Dear FCPS Community,
I am excited to share that the 2025-26 school year is off to a great start! We have so many people to thank for this, including our incredible and dedicated staff, our talented students, their supportive families, and community members, each of whom plays such an important role in bringing success to Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS).
As I am now in my fourth year as your superintendent, I continue to be inspired each and every day by the achievements of our premier school division. I truly believe that I have the best job in the business, and it is a privilege to serve you all. Now, more than ever, we must remain resolute in our belief in the power and promise of public education to change lives and help our community thrive. Together, all things are possible!
There are so many things happening across FCPS that it was hard to choose just a few stories to include in this year’s Sharing Our Success , our annual look back at the past year’s highlights. Last school year, I made 122 school visits and attended more than 100 performing arts and athletic events, including watching our newest high school sports — girls wrestling and boys volleyball. We are more than halfway to our goal of having every school achieve a Purple Star designation, demonstrating our commitment to our military-connected families across FCPS.
I’m thrilled to report that we continue to see significant achievements inside the classroom, too, as we strive to build on our status as one of the top-performing school districts in the nation. Take our expansion of Advanced Placement (AP) course offerings as an example. Last year, we added new AP course offerings in three high schools, including Human Geography in 9th and 10th grade and AP Seminar in 10th grade. We continue to work toward encouraging as many students as possible to successfully complete Algebra 1 by eighth grade. This school year, I am excited to share that nearly 75% of our rising eighth graders are signed up or have already completed this course, far exceeding our Strategic Plan goal!
For our seniors heading to college or into the workplace, the future looks brighter than ever. For the first time, we have a dual enrollment partnership with Marymount University, adding to existing partnerships with Northern Virginia Community College, James Madison University, and Longwood University. Meanwhile, many of our Career and Technical Education classes qualify students to start a rewarding career straight out of high school.
As you read this year’s Sharing Our Success , take a moment to feel proud to be a part of FCPS and know that our collective efforts can and will change lives.
Wishing you all a joyful and rewarding school year!
Michelle C. Reid, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Fairfax County Public Schools
Fairfax County Public Schools remain excellent and continue to surpass state average in SOL scores. These impressive results are a reflection of the hard work of our staff, our students, and their supportive families.
Reading
| Year |
FCPS |
Virginia |
|---|---|---|
|
2024
|
78% | 73% |
|
2025
|
79% | 74% |
Math
| Year |
FCPS |
Virginia |
|---|---|---|
|
2024
|
76% | 71% |
|
2025
|
78% | 72% |
Science
| Year |
FCPS |
Virginia |
|---|---|---|
|
2024
|
73% | 68% |
|
2025
|
75% | 71% |
During the 2024-25 school year, FCPS offered two new athletic opportunities to students at each of its 25 high schools. Varsity boys volleyball, a new fall sport, was a hit from the beginning. At West Springfield High School, more than two dozen students tried out for the team.
Student advocacy led to boys volleyball’s inclusion in FCPS high schools. Students involved in club volleyball signed petitions, spoke at School Board meetings, and shared updates on social media. The School Board approved start-up funding for varsity boys volleyball in the Fiscal Year 2025 budget in May 2024.
The budget also included start-up funding for a new winter sport, varsity girls wrestling. Many girls on the new team are thankful for the funding, saying having their own team is significant, especially in competition. “It’s beneficial to have our own team,” said Justice High School junior Alae Houmane. “I prefer it and I’m really excited about it.”
Girls wrestling teams do more than give the girls a level playing field. “This makes [the sport] more open and inviting to them,” said Justice Varsity Girls Wrestling Coach Benjamin Alvarado.
In the 2024-25 school year, FCPS rededicated Carter G. Woodson High School. W.T. Woodson High School was originally named after a former FCPS superintendent who, according to historical records, opposed the desegregation of schools.
Today, Carter G. Woodson High School honors journalist, educator, and Virginian Dr. Carter G. Woodson, who is considered the Father of Black History.
FCPS launched its first-ever Montessori program in the West Potomac pyramid at Bucknell Elementary School, thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
Montessori is a unique program, allowing students to have greater choice in their learning, which helps them stay motivated and become more independent. Teachers specially trained for Montessori classrooms watch how each student learns and then create lessons and activities tailored to each student’s needs.
