuesday forum in McLean was second in series of community meetings this week about replacing retiring Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Jack Dale.
Parents at a community meeting Tuesday designed to gather input about Fairfax County's next superintendent say the new leader will step into an excellent school system, but also one with dwindling resources and an achievement gap it is struggling to close — challenges they said would be best navigated by someone who could maximize a limited budget and respect and listen to the community. The Tuesday meeting at Langley High School in McLean was one of several this week facilitated by the search firm Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, the company hired to lead the search for a new Fairfax County Public Schools superintendent as Superintendent Jack Dale's retirement approaches in June. The firm also led the search for Montgomery County Public…
Thursday, September 6, 2012
From email to e-newsletters, Blackboard to e-books at the library, tech tools are very much a part of the back-to-school equation
Back to school 2012 is a bit different than in earlier years. While some things will always be handled via paper and pen, technology tools are helping to make sure that parents are informed on the issues big and small. Here are a few ways that FCPS and your child's teacher will use technology to keep in touch and provide resources to help your child learn. KIT and KIT-Plus KIT (Keep in Touch) and KIT-Plus are the e-newsletter services that provide up-to-the-minute information for the public on school delays or closings, emergencies, information about FCPS programs and news stories. Parents, students and employees are automatically enrolled via their contact information provided to the schools. Parents and community members can also select …
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Fairfax County and UPC encourage parents and community members to report underage drinking.
Fairfax County Public Schools will partner with the Unified Prevention Coalition this fall at high school stadiums across the county. New banners will be going up in stadiums that encourage parents and adults in the community to report underage drinking and parties where underage drinking is happening to the police. The FCPS and UPC campaign encourages parents and adults to support alcohol free events. The banners were donated by UPC of Fairfax County as part of its Parents Who Host, Lose the Most campaign. According to a press release from FCPS, there has been a decline in reported alcohol use by high school seniros from 2005 to 2010. The 2010-11 Fairfax County Youth Survey showed that 36.5 percent of high school seniors reported using …
Thursday, April 12, 2012
First two days of public hearings bring more than 100 people to Government Center.
Editor's Note: Patch has been live blogging the budget public hearings this week. Read full coverage from Tuesday and Wednesday for details about each speaker and their comments. Thursday's live blog will start at 3 p.m., so come back to this site to follow along. -------- School funding, affordable housing and support for the arts were among the issues Fairfax County residents and employees brought before the Board of Supervisors this week during public hearings on the Fiscal Year 2013 budget. After eight combined hours and more than 100 speakers, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is through two of this week’s three public hearings. The hearings began with a Fairfax County School Board presentation on Tuesday night. School Board …
Monday, January 23, 2012
Take our poll: Should school have opened on time?
The Federal Government announced Sunday night a delay for Monday morning due to expected ice and freezing rain. That sent many a FCPS student hitting the refresh button repeatedly, waiting for word of an expected two-hour delay Monday. The announcement never came, though, and school started as scheduled, even as some slid their way to class. What were conditions like in your neck of the woods? Should the schools have started on time? Lots of folks (disappointed students, perhaps?) don't think so—at 10 a.m. Monday #FCPS was trending on Twitter. Let us know what you think by taking our poll or writing in the comments section below.
Arielle Masters
9:37 am on Friday, December 21, 2012
Supports high achievers? Quite a few have been left spinning their wheels ever since NCLB got implemented. There are some who come into elementary school liking math and then do little to nothing other than what they've already done for the next few years, while the school gets everyone to the same place. By then, these kids don't like math any more. more ›