School news

Information in the following news briefs featuring schools in the Annandale/Mason District area are from Fairfax County Public Schools.

Braddock ES expansion – Students at Braddock Elementary School are returning to the main building from their modular classrooms on Jan. 30 as renovation of the school nears completion. The administration office will relocate to the main building in February.

The $31 million renovation and expansion project adds 108,000 square to the school, located on Heritage Drive in Annandale. Funds for the project are from school bonds passed in 2017 and 2019, The expansion will increase school capacity to 900 students. Current enrollment is 833. Completion is scheduled for fall 2023.

Healthier lunches – After a three-year hiatus, the FCPS Office of Food and Nutrition Services is bringing salad bars back to schools. The goal is to reach all Title 1 schools by Jan. 31 and all 242 schools by June.

Salad bars include such items as salad greens, apple slices, baby carrots, bananas, hard-boiled eggs, broccoli, corn, cucumber slices, grapes, shredded cheese, and lunch meats.

According to Real Food for Kids, salad bars are expected to reopen at these elementary schools in the Annandale/Mason District area on Jan. 23: Parklawn, Bren Mar Park, Braddock, and Annandale Terrace.

Salad bars should be up and running at Glen Forest and Bailey’s on Jan. 24; Sleepy Hollow and Bailey’s Upper on Jan. 25; Woodburn and Beech Tree on Jan. 30; and Westlawn on Jan. 31.

Her STEM – A four-person team from Annandale High School won the first-ever STEM for Her competition at George Mason University. The students – Esperanza Christian, Sage Nagle, Crystina Ing, and Sadiksha Gurung – created a project titled Audi Drive Like a Girl. They worked alongside Audi mentors to create a presentation in response to the prompt, “What are the barriers potential electric vehicle customers face and how can they be solved?”

Teacher honored – Shannon Gray, a math teacher at Annandale High School has been nominated for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. This award, administered by the National Science Foundation, is the highest honor bestowed by the United States government specifically for K-12 mathematics teaching.

Wolf Shack – Justice High School has opened the Wolf Shack, a school store and resource pantry. It will provide essential resources to students, free of charge, starting with food and toiletries and later expanding to clothing and academic, art, and athletic supplies.

The Wolf Shack is supported by funds earned from the sale of spirit wear, snacks, and drinks. Students, staff, and community members are encouraged to donate food, essentials, money, and Amazon or Giant gift cards.

Jazz stars – Three students from Justice High School will perform with the Blues Alley Youth Orchestra at the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival. The event is Feb. 17-19 in Rockville, Md.

The students are seniors Benji Loeffler and Kyle Wilson plus Sam Loeffler of the Justice Class of 2021. Both Kyle and Benji were in the all-state jazz band. Their music teacher at Justice is band director Brian Thomas.

The Blues Alley Youth Orchestra needs more girls. Apply here.

Esports champs – Woodson High School’s Rocket League team won the state championship in esports. Rocket League is a competitive videogame that’s like soccer, only with cars. Team members are Greysen Berg, Chance Clayville, Connor Lane, and Andrew Wong. FCPS launched an esports program in 2021.

Dads at school – Belvedere Elementary School has a program called Dads at Belvedere, which is aimed at getting fathers and father figures more involved in students’ lives. The program encourages dads to spend at least one day at Belvedere this year where they can be positive male role models. The school sets the schedule to include such activities as classroom time, lunch, and recess.

Ending food waste – The Fairfax Food Council created a Care to Share Toolkit to help schools reroute unconsumed food to those who need it. The toolkit helps schools design programs to encourage students to collect wrapped, unopened food items for food banks or for their own families. One of the schools participating in this effort is Braddock Elementary in Annandale.

Wolves at the Lodge – The Justice High School PTSA invites the community to a fundraiser Feb. 25, 7-11 p.m., at the Moose Lodge, 5710 Scoville Street, Bailey’s Crossroads. The Wolves at the Lodge event features dinner, old-style arcade games, and a DJ. All proceeds will benefit Justice PTSA programs, activities, and events.

Vertical farming – Students at Jackson Middle School’s ESTEEM Center (Equity in Science, Technology, Engineering, English, and Math) are growing plants sideways as part of a hydroponic/vertical farming ecosystem.

The project is supported by the FCPS Get-2-Green program, which promotes student-driven projects around sustainability, such as reducing waste, conserving energy, and creating edible gardens.

The ecosystem produces salad greens in a space that takes up just 8 x 3 feet. It can produce the same amount of food as a plot of farmland 80 times larger. By using circulated water, the vertical farm uses less than a gallon of water a week. The students plan to package the food and distribute it to the community through the school’s food pantry.

Jackson engineering students are designing web-enabled monitoring devices using microprocessors to measure hydration, nutrients, light, temperature, humidity, and other variables. They are also designing an aquaponics system to grow tilapia. The waste from the fish will be used to feed the plants.

Bilingual studies – Registration for the countywide lottery for Dual Language Immersion programs opens on Jan. 23. Current prekindergarten and kindergarten students can apply for the 2023-24 school year.

Spanish immersion is available at seven schools, including Bailey’s Elementary in Bailey’s Crossroads and Ravensworth ES in Springfield. Programs are also offered at other schools in French, German, Japanese, and Korean. Learn more and apply here.

Back to school – Four graduates of Woodson High School returned to the school as teachers, reports a feature article by the FCPS Office of Communication and Community Relations.

Will Cogan left an uninspiring desk job to join the Woodson faculty as a marketing education teacher. “During college, I had an internship where I was sitting in a cubicle for several hours,” Cogan said. “I would go to coach lacrosse practice after and I found I enjoyed being on my feet and interacting with students. It was so much more rewarding.”

Jackson Miller had a similar experience. While working full-time in marketing, he found his time coaching golf at Woodson more rewarding. He is now in the FCPS Teacher Residency program, where he is able to teach under the guidance of a fellow Woodson teacher who serves as a mentor.

Seth Spero worked a year in the private sector after college but switched gears to pursue a more fulfilling career in education. He was a part-time basketball coach at Woodson before making the transition to the classroom. He now teaches students with learning disabilities while working on a master’s degree in education at George Mason University.

Alex Clark knew from a young age he wanted to work in education. He teaches honors history and coaches the rifle team at Woodson.

Subs needed – FCPS seeks kind and caring individuals to serve as substitute teachers.

Subs have a flexible work schedule and can choose the grade level, subject matter, and schools where they want to work.

To qualify as a sub, candidates must have completed 30 credit hours in college or have served as an instructional assistant or preschool teacher or meet other requirements.

Substitute teachers earn $18.50 an hour for short-term assignments and $24.86 for long-term assignments. Retired teachers can earn up to $28.62. FCPS offers bonuses for subs who are available to teach on high-volume days.

FCPS holds weekly virtual information sessions on substitute teaching every Wednesday at 1 p.m.