Monday, May 20, 2013
The Governor's Challenge in Economics and Personal Finance took place last week.
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology students were awarded 2013 Governor’s Challenge Champions in Economics and Personal Finance last week. The winning students from Fairfax's Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology were Scott Gibson, Hamil Shah, Catherine Shi, and Robert Wang, who are coached by teacher Haywood Torrence. The team won first place in their division. The Governor’s Challenge is mean to enhancing economics and financial education for students in grades K-12, according to a press release from the Fairfax County Public School syste. The Fairfax County students went up against more than 2,100 high school students in Virginia competed in preliminary rounds of the competition. Students are …
Friday, May 17, 2013
Fairfax County School Board will hold listening sessions next week to help develop a strategic plan for digital learning.
Teachers, students and parents in Fairfax County didn't have the smoothest experience with digital learning in 2012-2013. As Fairfax County Public Schools rolled out a new online math program in Fall 2012, students and teachers complained they had difficulty navigating the books, saying there were publisher errors and inconsistencies, technology roadblocks and student difficulty in accessing the information, among other complaints, like a lack of teacher buy-in to the program. They said the program, instead of advancing learning and achievement, was pushing it back, calling the $10.4 million initiative "a big disaster" with no clear solution. The short-term solution was to re-negotiate contracts to get some hard copy books back in the …
Thursday, May 16, 2013
The early education program helps prepare students for K-12 education, but more than 800 are waiting for services.
Lillian Hill’s Head Start classroom at Camelot Elementary School is bustling and filled with kids the Friday before Mother’s Day. Hill teaches 16 kids -- a full classroom. Head Start has 89 classrooms across 62 Fairfax County elementary schools, but it's not enough to meet the demand. The program is at capacity but a lack of funds for expansion, partly because of sequestration, means 800 children will stay on a waiting list for Head Start, leaving them less prepared than their peers to enter kindergarten and to learn. The White House estimates that because of the sequester, 70,000 children nationally who would have been served by Head Start will not have access to the program by the end of the year. On this day in Hill's classroom, she is …
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Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Teacher pay and foreign language cutbacks are also concerns as Fairfax County School Board looks for another $30 million in reductions for next year's budget.
If push came to shove, Jane Lipp would give her right kidney to keep an instructional coach at her school. The principal of South County High School, which has a 49 percent minority population, said that's the kind of sacrifice she'd make, drama aside, to keep a position that's been 'instrumental" in helping her teachers push the school's diverse student body to succeed. More than a dozen of the 40 speakers who addressed the school board Tuesday night in a public hearing about Fairfax County Public Schools' budget spoke about the role coaches play in the day to day lives of teachers and students, including their help toward narrowing student achievement gaps. The public hearing comes as the school board prepares to adopt a $2.5 billion …
Monday, May 13, 2013
Superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools had surgery for an aortic aneurysm May 7.
Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Jack Dale was released from the hospital Sunday after emergency heart surgery May 7. FCPS spokesman John Torre told Patch in an email Monday that Dale had been released from the hospital to recover from surgery at home. Dale was taken to INOVA Fairfax Hospital on May 7 after telling coworkers he hadn’t been feeling well that day. He had surgery after suffering an aortic aneurysm that night. Torre said Dale was expected to return to work sometime in early June. “He is making progress and is not expected to return to work until early June on a part time basis,” he wrote in his email. Dale is planning to retire this summer. Deputy Superintendent Richard Moniuszko is managing superintendent duties …
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Dale underwent surgery for an aortic aneurism Tuesday evening.
Jack Dale, the outgoing Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent, underwent emergency heart surgery Tuesday evening after suffering an aortic aneurism. The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Dale, 64, was conscious and resting at the intensive care unit of Fairfax Inova Hospital in Falls Church. He was taken to the hospital in an ambulance Tuesday evening after telling coworkers he was feeling unwell, the Post reported. As of Wednesday afternoon, he was in stable condition. Hospital officials were unable to comment further on Dale’s condition Thursday afternoon. Dale is planning to retire this summer but it’s unclear whether he will return to his post after recovering from surgery. FCPS spokesman John Torre told Patch on …
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
After medical emergency, Fairfax County Public Schools leader in stable condition at a local hospital.
Update 1:18 pm: "We are optimistic Dr. Dale will return to work before his scheduled retirement," Schools spokesman John Torre said. Original: Just more than a month before he is set to retire, Fairfax County Public Schools superintendent Jack Dale has been hospitalized after a medical emergency. Fairfax County School Board Chairman Ilryong Moon said Dale had a medical emergency late Tuesday afternoon. He is in stable condition at a local hospital, Moon wrote. Deputy Superintendent Richard Moniuszko will step in to manage superintendent duties, Moon said. "On behalf of the entire FCPS community, our thoughts and prayers are with Dr. Dale and his family and we look forward to his return," Moon wrote. Schools spokesman John Torre said no …
Friday, April 26, 2013
Fairfax County's pre-kindergarten program will likely go another year without the funding it needs to shorten a wait list with hundreds of kids.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is ready to adopt the Fiscal Year 2014 Budget package, but some officials are unsettled by the lack of funding for the expansion of the Head Start program, which currently has hundreds of students on the waiting list. Through a mix of county, state and federal funding, Head Start provides free pre-kindergarten classes to students from low-income families, giving them the extra attention they need to be on par with their peers when they enter the Fairfax County Public School system. Roughly 1,500 kids are currently enrolled in the program — but more than 800 others are waiting. The program won’t receive any additional funding in this year’s budget because of worries that more funds will be lost in …
Friday, April 19, 2013
All high schools in Fairfax County made the 'Washington Post's' list of top high schools in the country.
The Washington Post has released its annual list of the top high schools in the country - and Herndon High, as well as the whole of Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), made an impressive showing. Herndon High School ranked 221st on the list of 1,900 high schools for 2013. FCPS' Woodson High School had the highest ranking of FCPS high schools on the list, which is based on a formula devised by Washington Post education reporter Jay Mathews. Woodson was ranked 117th on the list of 1,900 schools in 2013. Nearby, South Lakes High School ranked 308, Chantilly High School ranked 331 and Centreville High School ranked 144. Washington Post education reporter Jay Mathews, who determines the school's rakings based on an original formula, says …
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Superintendent from Lubbock, Texas will step in as leader of Fairfax County Public Schools on July 1.
Karen Garza was officially appointed Thursday as the next superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools. Garza, currently the superintendent of the Lubbock Independent School District in Texas, will start July 1. The school board approved Thursday a four-year contract for Garza, through June 30, 2017. Read: New Fairfax Superintendent: 'I Am A Constant Learner' In remarks after the unanimous vote, Garza said her primary focus will be on teaching and learning, "for that is our core work." "To our stakeholders, our employees, our parents and our business and community partners, I pledge to be responsive and accountable to all Fairfax County schools stakeholders," she said. Garza also said she planned to be "very visible," noting the best …
Ruth Tatlock
9:18 am on Monday, May 20, 2013
Congrtulations to all! Personal finances - an extremely important subject for ALL students, IMHO. more ›