One special feature of the Montessori approach is having children of multiple ages in one classroom. Children learn valuable social skills — such as cooperation and empathy — through interactions with peers of different ages.
Families of 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds are participating in the program in the 2025-26 school year. FCPS plans to expand the program each year to include the next grade level. Families may learn more about the program at www.fcps.edu/montessori .
FCPS is committed to ensuring that every student has equitable access to excellence and opportunities in alignment with the FCPS 2023–30 Strategic Plan. As part of this commitment, we are undergoing a comprehensive boundary review for the first time in nearly four decades. This review, in partnership with Thru Consulting, assesses the school enrollment boundaries across our district to better support student population growth, changes in school capacity, student health and wellness, and evolving community needs.
The reasons why we embarked on this work:
The timeline below outlines key steps in both phases of the process, providing families and community members with a clear understanding of how and when decisions will be made. No boundary changes have been proposed for the 2025-26 school year.
This critical work began in the fall of 2024, and as of June 2025, we have held a series of 20 community meetings across the county, both in person and virtual/hybrid, to seek feedback and input as we look into potential changes. These meetings will continue in the fall as we hone in on the completed work.
The consultant collected and analyzed feedback to create four draft scenarios, along with an online boundary locator tool that allows interested parties to explore the impact on communities. This tool helped families envision any potential impact on their individual circumstances and provide additional feedback.
At the outset, we established the Superintendent’s Boundary Review Advisory Committee, which includes parents, caregivers, educators, community organizations, and/or community members from each of FCPS’ 24 high school pyramids, together with school-based and division administration. The role of this committee is to help develop potential boundary scenarios and make recommendations to the superintendent. The superintendent will consider the committee’s recommendations and present recommendations to the Fairfax County School Board. The board will review final recommendations and vote on any boundary adjustments in early 2026.
At community meetings, we asked: “What is one change you would suggest to improve the first draft of the proposed boundary adjustments, and why?”— We collected over 3,400 comments (and more than 100,000 votes on those comments). Thank you!
Students who complete Algebra 1 in middle school gain an academic advantage. They have better test scores in math and language arts and are more likely to take advanced courses in high school and attend college.
In support of Goal 3 of the division’s Strategic Plan, FCPS has focused on increasing the number of students who complete Algebra 1 by the end of eighth grade. As FCPS begins the 2025-26 school year, nearly 75% of rising eighth graders are enrolled in Algebra 1 or a higher-level math course. This is an eight percentage point increase from the previous year. While almost 500 additional 8th grade students took the Algebra 1 SOL, pass rates remained at an impressive 95%.
The division provides robust support to ensure students have the foundational instruction and accelerated opportunities they need to succeed.
Our schools are rising to meet this important goal for our students. Herndon Middle School exemplified a “sense of urgency” that led to a dramatic increase in its Algebra 1 enrollment, from 53% to an impressive 88%. To achieve this, Herndon analyzed why some students struggle with math and then diligently communicated clear math pathways to students and families through enhanced engagement and targeted informational events.
Greenbriar East Elementary School shows how success can start in the earliest grades. Their innovative approach includes flexible student groupings in first through third grade, which allows them to create advanced math groups and ensure all learners’ needs are met. Greenbriar East also fostered collaboration across grade levels by using a single, blended planning guide for math instruction.
Looking ahead, FCPS remains committed to expanding professional learning, strengthening collaboration, and refining instruction to ensure long-term success for all students, empowering them to excel in Algebra 1 and beyond.
The Four Pillars identify what FCPS must do well to be able to reach our goals for all students. They serve as the foundation of our work and define the capabilities we need and must continuously improve to strengthen the effectiveness of instructional programs and Division-wide infrastructure. They are the building blocks for action and decision-making, and provide a durable frame for organizing and focusing our work.
Roughly 15 students participate in the Poe Middle School Coffee Cart program, an initiative started in November 2024 by Multiple Disabilities Teacher Renee Ruggles. Interested staff members can place orders for beverages from the cart program.
On any given day, students rotate between duties such as collecting money, putting cash in the box, preparing orders, washing dishes, or stamping sleeves.
