FCPS Spring Break Programs Plant Seeds of Success for Students

“Who can tell me with a quiet hand what this number is?” Fairfax County Public Schools Kindergarten Teacher Veronica Rivera asks a cluster of 10 students sitting on the classroom carpet at Forestdale Elementary School.

“It’s 14!” kindergartner Franco Arriaran Gracia pipes up after raising his hand.

“That’s right, Franco! It’s 14 because today is April 14,” Rivera says.

April 14 is the start of spring break for most of the FCPS community, but small pockets of students at more than 30 schools are gathering in the classroom to use the time off to catch up on academics. 

The Spring Sprouts program at Forestdale and other Title I elementary schools addresses chronic absenteeism by giving students the chance to recover missed days of learning. It’s also designed to foster deeper connections between students, families, and schools and enable students to recapture some of the learning that occurred while they were out of school.

A similar program, Spring Forward, is in place at some middle schools seeking to provide a boost for students at risk of chronic absenteeism or looking to bolster their skills ahead of state Standards of Learning (SOL) exams. And finally, some schools are also offering a Blooming Readers program for students in third grade or higher who could use support in literacy.

Seventh grader Ben Boateng at Key Middle School said his first reaction to hearing from his mother that he’d be in school over spring break was “sadness that I have to get up early.”

Then, he said he saw the bigger picture. 

“I need to pass the math SOL test, the English one will be easy for me,” Boateng said. “I’ll give this some credit already, we’ve already reviewed functions and geometry lessons we learned in the fall, then I worked with a science group on learning the formula for sugar and making sugar molecules. And now we’re reading about the growth versus fixed mindset in a Language Arts station.”

Key Middle School Director of Student Services Jane Flegal says she and her colleagues are aware that Key is a  Title I school , which means it receives extra funding due to the percentage of its students who are eligible for free and reduced meals.

“We are interested in any opportunity to support our kids, provide access to learning opportunities, and serve our community,” Flegal says, noting the effort also provides breakfast and lunch to participants.

Forestdale Elementary Assistant Principal Mary-Elizabeth Hagaman says her school, likewise, was eager to run a spring break program for students.

“This is Foresdale’s first time participating in Spring Sprouts and we want to make it meaningful, but also fun —  this is their Spring Break after all!” Hagaman says. “I think it’s a great way to think creatively about how we can get students in schools, making up missed learning opportunities for students who may have been sick for long stretches or missed for any reason – which is often outside of their control, especially for younger ones.” 

The elementary schools embark on a traditional school day with morning meetings, math lessons, playground time, lunch, and reading workshops. They also plan a field trip to the U.S. Botanic Garden at some point during the week, which parents help chaperone.

“I’m learning subtraction  — a man had a bunch of balloons, some popped and we’re figuring out how many are left,” first grader Tamawrah Timmons says, after working through a word problem with a small group of students.

Kindergarten teacher Rivera says her hope is the initiative “reignites the joy of learning” for the students who participate.

“During breaks from school, sometimes kids get off schedule, they’re not as focused when they come back,” she said. “My hope is this helps them focus. The fact that they’re here shows this is a safe place for them and they and their parents want them to be here and see value in it.”

The Spring Sprouts, Spring Forward, and Blooming Readers programs demonstrate the FCPS 2023-2030 Strategic Plan’s  Goal 1: Strong Start , in which every student will develop foundational academic skills, curiosity and a joy for learning necessary for success.
Read more about the FCPS Strategic Plan.