• Collaborate to achieve the goals of the partnership.
• Ensure that partnership coordinators meet regularly (virtually or in person) to ensure the partnership is on track to achieve its stated goals.
• Notify the Administrator of Business and Community Partnerships annually about intent to renew the partnership agreement and impact data (e.g., number of students served, number of volunteers, and volunteer hours served in an academic year).
• Understand that there may be limits to volunteer engagement because of timing constraints for volunteer activities.  Engagement during and after school often coincides with the working hours of volunteers, and FCPS has regulations surrounding interruptions to the school day, and the availability of FCPS employees.
• Review together, if the partner is a faith-based organization, the  FCPS Guidelines for Faith Based Partnerships.
• Notify the Administrator of Business and Community Partnerships when partner contact information changes.
• Create an addendum to the agreement if any substantive changes to the partnership’s functions, activities, or expansion occur. The addendum will be signed by both or all parties, in consultation and coordination with the Administrator of Business and Community Partnerships.
• Determine whether additional forms will be required for completion by students and/or parents/legal guardians (including but not limited to confidentiality statements/forms, media consent/release forms, or others.  

• Understand that before a student can begin off-campus or virtual activities, a signed Partnership MOU must be in effect and the following documents mustbe completed annually and on file at the school. Template documents can be found  below .
  • Parent/Guardian Authorization form specific to planned activity
  • Student Conduct Agreement
  • Copy of the student’s Emergency Care Card (Provided by the parent/guardian)
  • Proof of student medical insurance (Provided by the parent/guardian)
• Understand that if Partnership experiences are considered part of a student’s educational program (Required School Work experiences, for example), documentation of the student’s performance is required.  The partner may be asked to submit one or more of the following to the classroom teacher:
  • Student timesheet
  • Progress reports/daily logs related to goals and objectives
  • Performance evaluations
  • Work-based experience summary 

• Understand that if Fairfax County Public Schools announces that schools, or a school is closed, has a delayed opening, or that students are dismissed early, students are notto travel to off campus activities.
• Understand that approvals for students leaving campus during school hours are granted only when students leave a school site to go to another school site, or employment site, where they will be supervised by a FCPS employee, or an independent (but approved) employer.
• Understand that students without reliable transportation for off-campus activities may face significant time and cost challenges.
• Consider providing financial support for coordinating student transportation.

This guidance is intended to ensure compliance with FCPS media policies and protect the privacy and rights of students, staff, and volunteers.

With at least one-month advance notice, a partner, sponsor, donor, volunteer, or vendor may request that an FCPS staff member (e.g., teacher or yearbook staff) take photos or videos of students and staff at an event on FCPS property hosted, in whole or in part, by the third-party. Current Ignite, Spark, and Star partners should refer these requests to  [email protected] . Non-Ignite, Spark, or Star partners, sponsors, donors, volunteers, or vendors should make this request through the school principal.

Written consent must be provided to share the photos or videos with the third-party organization for permitted use. The process for consent is as follows:

1. The Administrator of Business and Community Partnerships (or designee)will provide a unique  Media Release and Consent Form Template to the school/site coordinator.
2. The school/site coordinator is responsible for tracking form completion, reviewing media, and only transferring media to the partner that includes those individuals who have completed the unique consent form.
3. Only those FCPS students and staff with a completed unique Media Release and Consent Form on file for the specific event may be featured. 

If a request is made with less than one month advance notice, third-party representatives may – with written principal approval – photograph, videotape, and/or record the image of FCPS school staff or PTA members who are  adults and who have signed a written consent form provided by the third party. Third-party representatives may capture the backs of student heads and/or hands, but not personally identifiable imagery (e.g., facial expressions). The school/site coordinator should notify  [email protected] of all principal-approved third-party events at which pictures and/or videos are captured for awareness. 

During a third-party event on FCPS grounds, a partner, sponsor, donor, volunteer, or vendor may request a quote from FCPS staff, a PTA member or a student to be featured in a third-party publication. Student last names shall not be used; the third-party may only credit, “[student first name] at [school name].” Final quote approval must be obtained by the third-party before publication. Quotes are not indicative of third-party endorsement by FCPS, nor can they be used to solicit funding. To achieve quote approval, a third-party representative should email the entire article including the quote to the quoted FCPS staff, PTA member, or parent/guardian of the student, the school principal, and  [email protected] . The FCPS Business and Community Partnerships team will provide the final approval within two business days.

Any partner, sponsor, donor, volunteer or vendor who does not follow these guidelines must remove the content and may be subject to restrictions on future events.

Additional Considerations for Current Ignite, Spark, and Star Partners

Current Ignite, Spark, and Star partners who reach five consecutive years of partnership with FCPS may request photography and/or a brief FCPS-produced video that includes FCPS staff and students for distribution by both FCPS and the partner. FCPS will obtain required media consents and releases in writing from a parent/guardian before any student may be included in such media.

In addition, current Ignite, Spark, and Star partners may request permission to display partnership banners or signage at their own cost in the school where services are performed. Sign or banner mockups should be submitted to  [email protected] for approval before displaying.

• Banners and signs should be no larger than 5' by 4' with logos no larger than 1' by 2'.
• May display an FCPS partnership digital badge.

Inquiries from news media outlets and inquiries involving an elected official must be referred to the FCPS Media Relations team at  [email protected] . 

Other Cases : For any media requests or situations not covered by these guidelines, please contact FCPS at  [email protected] for further clarification and approval.