Ruggles says she came up with the idea after discussions with other multiple disabilities teachers about ways to help grow functional skills in students. The program helps develop social skills, professionalism, and confidence by encouraging students to interact with staff and students they might not typically see during their years at Poe.
Ragan Wright, a multiple disabilities teacher who works with many of Ruggles’ students during the week, says she noticed a difference after just four months of the coffee cart program. Students are better able to recognize different forms of currency, she says, and become more comfortable interacting with other members of the Poe community.
“When we started, they were really shy about talking to other teachers in the hallways; now they are VERY willing to go up to practically anyone and introduce themselves,” Wright said.
The students of Whitman Middle School no longer get surprised if a chicken pokes its head through an open classroom window and interrupts their study with a cluck.
That’s because during the past year, an internal courtyard at the school has become a happy home to a growing flock of feathered friends, now a much-loved part of the community. They came to the school as eggs in an incubator for students to learn about embryo development, but it quickly became clear that the benefits of having the chickens around went far beyond textbooks. Now, they are here to stay.
“There was a lot of intentional effort to integrate the chickens into both the curriculum and school life,” said Lee Maguire, the after-school specialist behind the program. Now, students help feed and care for the birds, cleaning out the heated coop and collecting freshly-laid eggs. The opportunity to hang out with the flock of the Novogen Browns, a breed known for their docile nature, has proved a motivating factor when it comes to school work, too, added Maguire.
“We have had students in math classes studying outside in the courtyard, asking for more work to stay out here longer.”
Cardinal Forest Elementary School first graders took a class field trip to their future high school’s football field. They met West Springfield High School’s varsity football players and cheerleaders, ran through a high-five gauntlet, picked out books, and chose one of the student-athletes to read with them.
“It is so cool to see that you can inspire somebody even if you didn’t know them personally beforehand,” said Marcos Jimenez, a West Springfield senior and defensive tackle on the football team. Marcos read “Trick or Treat” and “Roller Coaster Roller Coaster” to the students who chose him as their reader.
Cardinal Forest First Grade Teacher Jennifer Walrath, the mother of West Springfield student and quarterback Brian Walrath, came up with the idea for the event, hoping to build community and instill a love of reading in the younger students. Felicia Drake, the principal of Cardinal Forest Elementary, and Assistant Principal Cindy Agner put the logistics in place — booking a school bus, lining up school mascots to attend, and coordinating with the high school so the athletes could attend.
“Our students are in awe of the West Springfield students and look at them as heroes,” Drake said. “Seeing the joy on the faces of our previous Mighty Red Birds reading to our future Spartans is something I will never forget.”
In 2025, Justice High School Science Department Chair Kirsten Salonga received the Global Educator of the Year Award from AFS-USA. The award recognizes educators who have demonstrated excellence in integrating cultural diversity, global competence, and internationalized concepts into their instruction to cultivate active global citizens.
Salonga, who teaches biology and environmental science for multilingual learners, takes an “innovative approach to the curriculum” and has a “vivacious commitment to a student population that is sadly overlooked,” according to her colleague, Biology Teacher Benjamin Slyngstad.
Salonga is always seeking ways for her students to experience new things and has played a big role in helping Justice High School students pursue science-based careers. “Ms. Salonga is an educator who sees the beauty in every student’s unique story, embraces their cultural differences as a strength,” said Assistant Principal Rashawn Luckman.
The Novice Teacher Instructional Coach Program in Fairfax County provides vital support for first-year teachers as they step into the classroom. At Centreville Elementary School, that support comes to life through the partnership between Instructional Coach Sarah Phillips and new teacher Emma Patane.
From the very beginning of the school year, Phillips was by Patane’s side — helping set up her classroom, walking with her to meet students, and guiding her through planning lessons. “Small group time gave me a little bit of anxiety at first,” Patane admitted. “I didn’t see it much in student teaching, and I wanted to use it effectively. Sarah sat down with me multiple times to plan weeks of ideas in both math and language arts, and that helped me feel confident and stay organized.”
Phillips explained that the heart of coaching is building trust and collaboration. “Coaching in Fairfax is asset-based,” she said. “Our role is to build on people’s strengths. We’re not evaluators — we’re partners they can lean on without judgment.”
