Archive: Schools
UPDATE 4/29: School Board Might Alter Moral Character Goals
Updated 4/29 From today's Metro section: Fairfax County School Board members yesterday proposed removing the words "demonstrate sound moral character" from the school system's goals after a report showing a gap among racial groups in that area touched off a public outcry. Five board members met for two hours to scour the language of the "essential life skills" goals to make them less subjective and more clear. The non-academic goals are intended to promote character education and 21st-century work habits among students. Board members suggested replacing the moral character language with "demonstrate honesty, responsibility and leadership." Board member Martina A. Hone (At Large) said that honesty can be more objectively measured and that officials could potentially look at statistics on cheating or stealing. Information on moral character had been gleaned from teachers' comments about students' behavior on report cards. In the next few weeks, board members will discuss how to...
By Focus on Fairfax | April 29, 2008; 09:15 AM ET | Comments (0)
Fairfax Schools Absorbing ESOL Students Fleeing PW
Fairfax County schools' enrollment of students in English for speakers of other languages programs is up nearly 260% for the period September to March 31 over the same period last year. Other neighboring jurisdictions are also seeing similar increases. Meanwhile in Prince William County, which recently began denying certain services to illegal immigrants, has seen a decline in its number of students in such programs. The news story is here....
By Focus on Fairfax | April 28, 2008; 11:46 AM ET | Comments (0)
Teacher Brings Art To Life For Disabled Students
Check out the cover story from today's Fairfax Extra to see how one Fairfax County school teacher is finding new ways of introducing great art to and fostering creativity within students with limited visual or cognitive abilities....
By Focus on Fairfax | April 17, 2008; 05:17 PM ET | Comments (0)
Schools: When Band and Sports Conflict
Today's Extra Credit column in the Fairfax Extra begins a conversation about what parents and students do when sports and music programs in their schools prove to be mutually exclusive because scheduling conflicts. It's a particular conundrum for students who enjoy or exhibit talent in both, but are forced by their schools to choose....
By Focus on Fairfax | April 17, 2008; 09:18 AM ET | Comments (0)
School Fundraiser a Bright Idea
The newest fundraising effort undertaken by Fairfax County school students won't leave you with chocorific calories to burn or expensive wrapping paper cluttering the closet. In the long run, it may even save you money. Beginning later this month, the students will be selling environmentally-friendly low energy-use compact fluorescent light bulbs. Get the details in this article from today's Fairfax Extra....
By Focus on Fairfax | April 3, 2008; 02:05 PM ET | Comments (0)
UPDATE 4/1: Parents Group Sues Over Boundary Shift
Updated 4/1 News about the suit, which was filed Friday, is in today's Metro section. Updated 3/3 The challenges that face the board after the controversial decision is the subject of this article from yesterday's Metro section. Updated 2/29 The boundary shift, approved late last night, will affect thousands of students. Read this article and then come back to Focus on Fairfax to share your thoughts. Updated 2/8 According to this article in today's Washington Post, parents are questioning the enrollment projections on which schools officials are basing the plans to redraw the boundaries. Updated 1/31 A report from last night's public meeting about the boundary shift is in today's Metro section. Updated 1/16 From today's Metro section: Some Fairfax County School Board members discussed this week whether South Lakes High School could be transformed into a magnet school in an effort to minimize controversy over a proposal to reshape...
By Focus on Fairfax | April 1, 2008; 10:37 AM ET | Comments (0)
Lake Braddock Boasts Four Alumni at Juilliard
Boasting four of its former students among the 800 currently enrolled at the exclusive Julliard School in New York, Lake Braddock Secondary School's band program is raising eyebrows among some of the conservatory's faculty and student body. Juilliard admits only seven percent of all applicants and to get four at the same time from the same public high school is unusual, if not unprecedented. The Fairfax Extra has the story....
By Focus on Fairfax | March 27, 2008; 01:05 PM ET | Comments (0)
Police Arrest Five Boys Suspected Of Gang Activity at Twain Middle
From today''s Metro section: Fairfax County police said yesterday that they have arrested five boys ages 12 to 14 suspected of gang activity at Mark Twain Middle School in the Alexandria area of Fairfax County in recent months. Police said gang-related graffiti were scribbled in a boys' bathroom at the school in January. A 12-year-old and a 13-year-old were charged with destruction of a public building. Upon further investigation, police said, they found additional gang activity. This month, two 13-year-olds and a 14-year-old were charged with gang participation and gang recruitment. Police said the recruitment occurred at the school. In a separate case, graffiti were sprayed on buildings at Robert E. Lee High School in early December, shortly after a homicide occurred outside a nearby Springfield Mall restaurant. In late February, police said they charged three men and one juvenile with felony property destruction and gang participation. The men are...
By Focus on Fairfax | March 26, 2008; 09:46 AM ET | Comments (0)
Addition to South County Secondary: a Half-Measure?
Some Lorton-area residents have pushed for a new middle school to help alleviate overcrowding at South County Secondary School. According to this story from today's Metro section, a proposal from County Executive Anthony H. Griffin to add a wing to the secondary school to ease the problem is getting mixed reviews, seen by some as a more imperfect solultion than building a new school for seventh and eighth-graders....
By Focus on Fairfax | March 25, 2008; 08:55 AM ET | Comments (1)
George Mason High, A Little School That Can and Does
Check out today's Varsity Letter high school sports column from the Fairfax Extra to read about Falls Church's George Mason High School, a David among other Northern Virginia Goliaths. The school's girl's basketball team is headed to the state Class A semi-finals tomorrow....
By Focus on Fairfax | March 13, 2008; 03:27 PM ET | Comments (0)
Comparative Statistics Help in Choosing School
In his Extra Credit column today, Jay Mathews argues that comparative statistics would be helpful for parents trying to decide which private school to enroll their children in. Read the column in today's Fairfax Extra....
By Focus on Fairfax | February 21, 2008; 12:31 PM ET | Comments (0)
UPDATE 2/15: School Board May Reject Some Proposed Cuts
Updated 2/15 The news out of last night's School Board meeting indicates that the elimination of some programs and services which the board was mulling may not happen. Originally posted 2/14 The Fairfax County School Board will vote tonight on what this article from today's Fairfax Extra calls "the most austere budget in a decade." Parents have widely decried a variety of cuts in programs and services which the budget calls for....
By Focus on Fairfax | February 14, 2008; 11:33 AM ET | Comments (1)
Compare Region's School Chiefs' Salaries, Compensation
Check out this article from the Fairfax Extra which lists the salaries of the superintendents of each of the local school systems. Fairfax County's Jack D. Dale tops the list with an annual salary of $279,340....
By Focus on Fairfax | February 1, 2008; 11:58 AM ET | Comments (0)
New School to Be Considered
From today's Metro section: The Fairfax County School Board voted last night to spend $2 million to draft plans for a middle school that would ease crowding at South County Secondary School in Lorton. "This is what I would call the first down payment on that school," said board member Brad Center (Lee). Board members intend to work with county supervisors to secure outside funding to speed construction of the school. The design funding was approved as part of a $1.85 billion 10-year building and renovation plan. That plan does not include construction funding for the middle school in the fast-growing part of the county for at least five years. South County Secondary is about 400 students over capacity. -- Michael Alison Chandler...
