School news: a Belvedere success story

Assistant Superintendent Fabio Zuluaga and Belvedere Principal Cecilia Vanderhye.

An occasional series highlighting programs and activities at schools in the Annandale/Mason District area and other school news. The information and photos here are from Fairfax County Public Schools and individual schools.

A Title I winner –  Belvedere Elementary School has been named a National Title 1 Distinguished School for 2017 by the National Title 1 Association.

FCPS Superintendent Scott Brabrand, Assistant Superintendent Fabio Zuluaga, and school board members joined the Belvedere community at an event to celebrate the announcement on Nov. 21.

National Title 1 Distinguished Schools are recognized for exceptional student achievement. Only 100 schools nationwide are selected for the honor. Belvedere was one of just two schools nominated by the Virginia Board of Education.

The Title I award recognizes schools in one of three categories:

• Exceptional student performance for two consecutive years.
• Closing the achievement gap between student groups.
• Excellence in serving special populations of students. 

Title I, the largest federally funded K-12 education program, provides funding to school districts across the country to aid in the education of economically disadvantaged students.

School calendar – The Fairfax County School Board plans to introduce Calendar Option D for the 2018-19 school year as a new business item at its Dec. 7 meeting. Further discussion will take place at the Dec. 11 School Board work session; a final vote is scheduled for Dec. 14.

Calendar Option D sets Tuesday, Aug. 28, as the first day of school for students and Friday, Aug.  17, as the first day for instructional personnel. Winter break would be Dec. 24, 2018-Jan.4, 2019. Spring break would be the week of April 15-19.

Option D provides 180 days of classroom instruction. Virginia law requires school districts to provide 180 days or 990 hours of instruction per year.

FCPS has additional hours built into the school year calendar, not days. However, FCPS would revert to the 990-hour calendar only if the 180-day requirement is not met because of severe weather conditions.

FCPS exceeds the 990-hour state requirement because of the length of the school day. The additional hours are converted to “days” that can be used in the event of inclement weather and allows FCPS to comply with state law.

Students meet a Lost Boy – Author Nathaniel Chol Nyok visited Poe Middle School to share his experiences as a Lost Boy in South Sudan on Nov. 22.

Eighth grade-students have just finished reading Lost Boy, Lost Girl: Escaping Civil War in Sudan, a memoir and tale of survival by John Bul Dau and Martha Arual Akech, in their English classes. As part of Poe’s International Baccalaureate curriculum and mission to create more empathetic citizens of a global society, students learned about the authors’ struggles to find food, water, and safety while fleeing from violence in their country. They also read recent news articles about the ongoing struggles of refugees in Sudan and elsewhere.

A musical star – Falls Church High School student Wyatt Cobb is one of eight Fairfax County public school students named to the 2017 All-Virginia Jazz Band and Ensemble. The band performed at the professional development conference of the Virginia Music Educators Association in Hot Springs earlier this month.

Glasgow is a bellwether – An election exercise at Glasgow Middle School turned out to be an accurate predictor of the Fairfax County results in the election of Ralph Northam as governor. Northam got 67.9 percent of the votes cast by Fairfax County voters and the exact same percentage among the Glasgow student body. Ed Gillespie got 31.2 percent in Fairfax County and 27.3 percent in Glasgow.

One Fairfax – Both the Fairfax County School Board and Board of Supervisors adopted a joint resolution committing both boards to consider equity in decision-making and future policies, programs, and services. The One Fairfax resolution offers a framework for the county and schools to look intentionally, comprehensively, and systemically at barriers that may be creating gaps in opportunity.

“The foundation for a successful community is a school system where all students have access to an excellent education – no matter where they live, where they come from, or what challenges they may face each day,” said school board Chair Janie Strauss.

The One Fairfax policy identifies 17 areas of focus to promote equity, including community and economic development, housing, education, environment, and transportation.

Research shows equity leads to greater economic security for families, increased revenue for businesses, and a stronger local economy. A study by Policy Link and the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity at the University of Southern California found Fairfax County’s gross domestic product would have been $26.2 billion higher in 2012 if its racial gaps were closed.

Join the FCPS team – FCPS invites “educators with a strong academic background and a passion to make a difference” to sign up for a job fair on Feb. 3, 2018.

Applicants for instructional positions must meet the qualifications for the specific job they are seeking and must be eligible for a Virginia Department of Education license.

To participate in the job fair, candidates must apply online. After submitting an application, first-time candidates for teaching jobs will receive instructions for completing a TeacherInsight online interview application. Selected applicants will receive an email invitation to the job fair.