The impact is clear: increased confidence for novice teachers, stronger instructional practices, and a positive ripple effect throughout the school. Most importantly, students benefit from consistent, effective teaching that supports their growth every day.
In May 2025, Rocky Run Middle School eighth grader Nikita Ramakrishnan competed in the 100th Scripps National Spelling Bee. She earned the privilege after correctly spelling the word “xanthic” to win the 2025 Fairfax County Spelling Bee, sponsored by the Fairfax County Council PTA.
Nikita studied four to six hours a day leading up to the iconic national spelling competition. She says spelling taught her useful classroom study skills, including time and stress management. “Even today, I definitely keep improving on that, just because of spelling. So [I’m] really reaping the benefit,” she said.
The strategic plan identifies five overarching goals that will drive positive change throughout our district. These goals indicate where we should focus our attention and help us align our efforts. Each goal includes an equity commitment and a set of measures that will be used to evaluate success.
Every student will develop foundational academic skills, curiosity, and a joy for learning necessary for success in pre-K through 12th grade.
Nuril Kingsley, an enhanced autism teacher at Fairhill Elementary School, is also a mother of an autistic son, Danny.
Inspired by some of Danny’s best teachers in FCPS, Kingsley decided to become a teacher herself. She enrolled in the special education program at George Mason University. After studying on and off for five years, she graduated and began teaching as a multiple disabilities teacher, and went on to complete an Applied Behavior Analysis program in the fall of 2023.
Kingsley believes teaching is not just about working with the students, but also with the parents. She finds this work “uplifting and empowering.” “Parents can feel isolated at times,” she shared from experience. So she is starting a parent support group for her students’ families. This group is a place where parents can share resources, support, and hope.
“Before I became a teacher, I was the one who was seeking support and help,” she said. “I am so grateful that I can be that person who can offer that support.”
And perhaps her greatest teacher has been Danny. “Danny has taught me so much,” she said, especially resilience and patience. “You know. I have this perfect teacher with me every day. He overcomes so much in his life.”
At Kilmer Middle School, students don’t worry about getting written up — in fact, they want the attention!
Every school yea r, staff members at Kilmer hand out hundreds of “Positive Referrals” to recognize students’ good deeds or positive habits. The referrals are displayed in the cafeteria windows for all to see, and each one comes with a coupon for a free snack.
The program is helping Kilmer students develop a strong start for high school. As Principal Steven McFarlane explained, “To be a middle school educator, you really have to be passionate about two things: not just the [lesson] content, but the students’ development as human beings.”
Positive Referrals have changed the culture in Kilmer’s hallways, and students feel it. “Often in middle school, students feel really doubtful about themselves, have lots of negative feelings; maybe they compare themselves to other kids,” seventh grade student Naomi Rosner reflected. “It can be really hard sometimes, but I feel like when you get a Positive Referral you realize, ‘Hey, I am really good the way I am,’ and you realize that you’re really smart and kind, and you can do lots of great things in this world.”
Every student will experience an equitable school community where student health and well-being are prioritized, and student voice is centered.
At Cunningham Park Elementary School, a group of sixth grade students use their free period to visit the first grade classrooms. They each take a small group of children and help them with math or lead them in a reading circle.
The sixth graders participate in “Cardinals Care for Cardinals,” a peer-to-peer mentoring program started by one of their own. Ruth Gaffney presented a full slideshow to Principal Allison Hoak proposing a program where the sixth graders mentor the first graders.
First grade student Carter Ruffner said he feels happy when the older students arrive. “I like it when they come in the room, it means a lot because I get to read!” His classmate, Elizabeth Kyle, explained she loves working with her buddy because “she helps me with spelling words.”
As the sixth graders prepared for their own jump to middle school, the program empowered them to become leaders. As Gaffney explained, mentoring develops crucial communication skills: “No matter their personality, you have to be able to talk to [people] and be able to negotiate things with them,” she explained. “Being able to find common ground with them is a really good life skill to have.”
At Lewis High School, where soccer reigns supreme, a group of varsity players saw an opportunity to widen access to the sport they love.
Aware that playing on the highly competitive varsity team is a dream for many, Class of 2025 seniors Andres Roca, Luis Guzman, and Andres Mendoza began an alternative program open for all. It has now become a fully fledged, year-round league called La Liguita (the small league). In addition to the players, there is a roster of students helping behind the scenes.