By Focus on Fairfax | January 25, 2008; 10:52 AM ET | Comments (0)
Fairfax City Opens New Library
Check out this cover story from today's Fairfax Extra for an early peek inside the new Fairfax City regional library branch. The library, which is set to open Saturday, is at the heart of the revitalized downtown of the city....
By Focus on Fairfax | January 24, 2008; 12:23 PM ET | Comments (0)
School Superintendent Proposes Big Cuts
To meet the current budget shortfall, Fairfax County Schools Superintendent Jack D. Dale is proposing an increase in class sizes and a range of cuts to programs as well as fewer teaching positions. Read the news here....
By Focus on Fairfax | January 11, 2008; 10:05 AM ET | Comments (1)
A Look at 'Surprise Schools'
That's the term that Extra Credit columnist Jay Mathews uses to describe schools that defy conventional wisdom by performing well in The Washington Post's Challenge Index while also have a high percentage of students from low income families. Click here to see Mathews's take on what might be going on with the phenomenon....
By Focus on Fairfax | January 10, 2008; 12:24 PM ET | Comments (0)
UPDATE 12/10: Critics Say Islamic Academy Textbooks Promote Intolerance
Updated 12/10 The latest on the scrutiny the Islamic Saudi Academy is facing is in today's Metro section. Updated 11/16 The latest news is in today's Metro section. Originally posted 10/19 The U.S. State Department is being urged by a federal panel, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, to shut down a Fairfax school that is supported by the government of Saudi Arabia until the school can prove that it is not teaching religious intolerance. The story is on today's front page....
By Focus on Fairfax | January 10, 2008; 10:03 AM ET | Comments (0)
All-Extra Athletes
The best student athletes in area schools are named in today's Fairfax Extra. Click the links to see the names in field hockey, football, boys' soccer, girls' soccer, boys' cross country, girls' cross country and volleyball....
By Focus on Fairfax | December 20, 2007; 11:25 AM ET | Email a Comment
N. Va. Schools Score High in Giving College-Level Tests
Once again many of the county's schools are near the top of the Washington Post's annual Challenge Index ranking of local high schools. That's attributable in part to the policy the Northern Virginia school systems have adopted of requiring and paying for college level tests for students in their Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate classes. Read all about it in today's Fairfax Extra....
By Focus on Fairfax | December 13, 2007; 01:33 PM ET | Email a Comment
County Faces Budget Crisis
A shortfall of about $220 million faces the Fairfax County government according to this article from the front page of today's Washington Post. The crunch, which stems from the housing slump, could last several years and affect a range of county services and programs. So what gets cut? Let's hear what readers of Focus on Fairfax would do if you had to make the hard choices that face county leaders....
By Focus on Fairfax | December 12, 2007; 10:30 AM ET | Comments (1)
High School Basketball Preview
Want to know what to expect as the high school basketball season gets underway? The Fairfax Extra presents these previews of the outlook for boys' and girls' teams and players in Northern Virginia....
By Focus on Fairfax | December 6, 2007; 12:13 PM ET | Email a Comment
More Security Technology Comes to Schools
Today's Fairfax Extra carries this story about the efforts local schools officials are making to increase security and prevent sexual predators from infiltrating school grounds. High tech weapons in the tasks will include ID scanners, computer databases and video intercoms....
By Focus on Fairfax | December 6, 2007; 11:47 AM ET | Email a Comment
Evening School Activities Cancelled
From Fairfax County Public Schools: All Fairfax County public school activities for this evening are canceled, including extracurricular activities, interscholastic contests, team practices, field trips, adult and community education classes, and recreation programs in schools. SACC centers remain open until 6:15 p.m. For complete details, visit www.fcps.edu or call 1-800-839-3277....
By Focus on Fairfax | December 5, 2007; 02:24 PM ET | Email a Comment
UPDATE 12/4: TJ is Tops in the Nation, One Senior Wins $40,000 Scholarship
Updated 12/4 From today's Metro section: Student Takes Third in Science Contest A Fairfax County teenager placed third yesterday in a national high school science competition sponsored by the Siemens Foundation, winning a $40,000 college scholarship. Jacob Steinhardt, 18, a senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, was honored for mathematical research that could lead to the design of faster computer networks. Steinhardt hopes to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The top prize and a $100,000 scholarship went to a Bethlehem, Pa., student whose research on bone growth in zebra fish has implications for the treatment of bone injuries and disorders in humans. -- Michael Alison Chandler Updated 12/3 Thomas Jefferson High School senior Jacob Steinhardt could earn a $100,000 scholarship for his research that could help build faster computer networks. Read about it here. Originally posted 11/30 U.S. News and World Report has ranked Fairfax...
By Focus on Fairfax | December 3, 2007; 09:37 AM ET | Email a Comment
County: No Figure for Cost of Services For Illegal Immigrants
Fairfax County officials can't put a dollar amount on the amount of money the local governement spends on services used by illegal immigrants they say, partly because many of those services are "universal access;"required by federal law to be open to anyone, regardless of immigration status.The officials also cite the difficulty of counting how many undocumented immigrants live in here. This is in today's Metro section....
By Focus on Fairfax | November 27, 2007; 10:01 AM ET | Comments (2)
Centreville, Falls Church Principals Honored
Two Elementary School Principals, Brian Hull of Colin L. Powell Elementary in Centreville and Trudy Taylor of Thomas Jefferson Elementary in Falls Church, are the recipients of Principal of the Year honors from the Washington Post Distinguished Educational Leadership Awards. Find out what these principled principals did to earn their accolades here, in today's Fairfax Extra....
By Focus on Fairfax | November 15, 2007; 11:09 AM ET | Email a Comment
Thomas Jefferson High Hurts College Chances for Some?
In today's Extra Credit column, one parent wonders if Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology has a deleterious effect on the college admission chances for students from the county's other high schools. She bases her question largely on recent remarks by Georgetown University's dean of admissions who told Washingtonian magazine that "Jefferson robs all the local schools of their best students, leaving behind a culture that's more dominated by athletics and rock music and less dominated by AP's and high academic achievement." Read the column for Jay Mathews's take in the question and then let us know what you think here....
By Focus on Fairfax | October 25, 2007; 11:08 AM ET | Email a Comment
Race for Fairfax School Board
Today's Metro section has a detailed look at the issues and candidates that voters will consider for the Fairfax County School Board. Elsewhere in the paper, the Washington Post's editorial board -- a completely separate division of the Washington Post from the news division -- has endorsed a slate of candidates for the school board positions that can be found here....