• Understand that it is not a requirement for FCPS or Educate Fairfax, the official foundation for FCPS, to support the fiduciary efforts of businesses or community groups with whom we are partnered.
• Before applying for grant funds in which FCPS or Educate Fairfax for FCPS are named as supporters, partners, or affiliates in any form, a partner will prior request approval from FCPS and/or Educate Fairfax.  For additional information and guidance contact the FCPS Grants Development Office at 571-423-3600.

• Surveying, research, data collection, data release and reporting must be approved by FCPS’ Division Research Screening Committee, which is administered by FCPS’s Office of Research and Strategic Improvement.
• Partners wanting to conduct research, collect data, or report outcomes, shall annually apply to the Division Research Screening Committee, and must share with the FCPS Office of Business and Community Partnerships that they have met the submission deadline.
• Submission deadlines each year for data collection or release are the first business day for the months of May, July, August, October, December, and February annually, if proposing a new data collection. An April submission deadline is also available for studies solely requesting data release from FCPS.  Approval decisions are anticipated six weeks after the beginning of the application’s review. Learn more about the  Research Approval Process .
• Approval from the Division Research Screening Committee is needed before collecting any data or requesting data be released from FCPS. Further, partners must request approval through the same process for any changes or additions to surveys, research, data collection, or reporting prior to implementing any changes to what has been approved, including modifications of dates for data collection or schools at which data collection will occur.
• Any release of data to partners, once approved through the Division Research Screening Committee, will be handled by FCPS’ Office of Research and Strategic Improvement, in accordance with a separately executed Data Agreement between the partner and FCPS specifying the details of the data provision. 

• Opportunities offered by organizations outside FCPS are neither sponsored nor endorsed by the Fairfax County School Board, the Superintendent, or a specific school. These opportunities may utilize technology tools that have not been assessed by the FCPS Department of Information Technology. Students should gain permission from their parent or guardian before engaging in any non-FCPS enrichment opportunity and families should review the Terms of Service, User Agreements, and Privacy Policy for any technology platform that the enrichment opportunity may use before participating.
• Prior to any integration with FCPS digital resources/technology, the partner’s technology (beyond basics like the Microsoft Office suite) shall be reviewed and approved by the Educational Technology team via the Digital Resource Review Process –if the technology is being used in a partnering activity.  

• Seek approval from the FCPS Office of Secondary Instruction and School Support (571-423-4828) for any student contests or competitions introduced by the partner.

• Review  Volunteer FCPS for background checks and fingerprinting requirements.
• Ensure all staff/volunteers who will come in direct, unsupervised contact with students (in-person or virtually) have been cleared through the mandatory FCPS background check and fingerprinting process.
  • Volunteers who work with students at a one-time event or ongoing basis that is supervised by an FCPS staff member do not require a background check or fingerprinting, however, they must sign-in at a visitor kiosk by scanning their IDs to check their names against the Sex Offender Registry.
• Acknowledge that staff/volunteers will not enter school grounds or buildings for purposes of participating in partner-sponsored volunteer activities until they are an approved volunteer in Volunteer FCPS.   

• Use the digital web conferencing platform which is approved at such time by FCPS IT.
• Achieve parent permission in advance for students to participate via the Parent/Guardian Authorization Letter (template below).
• Conduct volunteering that serves groups of two or more students at one time and provides space for FCPS employees to drop in.

• Ensure FCPS School Board Policies and Regulations are understood and followed. The following Policies and Regulations are most relevant. Other  regulations  may be applicable.

R1320  Guidelines for Restricting Interruptions to Instructional Time – Middle and High Schools

R1361 Visitor Conduct on FCPS Grounds

R1367  Distribution of Fliers or Other Informational Material

R1370  Fundraising

P1375 Charity Drives

P1445 Trust Policy

R1454 Declaration of Nondiscrimination – Students with Disabilities

R1461 Religion

P1530 Volunteers

R2412  Full-Day Schedule Requirement for Students

R2440 Credit Award for CTE

R2515 Scholarships

R2701 Student Personal Data

R3008 Instructional Technology Identification, Evaluation, and Approval

R3200  Standard Instructional Program

R3836 Contests and Competitions

R4004 Field Experience, Practicums for Students, Teachers, and Interns

R4119  Background Checks

R4427 Non-School Employment

R4444 Prevention of Sexual Misconduct and Abuse

R4705 Tutoring for Pay

R4811 Job Related Absences

R4950 Sexual Harassment by Employees

R4952 Discrimination and Harassment Based on a Protected Class

R5002  Free and Reduced-Price Meals

P5011 Authority to Contract

R5012 Purchasing Goods and Services Using Appropriated and Non-appropriated Funds

R5740 Student Accident Insurance Claims Procedures

R5750 Volunteer Worker Medical Costs Coverage

R5790  Field Trips-Planning, Financing and Conducting

R5810  School Activity Funds Management

R5817 Memorial, Commemorative, Scholarship and Special Purpose Funds

R5961  Donations to Schools

R5970  Grants

R6410 Appropriate Use FCPS Network and Internet

R7004 Management of FCPS External Communications

R7005 Management of FCPS Internet Presence

R8170 Naming and Dedicating School Facilities or Grounds

R8270 Capital Outlay and Facilities Improvements

R8420  Community Use of Facilities

R8534 Energy Conservation Measures

R8615  School Safety Manual

R8628  Chemicals and Chemical Products for Instruction and Building Operations

P8310 Site Planning and Development

P8542 Environmental Stewardship