Roca recalls how the idea began two years ago and quickly grew in popularity. Around 150 students — approximately 10% of the Lewis population — are now involved. “We started with 15 kids who just wanted to get out and play,” he explained. “By last year, it had become so large that we wanted to put some thought into organizing ourselves into a league so it wasn’t just chaos.”
But he added, “Because advisory is a time for students to catch up on schoolwork, we implemented rules that assignments needed to be completed and grades kept up.” Students who want to play or assist one of the eight teams must be up-to-date on assignments and maintain good attendance.
Every student will acquire critical and creative thinking skills, meet/exceed high academic standards, and achieve their highest academic potential.
Each Wednesday afternoon during the winter months, the Annandale High School boys and girls basketball teams make the short walk to Braddock Elementary School for a very important match-up.
The Atoms athletes are there to mentor third graders who could benefit from extra support in reading comprehension. For ten weeks, the athletes and younger students gather on benches in the cafeteria and work through literacy skills in collaboration with the Herndon non-profit, Readers Are Leaders. It’s a successful partnership that has been running between the schools since 2018.
Their efforts are helping FCPS ensure all students are reading at grade level by the end of third grade, a key component of Strategic Plan Goal 3: Academic Growth and Excellence.
“The impact is huge,“ said Adriana Vela, a literacy teacher at Braddock. “We want to develop that love of reading.“ Vela works alongside Jacquelyne Vereen, a reading resource teacher; Joyce Matthews, an afterschool program coordinator; and Jakelin Lake, family engagement support specialist.
McLean High School math teachers knew their students were capable of more. And so, two years ago, they pushed for all pre-calculus students to be enrolled in AP pre-calculus. This opened an opportunity for successful students to receive college credit for their work, said Ashley Lowry, one of McLean’s assistant principals.
Inspired by the teachers’ initiative, the school administration granted their request to move all McLean pre-Calculus students into the AP version of the course. “We worked with our teachers to support them and listened to them and heard what their needs were, what learning they needed to do, what structures needed to be in place in terms of staffing and enrollment,” she said. “And we supported them to bring their vision to fruition.”
The McLean team was right to believe in their students and teachers: In the first year of the new pre-calculus approach, 98.6% of students who took the AP exam passed it. At the end of the second year, the students had a 99.7% pass rate. “We had students who really doubted their abilities and whether or not they would succeed in this class. And we had teachers who were devoted to convincing students that they could do it,” Lowry said. “And they did.”
Every student will have access to high-quality academic programming and resources to support their success.
On a Sunday evening in April, a woman driving in front of Om Desai suddenly slowed down and pulled over. “I turned around and rolled my window down, and asked her, ‘Is everything okay? Is there something I can help you with?’” Om recalled. “She said, ‘I don’t know, I’m just a little scared here.’”
Om, a 2025 graduate of Chantilly High School, took Auto Collision and Auto Technology classes at Chantilly Academy. These classes offer students hands-on instruction in a working garage.
Thanks to those classes, Om knew just what to do to get the driver, Elizabeth Mulenga, moving again. “He opened up the hood, looked around the engine, and informed me that the issue was most likely an ignition misfire,” explained Mulenga in an email to Chantilly High School leadership. “He quickly figured out the parts I needed to fix the issue and drove his car to a nearby store and bought the parts.”
Om said the Auto Collision and Auto Technology classes gave him the technical knowledge and interpersonal skills needed to help Mulenga. “We learn how to talk to customers, telling them what we fix, how we fix it, and what can be done to prevent things like this in the future,” he said.
In April 2025, when the Edison Theatre Company at Edison High School performed Grease - School Edition , the group turned to the working garage just down the hall at Edison Academy to create the production’s most iconic prop. Students in the Automotive Collision Service class brought Greased Lightnin’ to life, transforming the rusted front end of a 1949 Ford Coupe into the automatic, systematic, hydromatic hot rod, drawing inspiration from the car’s appearance in the 1978 film.
Senior Elijah Knight said, “making sure that all of the rust was taken off so that the paint would stick and look good” was a top priority. The students also needed to make sure the welds on the car were strong: “With [the actors] performing on it, they’re going to be standing all around it, leaning against it. If one of the welds were to break, the frame could fall apart,” explained senior Kristian Granado.
