Former Fairfax County School Board member Janie Strauss, who has died at age 78, is being remembered as a community champion with a focus on improving the lives of youth.
Strauss, who served as the school board’s Dranesville District member for nearly 30 years, representing the McLean, Great Falls and Herndon areas, died at home on April 11 after a year-long battle with glioblastoma brain cancer, her family said.
Eighth-grader Nikita Ramakrishnan bested 86 spellers to win the Fairfax County Spelling Bee March 23.
Ramakrishnan, a student at Rocky Run Middle School in Chantilly, claimed the title after spelling “xanthic,” an adjective of Greek origin meaning “colored with some tint of yellow – used of a flower.”
Little Leaves Behavioral Services, a center that offers specialized therapy programs for young children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders, is opening four new centers around the region including two in Fairfax.
According to a press release, the new centers will open sometime this summer. They will each be able to serve 24 children.
A school in Reston has been chosen to host the centerpiece event of this year’s nationwide Read Across America campaign.
Local author Kwame Alexander will visit Langston Hughes Middle School at 2:30 p.m. this Sunday (March 2) to celebrate Read Across America Day as well as the 10th anniversary of his 2015 Newbery Medal win for the bestselling novel “The Crossover.”
A private preschool franchise will soon replace a longtime laser tag spot in Fairfax County’s Franconia neighborhood.
Franchisees of The Goddard School officially purchased the nearly 1.8-acre property at 5508 Franconia Road last week, they confirmed to FFXnow, paving the way to make the school a reality.
Virginia school boards may soon have more control over how cell phones and smart devices are governed in classrooms. Legislation granting local districts the authority to craft their own policies cleared the General Assembly on Friday and now heads to Gov. Glenn Youngkin for consideration.
House Bill 1961, introduced by Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, and its companion measure, Senate Bill 738 by Sen. Stella Pekarsky, D-Fairfax, comes amid growing concerns over the impact of smartphones on children’s health. While research has linked excessive phone use to adverse effects on students’ well-being, advocates also recognize the role devices play in providing educational resources and communication tools.
Fairfax County School Board members are mulling whether to increase the number of student representatives on the body.
The proposal, currently in the exploratory stage, is part of a broader push toward more direct engagement with the 180,000-plus students enrolled in Fairfax County Public Schools.
For the fourth consecutive year, Virginia lawmakers have sent the governor a bill allowing all localities to impose a 1% sales tax for school construction. Now, all eyes are on Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who has vetoed similar measures before.
Youngkin, who has historically opposed these tax proposals, will once again review the legislation. After the last session, he blocked the measure, citing the state’s existing efforts to fund school construction and concerns over its impact on taxpayers.
Several Northern Virginia school districts, including Fairfax County Public Schools, are in the crosshairs of the U.S. Department of Education after a conservative legal group filed a complaint challenging their transgender-inclusive bathroom and locker room policies.
The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) opened an investigation this week into Fairfax, Arlington, Alexandria, Loudoun and Prince William schools in response to the complaint from America First Legal, a nonprofit founded by former Trump advisor Stephen Miller.
The current school year will be the last official one for King Abdullah Academy.
After close to a decade in the Herndon area, the Islamic private school announced in late January that it will close for good after the 2024-2025 academic year, citing challenges with identifying a “viable financial path to self-sustainability.”