By Focus on Fairfax | October 22, 2007; 11:19 AM ET | Email a Comment
Two Schools' Miss Marks on Math Tests
Less than 70% of Holmes and Glasgow middle schools' students passed recent standards of learning tests, prompting state officials to warn the schools that their full accreditation requires that they now mus create improvement plans. Elsewhere in the county, most schools satisfied the SOL requirements. Read more in today's Fairfax Extra....
By Focus on Fairfax | October 18, 2007; 10:50 AM ET | Email a Comment
Enrollment Imbalance, Textbooks On Agenda at Public Meetings
From today's Metro section: Fairfax County public schools have scheduled three public meetings for a study of enrollment and capacity imbalances among five high schools in the western part of the county. The meetings, all starting at 7:30 p.m., will be held Nov. 12 at Chantilly High School, Dec. 3 at Westfield High School and Dec. 19 at Oakton High School. The school system is also seeking input on proposed new textbooks for German, French, Latin and Spanish classes in secondary schools. The books are available for review at eight public library branches: Centreville, Chantilly, Fairfax City, George Mason, Pohick, Reston, Sherwood and Tysons-Pimmit. The School Board plans to vote Dec. 20 on the book acquisition....
By Focus on Fairfax | October 9, 2007; 10:20 AM ET | Email a Comment
Kaine Presents Preschool Plan
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine wants to expand state-funded preschool to 17,000 more underprivileged 4-year old Virginians. Last week he presented his plan for how to accomplish that. Read about it here, in the Fairfax Extra....
By Focus on Fairfax | October 4, 2007; 02:03 PM ET | Email a Comment
Gesher Jewish Day School Settles Into New Home
The 25 year-old school finally has a home of its own in a new $14 million space that opened this month. Read about it in today's Fairfax Extra....
By Focus on Fairfax | September 27, 2007; 01:40 PM ET | Email a Comment
Local Teachers Take Zero G Flight
With an assist from Northrop Grumman's Weightless Flight of Discovery program, two groups of local teachers got to experience first hand some of what they teach in their classrooms with regard to the one thing that brings us all down. Check out the feature piece from today's Fairfax Extra....
By Focus on Fairfax | September 20, 2007; 11:23 AM ET | Email a Comment
Virginia Tech Victim's Family Plans Memorial
The family and friends of Mary Read, who graduated from Annandale High School in 2006 are preparing memorials to the teenager who was killed during the shooting rampage at Virginia Tech in the spring. In this article from today's Fairfax Extra, the Reads share their plans and explain how they are coping with their loss....
By Focus on Fairfax | September 13, 2007; 01:21 PM ET | Email a Comment
UPDATE 9/13: More 'Extra Credit' on Gifted And Talented
Updated 9/13 Readers sound off in today's column on accelerated courses for high-achieving students. Originally posted 8/16 Students are preparing to return to school and that means that Jay Mathews' column is back in the pages of the Fairfax Extra beginning this week. Today, Mathews looks at local gifted and talented programs....
By Focus on Fairfax | September 13, 2007; 12:35 PM ET | Email a Comment
Extra Credit: Combined Grade Classes
They affect only 2.1 percent of Fairfax County's elementary school classes, but parents say they have concerns over the practice of combining grades when there are too many students and not enough teachers. Read about it here. Besides the Extra Credit column, the Fairfax Extra has plenty of useful columns, lisitngs and news stories each week Thursday. Look for the print edition inside your Home and Classifieds sections and links here each week on Focus on Fairfax....
By Focus on Fairfax | September 6, 2007; 11:17 AM ET | Email a Comment
Sports: Football, Volleyball and Field Hockey
Today's Sports section has a look at all the preparation that goes into getting local high school fields ready for their Friday night games with a special focus on Robinson High. Also in today's Sports section, check out these previews of the volleyball and field hockey seasons....
By Focus on Fairfax | September 6, 2007; 10:31 AM ET | Email a Comment
Hayfield School Principal Honored
From today's Metro section: Bill Oehrlein, principal of Hayfield Secondary School in Fairfax County, has been named an outstanding principal of the year by the Virginia Association of Secondary School Principals. Oehrlein, 44, became principal of the combined middle-high school in 2004 after two years as principal of Irving Middle School. The association, which honored Oehrlein in a middle school category, cited him for smoothly leading a sharp reduction in Hayfield's enrollment when a new high school opened in the area. He was also praised for careful attention to improving instruction for struggling students and his support for foreign language courses, including reading the Pledge of Allegiance over the public address system in Spanish and German. -- Jay Mathews...
By Focus on Fairfax | September 6, 2007; 10:10 AM ET | Email a Comment
Full-Day Kindergarten Expands in Fairfax
Twenty-one additional Elementary schools in Fairfax County will begin all-day kindergarten classes today as students head back to school for the 2007-2008 school year. Read about it in today's Metro section....
By Focus on Fairfax | September 4, 2007; 10:42 AM ET | Email a Comment
Finding Enough Bus Drivers Challenges Schools
According to this article from today's Fairfax Extra, hiring and retaining enough school bus drivers to handle the more than 18 million miles the county system's buses travel in a year is increasingly challenging. The county's fleet is the nations' second largest. Renae Evans, a school bus driver from Fairfax County, Va. with her bus. (James A. Parcell For The Washington Post)...
By Focus on Fairfax | August 30, 2007; 03:43 PM ET | Email a Comment
Fairfax High School Football Preview
It's back to school and back to the gridiron for the student athletes of the county's high school football teams. The Fairfax Extra offers this preview of the upcoming season....
By Focus on Fairfax | August 30, 2007; 03:29 PM ET | Email a Comment
SAT Scores Still Higher Here
Despite a general downward trend in SAT scores nationwide, Fairfax County students' scores are holding steady and are still higher than students' scores elsewhere in Virginia. The Fairfax Extra has that news in its back to school edition as well as parents' response to Jay Mathews's suggestion in his Extra Credit column that elementary school homework be eliminated and traded in for increased reading time. ONE NOTE: The scores for South County High in 2006 were for juniors, not seniors, because the school had no seniors that year. The scores reported for 2007 were for seniors, as they were for all others reporting/rls...
By Focus on Fairfax | August 30, 2007; 03:21 PM ET | Email a Comment
Hispanic & Black Students Narrow Math Test Gap
Test results show that the county's Black and Hispanic students are narrowing the achievement gap in mathematics, but the news comes in the wake of Fairfax schools' failing 'No Child' grade. The story is here in the the Fairfax Extra's back to school edition....
By Focus on Fairfax | August 30, 2007; 03:15 PM ET | Email a Comment
Fairfax Schools Knew of, Treated Cho's Disorder
According to this article from today's front page, educators from Fairfax County Public Schools had recognized and responded to Virginia Tech shooter Seung Hui Cho's anxiety disorder while he was a student here, but were forbidden by privacy laws from passing that information on to the University. Only his parent or Cho himself could have let University officials know about his problem....