Theatre Arts Teacher Jeff Walker said he was “truly speechless” when he saw Greased Lightnin’ for the first time. “The finished product was like seeing a brand new automobile,” he said, “and it looks more like the iconic car than we even expected, all thanks to the [Automotive Collision Service] program.”
Every student will graduate ready to thrive in life after high school and with the skills to navigate, adapt, and innovate for a sustainable future.
A team of 16-year-old Oakton High School students — Aniketh Bandlamudi, Lauren Kim, Vishal Manikanden, and Malek Swilam — dedicated months to developing an app that may help spot oral cancer. The team is now seeking approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to bring the app to the public as a wellness tool. They hope that the invention will eventually revolutionize cancer detection.
The month of May can be a testing time for FCPS students in more ways than one, but the Cyber class at Edison Academy came up with a novel way to provide a distraction — a retro arcade. From Donkey Kong to old-school Super Mario Brothers, 2014 FIFA, and a 10-year-old version of Just Dance projected on a wall, the classroom filled with excited students and staff taking a step back in time and a break from their studies during the spring testing season.
The idea came from career-switching teacher Aaron King as he looked for ways to engage his students. With grant funding from Educate Fairfax, the Foundation for Applied Technical Education, and the Parent Teacher Student Association, the class brought his vision to life.
“Students run the entire operation so they learn about running a business, maintenance, budget, security, and customer service,” explained King.
In Summer 2024, Clearview Elementary School hosted its inaugural robotics camp. Led by student volunteers from Herndon High School’s robotics team, the students used special LEGO sets that featured tools such as light and touch sensors to design robots that could solve problems, such as navigating through a maze.
“Something our team is really big on is giving back to the community and finding ways to provide affordable, accessible STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education to schools around us,” Herndon senior Addison explained.
Clearview’s robotics camp is one of many ways students across FCPS keep up with their lessons over the summer break. Here, students gained useful experience in STEM learning, including a key pillar of STEM learning: persistence. In designing robots, coding often doesn’t work as planned, but trying again almost always leads to something better. “They’re going to fail a lot,” said Herndon Robotics volunteer mentor Spencer Allain, “but there’s knowledge in learning these things.”
“It took a lot of weeks of planning, but it was incredibly worthwhile,” said Addison. “I really believe that this is the start of something sustainable that we can do every summer for many years to come.”
Voters have a direct role in shaping the future of our schools. Funding for the building and renovation of schools does not come from the school division’s operating budget. That’s why bond referendums — which are approved by voters — are essential. Bond-funded projects provide safe, welcoming, effective, and modern spaces for students to learn, staff to work, and community members to thrive.
Bond funding allows FCPS to complete existing projects and shorten the renovation cycle while seeking to avoid an increase in property tax rates. A $460 million school bond referendum will be on the ballot this November. Proceeds of school bonds approved by voter referendums have been used to fund recent projects, which are shared below.
Scope:Renovation will bring the future building area to approximately 122,900 square feet (currently 95,800) and will include new classrooms, a cafeteria/kitchen, gymnasium, administrative suite, and an outdoor classroom.
Current Status:In planning/design
Estimated Completion:Summer 2028
Scope:The renovation with additions will bring the total future building area to approximately 118,250 square feet (currently 81,840) and will include new classrooms, an administrative suite, library and cafeteria/kitchen expansions, and a new outdoor classroom.
Current Status:Under construction
Estimated Completion:Summer 2027
Scope:The renovation and additions made to this school brought the total school area to approximately 104,150 square feet (previously 63,060). This includes renovations to the cafeteria, kitchen, office, and gymnasium; and new classrooms, an outdoor classroom, and an entrance vestibule. The vestibule features the facade of the historic original school building.
Current Status:Completed
Since January 2023, Marshall Road Elementary School students have been composting their lunch scraps — an effort that results in an estimated 300 gallons of food waste becoming compost every week. That’s nearly 30 tons since the program began!
The initiative, the brainchild of school PTA President Monica Nuno, requires a partnership between parents and the school to operate. It has paid off in community pride and environmentally savvy students.
