Marshall Academy Information & Resources
August 8, 2025
Dear Parents, Guardians, and Students;
I am excited to welcome you to Marshall Governor’s STEM Academy (Marshall Academy) for the 2025-2026 school year! Marshall Academy is a community of learners who come from a variety of high schools across Fairfax County Public Schools. We come together with the goal of advancing our learning, to prepare all students for their futures, and to learn from a community of industry professionals focused on student growth and achievement. We offer a wide variety of highly technical and specialized instructional programs, industry-recognized certifications, dual enrollment with NVCC, and valuable work-based learning experiences that allow you to discover your brilliance and further your passion. Our focus in each classroom is to create hands-on learning experiences that provide the foundation for all of our students to thrive and learn. Our work is rewarding, challenging, and inspiring. Our goal is to work to ensure that each student can succeed and achieve their goals and ambitions.
Our staff has been working hard to ensure a smooth opening to the school year. We are finishing up our preparations and are excited to kick off the school year on August 18th! Last year, our students earned almost 800 industry certifications across all of our curriculum areas, and we will continue to aim higher, knowing that our students will continue to succeed in their chosen pathways.
To start the year off, we will be hosting a drop-in Open House for students to meet their teachers, find their classrooms, and turn in parking pass forms on Friday, August 15th, from 10:00 am to 11:30 am for all interested students. Please park and come in Door 9 or Door 6 to access the Academy.
Our Back-to-School Night will be held in person on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2025. More information will be coming out as we get closer to the date regarding specific times and parking.
An important message to students: Please access your SIS account from a computer for the first time on August 14th to check your Academy schedule. After logging in, scroll down to the bottom of the page to see if your Academy class is the same period(s) that your base school has you scheduled for. If there is a discrepancy, please contact your base school counselor.
Please continue reading through this letter for important updates about the 2025/2026 school year. You may also visit our website at https://marshallacademy.fcps.edu/ for detailed information regarding all Marshall Academy’s policies, procedures, and bell schedule. Additionally, you can sign up for News You Choose to receive important communications from Marshall Academy. You can also follow us on Instagram at @GCMSTEMAcademy to stay up to date with announcements and events! If you have any questions or need further assistance in completing the forms, please contact Mrs. Kandi Walden at (703) 714-5500 . For this school year, the Academy office will be open from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm.
Student Information Updates
Each year, we need parents to update any relevant information that we will need for your student. To assist us, please complete the following forms. The majority of these forms just need to be completed once for both the Academy and your base school. Once a form is completed in SIS ParentVue, it auto updates across all of the schools your student is enrolled in.
- Emergency Care Information- Online Verification/Update (OVU) packet - school link located in SIS ParentVue )
- Health Information Form– (update in SIS ParentVue )
- Digital Consent Form- Accept in (SIS ParentVue)
Parking Passes/Transportation Agreement
Students traveling from a school other than Marshall HS have three ways to travel to Marshall Academy from their base school. They can ride FCPS transportation buses from their base school, they can drive themselves, or they can ride with a parent or friend. We ask that all families please fill out the Marshall Academy Transportation Agreement so that we know how your student will be coming to Marshall Academy.
Student drivers who are planning to drive to the Academy must apply for a Marshall Academy parking pass. These passes are on a first-come/first-served basis. If your student has a parking pass from their base high school, the Marshall Academy pass is free. If your student does not have a parking pass from their base school, a Marshall Academy pass is $67. Students with free and reduced lunch can discuss with Ms. Walden if they need assistance with purchasing a pass at a reduced rate. Students who park on campus without an appropriate parking pass are subject to being ticketed. The application for a parking pass (for non-Marshall students) and procedures for drivers can be found here. All students who are riding in a car to Marshall Academy, whether as a driver or passenger, will follow the screening procedure outlined below.