By Focus on Fairfax | August 27, 2007; 10:55 AM ET | Email a Comment
UPDATE 8/27: Local Leaders Point to Law's Inflexibility for Schools' Failure To Meet 'No Child' Test Goals
Updated 8/27 Fairfax school students' high achievements when measured by other criteria point to flaws in the No Child Left Behind requirements, say local leaders who cite the act's lack of flexibility when assessing school districts with high proportions of non-English speaking students. The latest is here. Updated 8/24 The Fairfax County Public school system for the first time has failed to meet achievement goals as set out in the No Child Left Behind Act and the blame is being laid at the feet of the acts requirements that non-English speaking students take the same tests as native English speakers. The news is on the front of today's Washington Post. Updated 4/23 Though they have retreated from their position of non-compliance, some Northern Virginia school officials say they are hopeful that their challenges will lead to significant changes to how the law is written. Today's Metro section has the details....
By Focus on Fairfax | August 27, 2007; 09:21 AM ET | Comments (6)
Former PTA President Charged With Embezzling
According to this article from today's Metro section,Triantafilitsa Mattfeld, the former president of the parent-teacher association at Navy Elementary School has been charged with embezzling $180,000 from the association....
By Focus on Fairfax | August 24, 2007; 10:02 AM ET | Comments (1)
Universal PreSchool Debate Heats Up
Gov. Kaine's decision to scale back his promise of state funded universal preschool for Virginia's four-year-olds has educators debating the merits of the idea versus the short-term cost cutting of providing the state dollars only for the neediest children. This article from today's front page takes a look at the issue....
By Focus on Fairfax | August 22, 2007; 10:31 AM ET | Email a Comment
TJ Now Requires Middle School Algebra for Entry
According to this article from yesterday's Metro section, algebra will now be a required course for those Fairfax County Public Schools students who hope to be admitted to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. School officials say the requirement reflects the growing perception that U. S. students need a more solid foundation in mathematics if they are to succeed in advanced science later....
By Focus on Fairfax | August 20, 2007; 10:31 AM ET | Email a Comment
Housing Slump Hurts Fairfax Coffers
A potential budget shortfall of $120 million dollars has Fairfax County officials struggling to fund all of its government programs. The poor real estate market is driving down revenue to its lowest point in 15 years and accounts for most of the problem which could particularly affect county school budgets. A news story is in today's Metro section....
By Focus on Fairfax | August 7, 2007; 09:32 AM ET | Comments (4)
National Merit and Achievement Winners
The list of winners from Fairfax County's public and private schools' senior classes is here. Congratulations to all....
By Focus on Fairfax | August 2, 2007; 12:40 PM ET | Email a Comment
Opposing Views on Open Doors to AP, IB Classes
Today's Extra Credit education column -- the last until August -- highlights opposing viewpoints from two students at Oakton High School on the issues of whether Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses should be opened to any student who want to take them, regardless of prior academic achievement....
By Focus on Fairfax | June 28, 2007; 01:01 PM ET | Comments (1)
Black Students in County Better Than Average on AP
African-American students in Fairfax County and in neighboring Montgomery County are performing better on Advanced Placement tests than the national average. In fact, the students are having more than eight times the success of black students elsewhere in the country. Read about it here....
By Focus on Fairfax | June 27, 2007; 09:54 AM ET | Email a Comment
Fairfax School Board to Get Raise
From Saturday's Metro section: The Fairfax County School Board approved a 67 percent raise for board members Thursday night, said schools spokeswoman Mary Shaw. As of January, the salary will be $20,000 a year for a member and $22,000 for the chairman. The increase from the current $12,000 board salary will be the first in eight years. The vote was 7 to 2, with members Ilryong Moon (At Large) and Stuart D. Gibson (Hunter Mill) opposed. Members Stephen M. Hunt (At Large) and Tessie Wilson (Braddock) abstained, and Brad Center (Lee) was absent. -- Michael Alison Chandler...
By Focus on Fairfax | June 25, 2007; 10:33 AM ET | Comments (3)
UPDATE 6/21: Parent Blasts at Fairfax's Summer Reading Requirement
Updated 6/21 More on summer reading lists, including readers' thoughts on the column of two weeks ago is in this week's Extra Credit column. Originally posted 6/7 Parents who encourage their children to read, "shouldn't look to the professional educators" of Fairfax County Schools for help writes one parent to tell education columnist Jay Mathew that she finds the recommended summer reading list from the school system woefully inadequate. Read the letter and Mathews response in today's Extra Credit column....
By Focus on Fairfax | June 21, 2007; 11:03 AM ET | Email a Comment
Don't Hug or Shake Hands in This Middle School
Physical contact of any kind has been banned by administrators at Vienna's Kilmer Middle School, meaning that a simple handshake or congratulatory pat on the back can land a kid in detention. Administrators defend the rule saying it helps them manage an overcrowded school. Some parents aren't buying it though. The story is in today's Metro section....
By Focus on Fairfax | June 18, 2007; 10:27 AM ET | Comments (3)
GMU Group Pushes for Concealed Carry at School
A former U.S. Marine currently enrolled at George Mason University wants to overturn a university policy allowing students and faculty to carry concealed guns. To that end he has started George Mason University Students for Concealed Carry and recruited 45 students to date to join him. The news is in today's Fairfax Extra....
By Focus on Fairfax | June 14, 2007; 04:34 PM ET | Email a Comment
UPDATE 6/5: Testing Firm Promises Fix For Online Glitches
Updated 6/5 Pearson Educational Measurement has pledged to hire more staff and make technical fixes to prevent further problems. The news is here. Updated 5/17 More details on the difficulty local students are having with the online test are in this article in today's Metro section. Originally posted 5/16 About 2,900 Virginia school students, including some in Fairfax County, will have to retake Standards of Learning exams after a computer glitch yesterday with an online test. The details are in today's Metro section....
By Focus on Fairfax | June 5, 2007; 10:28 AM ET | Email a Comment
Springfield GOP Candidates on the Issues
The Republican candidates for the Springfield seat on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Pat S. Herrity and Stan L. Reid, have similar positions on issues of development but differ on the continued existence of the Fairfax County Development Authority; Herrity likes it, Reid doesn't. Read more on the candidates platforms in this article from yesterday's Metro section....
By Focus on Fairfax | June 4, 2007; 10:24 AM ET | Comments (2)
South County Takes Four Cappies
The results are in for the Washington area's awards for high school theater and South County Secondary School and other Fairfax schools were among the top award winners. Read all about the results here....
By Focus on Fairfax | May 31, 2007; 01:23 PM ET | Email a Comment
Meet The All-Extra Teams
Fairfax's best high school athletes and the coaches of the year are all profiled in today's Fairfax Extra. Click these links to learn about the best players in golf, softball, baseball, gymnastics, boys' soccer, girls' soccer, girl's tennis, boys' track and field, girls' track and field, boys' tennis, girls' lacrosse, boys' lacrosse, and rowing....
By Focus on Fairfax | May 31, 2007; 12:30 PM ET | Email a Comment
Gang Initiation in Schools Restrooms
News that police arrested four students at South County Secondary School in March for conducting a gang initiation in a school restroom -- the second such incident in a county school in recent months -- was in this morning's Metro section....