Roughly three years ago, parent volunteers at lunch were struck by the amount of food waste they saw and wondered what they could do about it. Marshall Road Garden Educator Christene Hendon worked to secure grant funding from Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) Northern Virginia Community Fund to help pay for a composting contract for the first year of the initiative.
Now the PTA pays roughly $3 per student to fund composting services for the entire school year. The community also donated a refrigerator where students store unopened milk cartons, yogurts, cheese sticks, and other packaged items that weren’t consumed and can be picked up by hungry classmates.
“We live in a fast-paced world. No one wants to think about trash,” Nuno said. “So our efforts with students were to say: take a minute, think — what can be recycled into compost? What can be saved for someone else to eat?”
The school also maintains small batches of vermicomposting worms that help students make connections between decaying food, decomposers, and soil. The worm bins go into classrooms, where students examine them to see how the composting process works up close as worms convert waste to compost.
Being the new kid in school is never easy. At Mason Crest Elementary School in Annandale, the Tiger Team is out to change that.
Mason Crest sees a lot of changes in its student population every year. During the 2023-24 school year, Mason Crest had a 21.7% mobility rate (a measure of how many students move in and out of a school during the school year), almost double the average mobility rate of 13.25% across FCPS.
Three Mason Crest teachers — Fifth Grade Teacher Monica Buckhorn and multilingual learner teachers Ellyn Pearson and Kimberley Mathews — came up with the idea of creating a student-led welcome committee to boost community, assist new students in adapting to their school, and hopefully improve attendance rates simultaneously.
They received applications from 26 existing students, all of whom answered questions about how they believed they met Tiger Team requirements such as “I am a good communicator” and “I am kind.” The team was formed and went to work.
“We had students receiving special education services, students in advanced academics, students who were learning English, students of all different economic backgrounds and races apply to be part of this group,” said Pearson, who is also the equity lead at Mason Crest. “They all really embraced each other to show pride in our school.”
Then the group mapped out goals and plans for the year — which included having team members give a tour to every new student when they started at the school, building a mailbox for students to leave notes to communicate with Tiger Team members, representing Mason Crest at school events, and being a friendly face for new students in need of help during the school day.
Glasgow Middle School is the largest middle school in Fairfax County, with more than 1,800 students. Its mentoring program, made up of more than 60 FCPS staff members and community volunteers, goes above and beyond to make the campus feel more like a close-knit community.
Having a variety of mentors, each with different backgrounds, specialties, and interests, helps every Glasgow student find the right mentor for their needs. The mentors also learn how to adapt to each of their student mentees.
For example, eighth grade student Asurema Fuentes-Romero only made small talk the first time she met with her mentor, math teacher Noemi Arellano. “That conversation led to better bonding,” Asurema said. “We met up more often, and we talked about things that made us comfortable and our feelings.”
Since then, Arellano’s mentee group has grown to five students who work on school improvement projects. Together, they created new hallway and restroom passes for each classroom and designed motivational posters to put up in the hallways. “The focus of my mentoring is leadership skills, improving communication skills, and gaining or strengthening their inner power and confidence,” explained Arellano.
Mentors often form powerful bonds with students by finding common threads. History teacher Christian Rios, who also runs Glasgow’s soccer club, mentors a seventh grade student who loves soccer. “During soccer [club], he was always respectful and easygoing,” said Rios. “It was easy to work with him; there was no learning curve.” That bond led to a clear set of goals: the student now aims to maintain grades at C-level or higher, with Rios cheering him on from the sidelines.
The mentorship program at Glasgow makes a difference in the lives of student mentees, no matter the challenges they’re going through. “We’re working on the environment at school to make it feel more like home,” explained School Social Worker Lisa Hershaft. “It feels like this is our place.”
Hershaft has noticed significant changes in the students who regularly receive mentoring: they are less likely to be chronically absent, more attentive in class, and, in some cases, their grades have started to improve. “I feel like I see a lot more smiles on their faces. It’s like kids are more excited about learning!” she beamed.
Bobby Krause, former director of student activities at Falls Church High School, said you can ask anyone who the hardest working person at the school is, and “the unanimous answer” will be Jaime Medina Yrhuay.