Arrival Updates and Weapons Screening
This school year, Marshall Academy will be utilizing the Open Gate weapons screening system throughout the school day. Due to this change, some procedures will be updated as students enter the building. Students will still enter through Door 9 and Door 6, but with different parameters. All feeder students will be issued a Marshall Academy Student ID badge on their first day at the Academy. Students will need to show this ID badge upon entry into the Academy. Students without an ID badge will be stopped upon arrival. If your student has lost their ID badge, they can purchase a replacement in the Academy office for $5.
- Door 9 Entry- This entrance will only be for students arriving at Marshall Academy via an FCPS bus. All students will be scanned at their base school, so when they arrive via FCPS transportation, they will not be scanned again. There will be no other student entry through Door 9; it will only be for buses.
- Door 6 Entry - This entrance will be for all drivers, passengers, and student drop-offs. Students who are driving will continue to park in the lower lot and enter through Door 6. If you are dropping off your student at the start of their Academy class, they will also need to enter through Door 6. Upon entry, each student who has ridden in a car from their base school will be scanned again with the Open Gate scanners. Please make sure your student has their ID badge ready and they are prepared to be scanned in the same way they are at their base school.
- Late Arrivals - Students who arrive late to the Academy will need to buzz in at Door 6 and wait for staff upon arrival.
- Parents/Guests- Parents and guests will still come in through Door 9 and go directly to the Academy office upon arrival.
For information regarding the weapons detection screening, please watch this video of the Superintendent’s conversation with students about the weapons screening system. The most important thing is to be sure that students have the right items removed from their bags before getting in line.
Items to be removed include:
- Three-ring binders
- Laptops
- Collapsible umbrellas
- Metal lunch boxes
- Metal pencil cases
- Metal glass cases
These items can remain in a student’s bags:
- Non-metal lunch boxes
- Books
- Planners
- Spiral notebooks and folders
- Cell phones
- Keys
- Non-metal pencil cases
Once the items are removed, students should walk to the shortest line and proceed. If the light turns red, they will be directed to a secondary screening to determine what may have alerted the system. Experience shows that the process becomes easier and more efficient every day. You can learn more about the system by watching this video and reading the Frequently Asked Questions on FCPS’ website. If you have additional questions, you can submit them online to the FCPS Chief of Safety and Security Office.
We appreciate everyone’s cooperation and support in our shared commitment to maintaining a safe learning environment for us all.
The weapons detection screener will be set up during the Academy Open House on August 15th for students and families to see what it will look like.
Cell Phone Policy
At Marshall Academy, we believe in the learning process and the ability of students to learn without interruption.
As many of you may be aware, recently, the Virginia Assembly passed a law that all cell phones, earbuds, and other accessories are to be off and away from the time the first school bell rings until the last bell rings to mark the end of the day. Marshall High School and Marshall Academy will vigorously enforce this law. Students will be expected to turn their phones off at 8:09 am and put them in their backpacks or lockers for the remainder of the day, except during lunch. Any student seen to have their phone or phone accessory out in class or the hallways between classes will have their device confiscated, and an increasing consequence will be issued.
Please know that we do not want to fight with students about this law or its implementation. We ask that you please have a conversation with your student about this law prior to their arrival at school.
Bell Schedule Update
Our bell schedule, with transportation times from base schools, will be updated on our website once we have the full schedule from transportation. As we continue to adjust our bell schedule to maximize learning time, we have moved our mid-day 2 block and switched to a later lunch. This change will allow our double and triple block classes to run continuously without a long break in the middle, and it will allow feeder students to be able to return to their base schools with minimal disruption to their 7th period. Feeder students will be able to leave their class at 12:50 pm to get a grab-and-go lunch from the cafeteria, if needed, and eat it before returning to their base school. Students accessing the cafeteria will still be able to use their same lunch codes, whether it is at Marshall HS or their base school.
We all look forward to an exciting and rewarding year at the Academy!
Sincerely,
Greg Luongo
Academy Administrator
Marshall Governor’s STEM Academy
@email (703) 714-5500 • fax (703) 714-5681 • marshallacademy.fcps.edu