By Focus on Fairfax | May 31, 2007; 10:39 AM ET | Email a Comment
Meet The Cappies Nominees
The Cappies high school theater program has announced its annual award nominees. Check out this article from the Fairfax Extra to meet them....
By Focus on Fairfax | May 17, 2007; 03:26 PM ET | Email a Comment
Immigration and Overcrowded Houses
This front page article in yesterday's paper on neighborhood disputes over overcrowded houses in Fairfax County has spawned a spirited discussion with people from Fairfax, the Washington region and elsewhere in the country, joining in by posting comments about the problem. Focus on Fairfax invites readers to continue the discussion here....
By Focus on Fairfax | May 14, 2007; 10:53 AM ET | Comments (9)
School Bond Referendum Set for Nov. 6
A $365.2 million bond measure will be put before voters in the Nov.6 election. The Fairfax County School Board would use the money to build two new schools and renovate and expand others and to expand the county's full-day kindergarten program. The news is in today's Fairfax Extra....
By Focus on Fairfax | May 10, 2007; 12:11 PM ET | Email a Comment
UPDATE 5/9: Arrest in School Food Tampering
Updated 5/9 Police said today they have arrested a student at the school. The news is here. Originally posted 5/8 Three straight pins have been discovered in school cafeteria food at Rachel Carson Middle School in Herndon over the past two weeks. Police think the pins were inserted by someone at the school. A news story is in today's Metro section....
By Focus on Fairfax | May 8, 2007; 10:07 AM ET | Email a Comment
More Than 3,200 New Students Projected From Belvoir Expansion
Fairfax County Public Schools will need to prepare for an influx of 3,200 new students because of the Fort Belvoir BRAC expansion, according to estimates from the U.S. Army. Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D) said he expects the U.S. Government to share the costs of new school construction and other expenses associated with the sudden increase in the number of schoolchildren. Read the tale in this Metro news article....
By Focus on Fairfax | May 3, 2007; 10:16 AM ET | Email a Comment
Breaking Schools News: Schools To Close Early Today Because of High Winds
The details are at the Fairfax County Public Schools website....
By Focus on Fairfax | April 16, 2007; 10:00 AM ET | Email a Comment
All - Extra Winter Athletes
Who are the best of the best when it comes to winter high school sports in the county? Check out these links to read about the best in boys' and girls' indoor track. More is in the print edition of the Fairfax Extra including, basketball, hockey, wrestling and swimming....
By Focus on Fairfax | April 5, 2007; 05:04 PM ET | Email a Comment
UPDATE 3/29: McLean High Students File Suit Against Database Co.
Updated 3/29 Two students at the school, who object to their papers being archived by a company that profits by using them to prevent future cheating by other students, have sued for $900,000 in damages. The report is in today's Metro section. Updated 10/4 School officials have announced that current seniors and juniors will not have their work archived in the anti-plagiarism database, but freshmen and sophomores will and the 11th and 12th graders will be forced to take part in coming years. Some of the student protesters say that is still not good enough. Here is the story from today's paper. Originally posted 9/22 The students at the school say that use of the database makes an presumption of guilt and violates their intellectual property rights by copying and storing their work. The news story is on today's front page....
By Focus on Fairfax | March 29, 2007; 10:30 AM ET | Comments (6)
Students Charged In Gang Initiation at Hayfield
Fairfax County police have filed felony charges against four teenagers who were discovered Thursday by a teacher at Hayfield Secondary School, performing a gang initiation in a school bathroom. The news is in today's Metro section....
By Focus on Fairfax | March 28, 2007; 10:11 AM ET | Email a Comment
Fisher on Jack Dale and Defiance of 'No Child' Law
Metro opinion columnist March Fisher writes today about Fairfax schools superintendat Jack Dale and praises his opposition to testing recent immigrant students in English as required by the No Child Left Behind act. Meanwhile Dale and other Northern Virginia school chiefs are being joined by educators from other states in defying the policies of No Child Left behind. The latest news on the topic is here....
By Focus on Fairfax | March 22, 2007; 10:54 AM ET | Comments (1)
Couple of Readers on Early Kindergarten Admissions
Jay Mathews dedicates his Extra Credit column today to allowing readers to respond to his column last month on a question many parents face about when their five-year-olds should start kindergarten....
By Focus on Fairfax | March 15, 2007; 11:00 AM ET | Email a Comment
A Soldier's Death Becomes Lesson in Dad's Govt Class
The 2002 death of Army Ranger Matthew Commons in Afghanistan has become an annual teaching opportunity for his father Greg , a government teacher at Annandale High School. Read about how the students are learning about civic duty in this article from Saturday's Metro section....
By Focus on Fairfax | March 5, 2007; 10:12 AM ET | Email a Comment
Fairfax News Briefs
From today's Metro section: Police Arrest Suspect in Several Robberies A District man has been charged with an armed robbery in Fairfax County last month and is being investigated in a string of similar holdups, including two in which the gunman fired shots inside the businesses. Police arrested James Rose, of the 3400 block of Fifth Street SE, on Saturday at an apartment in Annandale. He was charged with the Jan. 31 robbery of a 7-Eleven in the Hybla Valley area, which was captured on video that shows a masked man wielding a long-barreled gun. Police said Rose was also a suspect in the Jan. 18 robberies of Chin's Kitchen and Huntington Market in the Huntington area and the Jan. 14 robbery of a Sunoco gas station in the Hybla Valley area. -- Tom Jackman Man Killed While Trying to Cross Route 1 A man trying to walk across Route...
By Focus on Fairfax | February 27, 2007; 10:17 AM ET | Email a Comment
Update 2/22: Virginia AP Enrollment Up 60 Percent Over Five Years
Updated 2/22 So just how many students are taking these AP classes? Today's Fairfax Extra has some numbers. Updated 2/7 While Fairfax leads the nation in the number of students taking AP courses, an official with the College Board warns that it may be too much of a good thing. The story is here. Originally posted 12/14 According to the Washington Post Challenge Index of top public schools, Fairfax County high school students take more AP and IB courses than any other large school district in the country. Details are in today's Fairfax Extra....
By Focus on Fairfax | February 22, 2007; 10:34 AM ET | Email a Comment
UPDATE 2/13: Man Charged in School Training Center Fire
From today's Metro section: An Annandale man has been charged with setting a fire that caused $1 million in damage to a Fairfax County school administrative building this month, after an officer reportedly saw him flee the scene and drop his cellphone. The fire occurred at the Lacey Center, 3705 Crest Dr. in Annandale, shortly after 4 a.m. Feb. 3. Court records indicate that an officer responding to a burglar alarm saw Amer Ishtiwi, 22, running from the building. A car idling nearby contained items taken from the center and was registered to Ishtiwi's father, a search warrant affidavit stated. Police obtained warrants for Ishtiwi, charging him with burglary, grand larceny, possession of burglary tools and arson, but Ishtiwi remained at large. The Lacey Center hosts instructional training for teachers and other specialized programs. A Fairfax schools spokesman said some employees were expected to return next week. Originally published 2/5...
