Thursday, April 11, 2013
Parent and student input needed for surveys, part of independent assessment of the district's food program.
Do you love the food at Fairfax County Public Schools? Hate it? This weekend is the last chance for parents and students to weigh in on the system's food services through two surveys run by Prismatic Services, Inc., the company hired by the Fairfax County School Board to conduct an independent assessment of the district's food program. The study was approved last year thanks to advocates from Real Food For Kids, a Fairfax County-based parent group working to offer more fresh food options to students in area schools. Prismatic Services Inc. was hired in January; results from tthe company's assessments are expected in June. Some changes could be implemented as early as the 2013-2014 year. The parent and student surveys will play an important…
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Supporters of retiring school board member gather at South Lakes High School.
Supporters of Fairfax County School Board member Stu Gibson gathered at South Lakes High School on Friday to say farewell and thanks. Gibson has represented the Hunter Mill District since 1995. He did not seek re-election this fall. Newcomer Pat Hynes, a teacher and former lawyer, was elected to the seat and will take over in January. Faces in the crowd included Gibson, Hynes, Del. Ken Plum, South Lakes Principal Bruce Butler, FCPS Assistant Superintendent Fabio Zuluaga, and many Reston-area parents.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
The search for a new superintendent must be open and inclusive, school board candidate says
- OPINION
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Wednesday, October 5, 2011
The next Fairfax County School Board will have to hit the ground running in January on the search for a new superintendent. Getting a true sense of the public’s wishes in such a vast county on such an important question will take many months. I recommend former School Board member Kristen Amundsen’s recent letter in the Washington Post as a primer on how to organize the search. The first step should be a listening tour throughout the community, asking what qualities people hope for in a new superintendent. As I talk to voters, parents, teachers and students in the Hunter Mill community, it is clear that many people have already started thinking about it. The superintendent of a large, high-achieving school district like ours will have …
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
What do a Civil War general and parent advocates in Fairfax County have in common?
- OPINION
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Wednesday, September 28, 2011
During April 1862, the Union Army was advancing up Virginia’s Peninsula on the way to Richmond. Gen. McClellan enjoyed an overwhelming advantage – his Union soldiers outnumbered the Confederate troops by more than 75,000 men. He should have marched straight up the Peninsula, taken Yorktown, and then Richmond. The Civil War might have ended after one year. What stopped him? A brilliant tactic by Confederate Gen. John B. Magruder. To slow the Union Army’s advance, at Yorktown Magruder openly marched small numbers of troops past the same Union position multiple times. He noisily moved his artillery from place to place. His troops fired liberally whenever they saw a Union soldier. All this helped to convince McClellan that his army was facing …
Sunday, August 14, 2011
While the idea stalled in a school board session two years ago, a new survey shows that many people still think students need more sleep
Education reform advocates applauded the early results of a Fairfax County Public Schools online survey in which respondents overwhelmingly supported a later starting time for the county’s 25 high schools. The online discussion, launched by school district Superintendent Jack Dale last week, invited residents to take part in an online discussion of the school system's priorities. As of Saturday, the most popular topic by far was the issue of school bell schedules, with more than 2,000 votes (in at least three separate threads) in favor of starting school later in the day. The next most popular thread, with over 500 votes, proposed restoring and adding honors classes to the curriculum. It is the first time that the county has conducted such…
Monday, August 8, 2011
Discipline reform has become a key issue in this school board race. See how the candidates stack up.
Patch has asked the candidates running for an at-large seat on the Fairfax County School Board a series of questions on discipline policy reform - a topic fast becoming a key issue in this race. 1. Do you think the recent reforms passed by the school board changing the discipline policy were appropriate? The recent reforms passed by the School Board were a good start in what I hope proves to be an on-going dialogue with students, parents, teachers and administrators. These policies have been on the books for years, since I was a student. As the only candidate who’s been through FCPS within the past decade, I’ve seen first-hand the deleterious effects these policies have had on my peers. Mistakes that students make in their K-12 years …
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Glassman will be tried in D.C. Superior Court on Oct. 3.
Update, Aug. 4, 10 a.m. Charisse Espy Glassman was scheduled to be tried in the criminal division of D.C. Superior Court at 9:30 a.m. Thursday morning. The non-jury trial has been rescheduled for 9:30 a.m. Oct. 3. No judge has yet been assigned to the case. Espy Glassman faces charges of assault and possession of a prohibited weapon. Original Post: Former School Board Candidate Espy Glassman Facing Criminal Charges in D.C. Charisse Espy Glassman, the Democratic endorsee for a Fairfax County School Board at-large school board seat who stepped down last week for "personal reasons," is also facing criminal charges. Glassman has been charged with assault and possession of a prohibited weapon in the District of Columbia after a Jan. 24 incident…
Monday, July 11, 2011
A window and a wall were damaged in the accident.
A Isuzu Trooper crashed into a Thoreau Middle School classroom late Monday afternoon. A Fairfax County Police Department dispatch officer said a 911 cell phone call was placed to the department at 5:46 p.m. A non-load-bearing wall and a window at the school was damaged. The driver of the vehicle, whose identity has not been released by police, was assessed for injuries at the scene, but was not transported to the hospital. The dispatch officer said initial reports did not reveal the cause of the accident. Kevin Sneed, director of design and construction services for Fairfax County Public Schools, was on the scene of the accident late Monday night and said he was told the crash happened while a driver was learning how to use a manual stick…
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Thoreau Middle School
2505 Cedar Ln, Vienna, VA
/articles/suv-crashes-into-thoreau-middle-school
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Friday, July 1, 2011
Falls Church resident earned Democratic endorsement at controversial May meeting.
Charisse Espy Glassman, a Democratic endorsee for Fairfax County School Board, has dropped out of the race. Fairfax County Democratic Committee (FCDC) chair Rex Simmons said on Friday that Espy Glassman withdrew for "personal and family reasons." She received one of the Fairfax County Democrat Committee's endorsements in May, at an hours-long meeting that angered some democrats who said the group's election procedures were not followed. Espy Glassman did not return phone calls. She is the Education Chair of the NAACP, a member of Advanced Academics Advisory Committee and a former legislative chair of the Fairfax County Council of PTAs. At the May meeting, incumbent Ilryong Moon was the only candidate to get a majority of ballot votes in …
Frank Torre
4:22 am on Sunday, December 4, 2011
Stu My family and I thank you for serving the community all these years. Good luck to you. more ›