When they first started working together, Yrhuay once asked Krause for help to pick up flowers to plant in the school courtyard. Krause assumed they were heading for a nursery. When they pulled up to a neighbor’s yard instead, and Yrhuay started loading flowers from their garden, “I was mortified,” Krause said.
But Yrhuay’s work extends beyond the school and into the community. Yrhuay had helped the homeowner with landscaping, and they invited him to transplant overgrown flowers. “This is obviously beyond the scope of the job for a custodian and shows how much Jaime cares about our school,” Krause said.
“He tackles every task, no matter how challenging, with a happy heart and a desire to serve those around him and his school,” said Ben Nowak, principal.
For 17 years, Tashima Bradshaw has served as a dedicated FCPS school bus driver. As a small bus driver floater, she seamlessly transitions between routes and small and large buses, always stepping in where needed. Driving a school bus is more than a job for Bradshaw — it’s a calling. “The connections and bonds you form with the children are so special,” she says. Her commitment runs deep, as her mother and sister also worked in FCPS transportation roles.
Bradshaw often volunteers for last-minute runs, conducting full pre-trip checks with each switch. In September 2024, she displayed heroic quick thinking by stepping in to protect a struggling student during a high-stress situation. Her actions earned her the FCPS CARES of the Month award the following month.
When Michael Mukai, the new principal of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST), first walked the halls as a student in the inaugural class of 1984, he had a sense he was part of something very special.
“Being part of that lead class meant we could experiment with something different. The teachers and the staff were amazing because they were ready and prepared to help support us and give us every opportunity.”
In January 2025, Mukai said farewell to West Springfield High School, where he served as principal for 10 years, and returned to lead his alma mater with a vision for the school that prepares students for a future yet to be imagined. Just as he was able to 40 years ago, he wants to make sure that all future Colonials can push boundaries and innovate.
Herndon High School student James Culatta wasn’t stressing over college applications in the first half of his senior year. He was teaching himself to walk again after a freak accident sent him plummeting into a pit of scalding mud on a family vacation last summer.
He had third-degree burns over more than 50% of his body, requiring intubation and multiple skin-graft surgeries to heal his life-threatening wounds. He missed months of school while he recovered in a burn unit, with the distant dream of being able to dance so he could audition for his senior year musical, Footloose .
By the time Footloose auditions began, “you would never have known this kid was in a bed in a hospital, getting surgeries just a few months earlier,” Herndon High’s theater director Scott Pafumi said.
“He was amazing, there was no doubt — it was unanimous he should get the lead role,” Pafumi said. His family praised Herndon High’s theater staff for their belief in their son, and the school’s teachers and administration for helping James find a path to graduate on time, which included a mix of online courses and schedule flexibility to work around surgeries and physical therapy.
“As he danced on stage, I had flashbacks of holding his hand while he lay on a hospital table in excruciating pain,” his father Richard Culatta said. “This kind of recovery is a true testament to the incredible power of family, faith, community, friendship, prayer, and love.”
James graduated with an advanced diploma from Herndon High and will work at a camp for children burn victims this summer, hoping to comfort them by sharing his own path to recovery. Then he’ll attend Utah Valley University in the fall, where he plans to continue his love for theater, music, and dancing.
The 12 School Board members are elected for four-year terms; one member represents each of the county’s nine magisterial districts, and three members serve at-large.
Sandy Anderson, Chair
Springfield District Representative
Robyn Lady, Vice Chair
Dranesville District Representative
Rachna Sizemore Heizer
Braddock District Representative
Marcia St. John-Cunning
Franconia District Representative
Melanie K. Meren
Hunter Mill District Representative
Ricardy Anderson
Mason District Representative
Mateo Dunne
Mount Vernon District Representative
Karl Frisch
Providence District Representative
Seema Dixit
Sully District Representative
Kyle McDaniel
Member, At-Large
Ryan McElveen
Member, At-Large
Ilryong Moon
Member, At-Large
Faith Mekonen
Student Representative
School Address
6001 Union Mill Road
Clifton, VA 20124
School CEEB Code |
470549
Main Office |
703-802-5400
Main Office Fax |
703-802-5497
Student Services |
703-802-5422
Student Activities |
703-802-5416
Activities Hotline |
703-761-7228
Attendance |
703-802-5419
More Phone Numbers...