By Focus on Fairfax | February 13, 2007; 10:47 AM ET | Comments (4)
Schools Closing Early
Because the winter storm, Fairfax County Schools will close two hours early today. Details are here....
By Focus on Fairfax | February 13, 2007; 10:30 AM ET | Email a Comment
School Board OKs $795 Million Plan for Construction
According to this article from today's Fairfax Extra, the Fairfax County School Board plans to spend $795 million over the next five years in school construction, renovation and maintenance. The plan calls for three new elementary schools....
By Focus on Fairfax | February 1, 2007; 03:49 PM ET | Comments (8)
Wrestling: It Isn't Just For Boys These Days
This story in the Fairfax Extra looks at the increasing number of girls on local high school wrestling teams, including at Fairfax's Robinson Secondary School....
By Focus on Fairfax | January 25, 2007; 03:01 PM ET | Email a Comment
Your Thoughts? Television As Good As Homework?
In his Extra Credit education column on today's Fairfax Extra, Jay Mathews ask readers to write in to tell him if he is wrong to disagree with two authors who recently penned books questioning the value of homework and claiming that watching television as a family can be at least as valuable. What do you think?...
By Focus on Fairfax | January 25, 2007; 01:51 PM ET | Email a Comment
UPDATE 1/25 $2.2 Billion Budget for Schools Detailed
This article in today's Fairfax Extra takes a closer look at the school budget; how economic changes are affecting it and some of what that $2.2 billion buys. Originally posted 1/12 Jack D. Dale described the request, which reflects about a 4 percent increase, as "conservative." Details form last nights budget meeting are in this news story from today's Metro section....
By Focus on Fairfax | January 25, 2007; 11:01 AM ET | Comments (5)
SOL Tests Await Class of 2007
Graduating seniors will be the first required to pass new Standards of Learning tests in math, science, history and English. Today's Fairfax Extra looks at what the students are facing....
By Focus on Fairfax | January 18, 2007; 03:50 PM ET | Email a Comment
School Budget, Flood Study Meetings Tonight
Check out the Fairfax Extra for details on these two high profile meetings set for this evening....
By Focus on Fairfax | January 11, 2007; 02:31 PM ET | Comments (1)
Understanding Fairfax Schools' Grading System
In today's Extra Credit education column, reader Suzanne S. Summers of Annandale writes about her concern with Fairfax County Schools' somewhat arcane grading system for public students. The Post's Jay Mathews explains how the system works with some help from Fairfax County School Board member Tessie Wilson....
By Focus on Fairfax | January 4, 2007; 11:16 AM ET | Email a Comment
Report: School Bus System Taxed to Limit
According to a consultant's report, officials with Fairfax County schools need to make changes soon to the way the school bus system is run if the system is to handle increasing traffic congestion . Read about it in today's Fairfax Extra....
By Focus on Fairfax | December 21, 2006; 11:53 AM ET | Comments (1)
UPDATE 12/21: Major Decisions Face Schools Chief
Updated 12/21 The Fairfax County School Board is expected to extend Jack D. Dale's contract in a vote tonight. The story is here. Originally posted 12/18 According to this article from yesterday's Metro section Fairfax schools Superintendent Jack D. Dale has worked to keep a low-profile despite making notable proactive decisions in managing the region's largest public school system. Parents, educators and public officials say that Dale's most difficult work likely lies ahead....
By Focus on Fairfax | December 18, 2006; 10:20 AM ET | Comments (25)
High School Hispanic Club Promotes Understanding
Students from Annandale High School's Hispanic Leadership Club met with students from Georgetown Day School on Friday to promote cross-cultural understanding from their point of view as immigrants or the children of immigrants. Read about it in this article from Saturday's Metro section....
By Focus on Fairfax | December 11, 2006; 10:00 AM ET | Email a Comment
Two Fairfax Teams in State Football Championships
Today's Washington Post sports section offers coverage of the Edison Eagles and the Chantilly Chargers, both of which will play in their division's state championship games this weekend....
By Focus on Fairfax | December 8, 2006; 10:08 AM ET | Email a Comment
Notes From School Boundary Meetings Are Online
From today's Metro section: The Fairfax County public school system held a series of town meetings this fall as part of a boundary-study process for South County Secondary School; the gifted-and-talented programs at Frost, Kilmer and Jackson middle schools; and the gifted-and-talented programs at Haycock and Churchill Road elementary schools. Information from the meetings was posted yesterday on the school system's home page, http://www.fcps.k12.va.us....
By Focus on Fairfax | December 5, 2006; 10:42 AM ET | Comments (9)
Helping Parents Helping Kids With School Work
Fairfax County is among the local jurisdictions that offer seminars for parents who want to help their children with their school work. Read about it in this article from today's Metro section....
By Focus on Fairfax | November 27, 2006; 11:54 AM ET | Comments (1)
South County Principal Earns Leadership Award
An article in today's Fairfax Extra introduces readers to Dale Rumberger, principal and of the South County Secondary School and the principle booster of the school's students. For his leadership, Rumberger was recently named one of The Washington Post's Distinguished Educational Leadership Award winners....
By Focus on Fairfax | November 16, 2006; 10:42 AM ET | Comments (5)
Immigrant Students Thrive at Alternative High Schools
In some people minds, alternative schools are places for high school students with disciplinary problems, but at Fairfax County's alternative schools, most of the students are recent immigrants -- too old for regular high schools -- seeking their high school diplomas. Read the story in today's Fairfax Extra....
By Focus on Fairfax | November 16, 2006; 10:26 AM ET | Comments (5)
Calling All AP and IB Students
Washington Post education columnist Jay Mathews wants to hear how handling a college level workload affects your life. Here is a link to his Extra Credit column with the details....
By Focus on Fairfax | November 10, 2006; 11:38 AM ET | Email a Comment
County Schools See Some Gains in Effort to Close Achievement Gap
Fairfax County schools officials have seen some gains and some mixed results in their effort to close the achievement gap between black and white students, according to new data from the state. Read about it here....
By Focus on Fairfax | October 27, 2006; 09:47 AM ET | Comments (1)
South County School Boundary Study Discussion is Here
Hijacking a blog item to start a discussion thread might achieve your agenda--but it comes at the expense of others who might want to stay on point. Several readers resorted to hijack when we offered the item on the South County Secondary School's history project. That's not the way we want to run this, and we will shut down a discussion thread if it spins out of control or is hijacked. We are, though, interested in providing a forum. And we are capable of doing that without having other work corrupted, though the temptation is just to shut off hijackers. In light of evident interest in the South County Secondary School boundary study here is your opportunity to argue the merits of the various proposals offered in the study. But we have had problems with name-calling and intemperate entries on the school boundary issues before. So keep it civil; ground...
