School news roundup
A new principal – Holly Dowling, an administrator at Braddock Elementary School, has been named principal of Bailey’s Upper Elementary School, effective May 13.
Dowling has been an assistant principal at Braddock for five years. Before joining FCPS, she was a teacher, instructional coach, and assistant principal at Mount Vernon Community School in Alexandria Public Schools. She started her career as an elementary school teacher at District of Columbia Public Schools.
An educational voyage – Justice High School teacher Kirsten Salonga has been selected by the National Geographic Society and Lindblad Expeditions to take a voyage to explore Alaska’s coastal wilderness.
Salonga teaches environmental science and biology to English language learners.
As a Grosvenor Teacher Fellow, she will have an opportunity for hands-on, field-based educational and research opportunities aboard a state-of-the-art expedition vessel. She is one of just 35 preK-12 teachers selected for this experience.
Salonga says what she learns on the voyage will “inform my curriculum and inspire my students to become environmental stewards.”
Related story: FCPS considers changing middle school start times
Forensics champs – Two Justice High School students earned first place awards at the 2024 Virginia High School League’s state forensics meet. Elias Kassa won first place in the “serious dramatic interpretation” category, and Valeria Peterson took the top prize for storytelling. The Justice team earned third place overall in the state competition.
All-state musicians – Over 180 FCPS students were selected to perform at the 2024 All-Virginia Band, Chorus, and Orchestra event April 18 in Richmond.
Chorus members include Colt Armstrong of Falls Church High School and Sofi Hemmens, Elijah Kassa, Rahel Kassa, Valeria Peterson, and Saron Walelign from Justice High School. Diego Cruz-Coca and Sabrina Ehmann-Jones of Justice were selected for all-state band.
Help a future opera star – Darien Roby, a Justice High School graduate, aspires to a career as a professional opera singer. At Justice, he was a member of the chorus and performed in school musicals. He is currently a senior at James Madison University majoring in vocal performance.
After an audition, Roby earned a spot at a six-week intensive opera-training program this summer at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. The institute offers world-class instruction from professionals in the field.
Although Roby was awarded a $3,250 scholarship for the program, he still needs additional funds to be able to attend. He created a GoFundMe campaign to help close the funding gap.
If does make it to the summer program, he promises to share “tons of vlogs and pictures of my trip to Europe to show everyone what it means to be a young opera singer overseas.”
Related story: Schools get new trees for Arbor Day
Student stars – Four Falls Church High School students have been invited to attend the 2024 Summer Residential Governor School Program: Gabriella Henriquez, Widad Khalid, Sagar Kapadia, and Ananya Murugan.
The competitive program provides high school juniors and seniors with intensive education experiences while they live on a college campus for up to four weeks.
School shop – The Justice High School PTSA is expanding the Wolf Shack, a resource pantry and school store. The Swap Shop will be like a thrift store for clothing and shoes for students, although everything will be free. Information on how to donate gently used or new items will be available soon. Community members can also donate funds to the Wolf Shack.