Crossing guard services at 10 Fairfax County public high schools will be temporarily reinstated as the county supervisors assess solutions for pedestrian safety issues, the Fairfax County Police Department says.
“In the interim, Fairfax County Police officers and crossing guards will provide traffic and crossing support at 11 high school crossing locations previously staffed,” a spokesperson for the FCPD wrote to FFXnow this morning (Wednesday) in an email.
South Lakes High School parents’ worst fears around the well-documented traffic problems at the Reston school came true this morning (Sept. 1) after a teen was struck by a car.
Around 7:54 a.m., parents called 911 to report the crash. According to social media posts from multiple witnesses, the force of the collision sent the youth into the air before he landed. Scanner traffic indicates his foot may have been injured.
Within the next few years, all middle school age students who qualify for advanced academic programs in Fairfax County Public Schools will have the opportunity to take those courses without leaving their neighborhood schools.
Under a plan approved by the school board on a 10-1 vote last Thursday (Aug. 27), FCPS will transition over several years from a model that let many students opt out of their assigned local school to join other students at one with an established advanced academic program, or AAP, center.
Fairfax County Public Schools students are heading back to the classroom today (Monday), a familiar sight that might inspire nostalgia and stress among even non-parent residents.
However, in recent months, Fairfax County and the school system have adopted a number of changes to policies and services that are taking effect during the new school year, particularly around the use of technology in the classroom.
As Fairfax County Public Schools students prepare for their first day of school next Monday (Aug. 24), the Fairfax County School Board is making its own back-to-school to-do list. Near the top of the agenda: an updated digital literacy curriculum.
A work session on Tuesday (Aug. 18) provided a glimpse of the tasks ahead for the school board this year, and staff’s efforts over the summer to implement high-profile mandates around the curriculum, including updates related to artificial intelligence literacy.
A middle ground may be emerging in what has become a tug-of-war between the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and School Board over funding after-school programming at all 27 public middle schools.
The potential compromise: Rather than charging participation fees to families, the school system could seek voluntary donations and public-private partnerships to cover some of the enrichment program’s annual $11 million operating costs.
Going forward, Fairfax County Public Schools will prohibit the use of generative artificial intelligence by elementary school students, tablets and laptops in preschool and kindergarten, and student use of personal electronic communication and computing devices during instructional time.
The Fairfax County School Board approved the restrictions — which include a handful of narrow exceptions — at its July 16 meeting, along with several directives for the superintendent to report back to the board about the potential additional limitations on technology.
The Fairfax County School Board voted last week to rename a Westfield High School athletic facility as the “Rob Hahne Memorial Baseball Field.”
Hahne, who died May 14 at age 57, was a leader in youth sports and served as Westfield’s head baseball coach for a decade.
Fairfax County Public Schools has officially adopted a boundary map for attendance at the new Skyview High School, which will draw in students from Westfield, Chantilly, and South Lakes high schools to alleviate overcrowding at several schools on the western side of the county.
The new school assignments — unanimously approved by the school board during its July 16 regular meeting — are expected to impact 2,544 students, including 1,159 who will be assigned next year to attend Skyview’s campus at 2949 Education Drive, in the Floris area south of Herndon.
The Fairfax County School Board recently voted to confirm calendars for the 2027-28 and 2028-29 school years that emphasize full five-day instructional weeks, while preserving a full week of spring break and two full weeks of winter break.
Superintendent Michelle Reid proposed calendars last Thursday (July 9) that maintain the 180 instructional days required by Virginia law and follow extensive parameters passed by the board earlier this summer. The school board adopted the proposal on a 10-1 vote.