By Focus on Fairfax | October 16, 2006; 10:16 AM ET | Comments (87)
Nobel Laureate Showed Promise Way Back Then
"I was tickled to death," said retired Fairfax High School science teacher Randy Scott on learning that former student Craig C. Mello had been named a Nobel Prize winner for medicine. Scott's memories of Mello's days as a budding scientist and high school wrestler are reported in this week's Fairfax Extra....
By Focus on Fairfax | October 12, 2006; 12:19 PM ET | Email a Comment
SoCounty Secondary Studies Cold War, Helps Museum
Students at the South County Secondary School and organizers of the Cold War Museum (planned as part of the adaptive reuse of the former Nike missile base in Lorton) have agreed to a partnership in which the students will help to preserve personal recollections of key Cold War events. Read about it here....
By Focus on Fairfax | October 12, 2006; 12:10 PM ET | Comments (1)
Long-Time Teacher Weighs In On Testing
Bernie Nakamura, a retired Fairfax County school teacher, said standardized testing, hailed as a solution by some, doesn't address "the main cause of student failure; the dysfunctional family." Nakamura's guest opinion column is in this week's Fairfax Extra....
By Focus on Fairfax | October 6, 2006; 03:25 PM ET | Comments (1)
New Classes Explore Diverse Set of Professions
School systems in Fairfax County and other Northern Virginia jurisdictions are offering courses that give students a sense of careers in professions such as pharmacy technology, screenwriting and environmental management. The story is in this week's Fairfax Extra....
By Focus on Fairfax | September 22, 2006; 09:56 AM ET | Email a Comment
County Gets Funds for Arabic, Chinese Classes
The federal government, aiming to increase the number of Americans who can speak Arabic or Chinese, has granted Fairfax County schools $188,000. The story is here....
By Focus on Fairfax | September 21, 2006; 10:02 AM ET | Comments (2)
TJ Grad Finishes Double Major at U-Va. in a Year
Fairfax County's Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology is well-known for its high achieving students, but the school's recently graduated David Banh, 18, of Annandale, takes it to an enitrely new level: Banh has graduated from the University of Virginia with a double major in just one year and is headed to graduate school at the Charlottesville university. Read about Banh in this front page story from today's paper....
By Focus on Fairfax | September 20, 2006; 10:34 AM ET | Comments (6)
UPDATE 9/12: Day Care Cuts May Be Solved
Updated 9/12 According to this article from this morning's Metro section, the county will not be dropping children from its subsidized child-care rolls, but it also will not offer its own money to keep the program going. The Board of Supervisor's is insisting that the state continue to back the program. Updated 8/28 Elizabeth Page, the executive director of the Falls Church-McLean Children's Center, wrote about this issue in an opinion column in yesterday's Washington Post. Originally posted 7/11 Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D) yesterday criticized Virginia's Republican-controlled General Assembly for their refusal to pass a budget that would provide funding for day care for about 1,900 low-income children in the county. The story is in today's Metro section....
By | September 12, 2006; 10:38 AM ET | Comments (18)
More Middle Schools Fall Short of "No-Child" Grade
New mathematics requirements of the No Child Left Behind act are described as the major contributing factors to the failure of more of Northern Virginia's middle schools to make the grade this year. The story is here....
By Focus on Fairfax | September 1, 2006; 07:17 AM ET | Comments (3)
Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, It's Back to School They Go
This week's Fairfax Extra is the back to school edition. The coverage begins with this look at a county summer school program. The extra also includes a look at the school calendar and an introduction to school officials from the county and from the City of Falls Church (the city's school calendar is here.) New faculty members are listed here and here. Phone numbers for the county system and for the city are also listed. Links to the school sytem webpages are http://www.fcps.edu and http://www.fccps.org....
By | August 31, 2006; 12:19 PM ET | Email a Comment
Fairfax Schools Get "A" in Lunch
A group that promotes meat-free diets has given Fairfax County Public Schools the highest marks of all the local school systems surveyed for their menus. Read the story here....
By | August 28, 2006; 10:44 AM ET | Email a Comment
Pre Back-To-School News
Next week's Extra is the back-to-school isue. But three items from today's Fairfax Extra are of interest for parents preparing kids for the start on Sept. 5. First, as described in this story, county officials have issued draft guidelines for child-care providers to help them prepare children to succeed. A second story discusses the new requirement for 6th graders to get a whooping cough booster vaccine. Another is the last entry in the Extra's series revealing student's answers to the county's annual survey of their attitudes and actions is here....
By | August 24, 2006; 11:39 AM ET | Email a Comment
School Prepares to Offer Tutoring
From today's Metro section: Preliminary test scores show that Fairfax County's Mount Vernon Woods Elementary School did not reach the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act for the second straight year, and school officials are preparing to offer tutoring for some students. Fairfax school officials said yesterday that they are still verifying the test results but wanted to inform parents of those who would be eligible for tutoring. Students at the school, in the Alexandria section of the county, appear to have fallen short in reading, school officials said. Under the No Child law, schools must meet benchmark scores on standardized reading and math tests. Strict sanctions are imposed on failing Title I schools, which receive federal funds aimed at their high proportion of low-income students. Typically, Title I schools that do not meet the mark for two years must allow students to transfer to higher-performing schools....
By | August 18, 2006; 10:20 AM ET | Email a Comment
Foreign Language for Elementary School Brains
Educators say that the human capacity to learn languages is greatest in childhood, so it makes sense for schools to add language classes to the elementary curriculum. Tale is in this story. Whats your take? Do you wish you'd had this opportunity when you were in grade school?...
By | August 8, 2006; 10:25 AM ET | Comments (6)
All-Day Kindergarten for All Schools by 2010 is Aim
Citing the benefits of all-day instruction at the kindergarten level, Fairfax County school officials are putting the roll-out of all-day programs on the fast track, but the cost could be prohibitive. Here is the article....
By | August 4, 2006; 09:26 AM ET | Comments (9)
UPDATE 8/3: Sales Tax Holiday is Aug. 4- Aug.6
Updated 8/3 There is good news for shoppers in this article from this morning's Metro section. Some of the state's larger retailers, including Wal-Mart and Circuit City, plan to extend the tax savings to all of their merchandise, not just school supplies, this weekend Originally posted 6/29 Virginia sales tax (5 percent) on back-to-school items and clothing will be lifted from 12:01 a.m. Friday, Aug. 4 through midnight Sunday, Aug. 6. Today's Fairfax Extra reports that the effort is designed to ease the burden on families with school-age kids. For a complete list of qualified items, visit www.tax.virginia.gov/salestaxholiday....
By | August 3, 2006; 09:13 AM ET | Comments (1)
Some Results From Fairfax School Student Survey
The print edition of today's Fairfax Extra offers the first in a series of the results of the county's recent survey of public schools students attitudes on risky behavior. Among the revelation's in today's paper: Nearly 16% of students said that being honest with their parents was not important to them. Check it out: Download file...
