Covering Annandale, Bailey's Crossroads, Lincolnia, and Seven Corners in Fairfax County, Virginia

Fairfax County school board considers revised proposals for TJ

TJ students in the school’s robotics lab. [File photo] The Fairfax County School Board is considering two revised proposals for changing the admissions process to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.  The board has been discussing TJ admissions for months in response to concerns that the current system for the elite school discriminates … Continued

Under FCPS return-to-school plan, all students won’t be back until February

The Fairfax Federation of Teachers held a car rally Oct. 15 at the FCPS Gatehouse Administration Center in Merrifield.  The Fairfax County School Board has deadlocked, 6-6, on whether to endorse Superintendent Scott Brabrand’s schedule for bringing students back for in-person learning.  Under Brabrand’s plan, presented at a school board work session board Oct. 15, … Continued

Fairfax County Public Schools to start in-person learning in October for certain groups of students

These teachers at Camelot Elementary School in Annandale are continuing with virtual instruction. [FCPS]  The Fairfax County School Board has approved a plan by Superintendent Scott Brabrand to gradually bring back students for in-person learning starting in October.  The first groups would return to school under a cohort model, in which small groups of students … Continued

Fairfax County school officials provide more details on return-to-school alternatives

An FCPS town hall with (from the left) Manager of School Health Services Lorraine Trouton, Superindent Scott Brabrand, and Assistant Superintendent Jeffrey Platenburg.  Fairfax County Public School officials have provided more information on options for the 2020-21 school year.    The following information is from two recent virtual town halls – a session on June 17 … Continued

FCPS weighs options for fall and for graduation

Signs like these are cropping up all over.  The Fairfax County School Board reviewed three possible scenarios for the 2020-21 school year at a May 11 work session.  Meanwhile, a state-level COVID-19 Education Task Force plans to issue policy guidance in June on the conditions for reopening schools.   The three possibilities considered for fall 2020 … Continued

A school board member answers questions about the Blackboard failure

Kindergarten teachers have a message for their students. [FCPS] The failure of Blackboard Learn 24-7 as a key piece of Fairfax County Public Schools’ distance learning program has raised many questions about how it happened and what the school system is doing to move forward. School board member Rachna Sizemore Heizer (at large), who has … Continued

FCPS apologizes for distance learning failure

Superintendent Scott Brabrand says distance learning will work properly this week. [FCPS] When distance learning starts up again Monday, April 20, Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Scott Brabrand assured the community and school board that the problems have been fixed. Distance learning initially started last Tuesday, but FCPS briefly suspended the program, then canceled it … Continued

Revised school budget reflects impact of COVID-19

A screen shot from a virtual school board work session April 9. From the left: school board chair Karen Corbett Sanders (Mount Vernon), Tamara Derenak Kaufax (Lee), Megan McLaughlin (Braddock), and Superintendent Scott Brabrand. Fairfax County Public Schools will have far less revenue and more expenses than previously anticipated, due to the coronavirus pandemic. As … Continued

School board candidate focuses solely on denying rights to transgender students

Tom Pafford Tom Pafford, a candidate to represent Mason District on the Fairfax County School Board, is laser-focused on one issue: He wants the school board to back away from promoting pro-transgender policies, such as allowing students to use the bathroom according to their gender identity. At a recent meeting with the Annandale blogger, Pafford … Continued