By | July 13, 2006; 10:33 AM ET | Comments (1)
Langley High Yearbook Photo Scissored for Offense
The picture, slightly larger than a postage stamp and showing a snow sculpture of a giant phallus rising from the bed of a pickup truck, was trimmed from more than 1,600 copies of the school's 2005-2006 yearbook. Read the story here....
By | June 15, 2006; 10:46 AM ET | Email a Comment
Survey Outlines Student Behavior in County
The 2005 Fairfax County Youth Survey found that fewer students are drinking and smoking, but that use of inhalants is up and that local young people say they are depressed more often than the national average. Read about it in this article from today's Metro section....
By | June 14, 2006; 10:20 AM ET | Comments (1)
Five of Our High Schools Among Nation's Best
Updated 6/1 Columnist Jay Mathews drew the curtain back on the history of the Challenge Index that the Post and Newsweek use to rank high schools in today's Fairfax Extra. Originally posted 5/4 Five high schools from the Falls Church and Fairfax County public school systems were among the 13 in the Washington area named in Newsweek magazine's top 100 schools in the country. The schools were George Mason High School, Langley High School, McLean High School, W.T. Woodson High School, and Centreville High School....
By | June 1, 2006; 12:21 PM ET | Comments (2)
Board Approves Record $2.1 Billion Budget
From today's Metro section: The Fairfax County School Board approved a $2.1 billion budget last night that includes funds to expand full-day kindergarten and increases the starting salary for beginning teachers. This is the first time the schools budget has topped $2 billion....
By | May 26, 2006; 10:27 AM ET | Comments (6)
Student Hospitalized With Meningitis
From today's Metro section: A student at Madison High School in Vienna has been hospitalized with bacterial meningococcal meningitis, Fairfax school officials said yesterday. Principal Mark Merrell said the school sent a letter to parents Tuesday notifying them of the ill student and suggesting that they watch for certain symptoms in their children. Merrell declined to disclose other details about the ill student, but said the disease is "not highly contagious." Symptoms, which can be fatal, include severe headache, high fever, a stiff neck, nausea and vomiting or a rash. -- Allan Lengel...
By | May 18, 2006; 09:42 AM ET | Email a Comment
Schools Want "No Child Left Behind" Flexibility
At McNair Elementary School in Herndon, sanctions have been imposed under the No Child Left Behind Act. Federal requirements have not been met at the school for the past three years. Sanctions have failed to help officials say, and want relief from the law. Read about it here....
By | May 16, 2006; 11:50 AM ET | Comments (1)
Falls Church Election Brings New Faces to Council, School Board
Three new faces were elected to each the Falls Church City Council and the city's school board yesterday. Election results are here....
By | May 3, 2006; 10:25 AM ET | Email a Comment
School Land Goes to County in Deal
According to a Metro section article from this morning's paper the Fairfax County School Board has voted to accept a 150 million increase in bond funding from the county for construction and maintenance projects in return for a dozen unneeded school properties. The properties will include administrative buildings and land currently being used as parks....
By | April 28, 2006; 10:27 AM ET | Email a Comment
Fairfax: The 2006 Guide
An Introduction To The Guide Trying to make sense of Fairfax? Join our club. To help newcomers learn and old-timers discover new possibilities, here's The Guide for 2006. We know how easy it is to get confused here, because there are about a million people -- more people than seven states have -- and trying to make sense of the governing machinery can be tricky. The local governments include those of the county and two cities, the City of Fairfax and the City of Falls Church, each with its own idiosyncrasies and treasures. What you'll find in these pages is our attempt to lead you to old favorites you had not thought of for a while or to what might become favorites. There's golfing and fishing and biking and walking, just to name a few leisure pursuits. If you have students in the family, there's a place within the county...
By | April 28, 2006; 09:51 AM ET | Email a Comment
Students Fashion Careers in County Schools
West Potomac High School fashion design students are busy sketching and stitching as they prepare for a fashion show to benefit the American Red Cross. The students' class is one of a growing number of career and technical classes offered by the county school system....
By | April 26, 2006; 10:05 AM ET | Email a Comment
Falls Church Budget Boosts School Spending
From today's Metro section: The Falls Church City Council unanimously adopted its budget Monday night for the fiscal year beginning July 1. The $67 million 2007 budget increases operating expenses by 3.4 percent over current spending and raises funding going to city schools by 10.5 percent. The budget also includes a 2-cent reduction in the real estate tax, dropping the rate from $1.03 per $100 of assessed valuation to $1.01. The budget funds a 4.1 percent cost-of-living raise for public school employees and adjusts salary scales to remain competitive in the region, city officials said. The city will also hire an affordable housing specialist....
By | April 26, 2006; 09:52 AM ET | Email a Comment
After-School Activities to Expand
From today's Metro section: The Fairfax County school system will kick off an expansion of its middle school after-school programs today. The joint effort of the system and the county government will offer more seventh- and eighth-grade after-school activities to boost academic achievement and keep students from gangs, drugs and alcohol. Twelve of the county's 26 middle schools will offer activities five days a week instead of three. The formal launch is at 4 p.m. at Luther Jackson Middle School, 3020 Gallows Rd. in Falls Church....
By | April 19, 2006; 10:20 AM ET | Comments (12)
Black Students' Scores in Fairfax Lag Others'
Focus on Fairfax reported last fall that the county's black students were underperforming on standardized tests when compared with how black students were doing elsewhere in the state. According to a new front page article in today's paper, that continues to be the case....
By | April 14, 2006; 03:40 PM ET | Comments (11)
A Combating Intolerence Class
At James Madison High School, students learn to listen to each other's viewpoints and to understand what makes them different and what they have in common. The class, Combating Intolerance, hosts guest speakers and lively discussions. Read about it in this week's Fairfax Extra cover story....
By | April 13, 2006; 11:26 AM ET | Email a Comment
Meet the All-Met Sports Stars
A special section in today's Washington Post introduces us to the best and brightest high school athletes in the metropolitan area including Fairfax County students. Check it out....
By | April 6, 2006; 03:44 PM ET | Email a Comment
High School Walkouts
Updated 3/31The protests continue; I saw a group of students lining the sidewalks with signs and Latin American flags near Thomas Edison High School today. Now, according to this Metro article the demonstrations are spreading into Maryland. Originally posted 3/29For the second day, students across Northern Virginia demonstrated against proposed crackdowns on illegal immigration. The Post's coverage is here....
By | March 29, 2006; 01:27 PM ET | Comments (6)
School Boundaries, A Different Kind of Split
The fight is not always ABOUT school boundaries, as countless blog entries indicate, but is sometimes ACROSS them. Take the case of split siblings, like Eva and Erica Hollenberg, who square off against each other on the soccer field today. Eva and Erica Hollenberg, split with the opening of the new South County Secondary School, which Erica, 15 now attends. Eva, 18 and a senior, stayed at Hayfield Secondary School . The story was in yesterday's Metro section....
By | March 27, 2006; 11:42 AM ET | Email a Comment