Fairfax County Public Schools

Fairfax County Public Schools
Address
8115 Gatehouse Road Falls Church, Virginia 22042
Information
School type	Public, school division
Founded	1870
School board	Jane K. Strauss, Chairman Ilryong Moon, Vice Chairman Elizabeth T. Bradsher Brad Center Stuart D. Gibson Martina A. Hone Sandra S. Evans Judith (Tessie) Wilson James L. Raney Kathy L. Smith Daniel G. Storck Eugene J. Coleman III, student representative
Superintendent	Jack D. Dale
Staff	22,779 [1]
Grades	Pre-K–12
Enrollment	177,629 [1]  (2010-2011)
Campus	Suburban
Area	Fairfax County, Virginia
Website	http://www.fcps.edu/

The Fairfax County Public Schools system (abbreviated FCPS) is a branch of the Fairfax County government which administers public schools in Fairfax County and the City of Fairfax. FCPS' headquarters is located at 8115 Gatehouse Road in an unincorporated section of the county near the city of Falls Church; the headquarters has a Falls Church address but is not within the city limits.^[2]

With over 175,000 students enrolled, FCPS is the largest public school system in the Baltimore-Washington and Northern Virginia Metropolitan Area. The superintendent of schools is Jack D. Dale. The school division is the 11th largest school system in the nation^[1] and maintains the largest school bus fleet of any school system in the United States.

The most notable commitment the county makes to its school system is the allocation of 53.5% of its 2011 fiscal budget to the school system.^[3] Including state and federal government contributions, along with citizen and corporate contributions, this brings the 2010 fiscal budget for the school system to $2.2 billion.^[1] The school system has estimated that, based on the 2010 fiscal budget, the county will invest $12,820 in each student during the 2010-2011 school year.^[1]

Contents 1 History 2 No contact rule 3 Controversy over disciplinary policies 4 Schools 4.1 High schools 4.2 Secondary schools 4.3 Alternative high schools 4.4 Middle schools 4.5 Elementary schools 4.6 Special education centers 4.7 Interagency Alternative Schools 5 Transportation 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

History

The public school system in Fairfax County was created after the Civil War with the adoption by Virginia of a Reconstruction-era state constitution in 1870, which for the first time in Virginia guaranteed free public education. However, during the Jim Crow era, a racially-separate system was mandated by Virginia funding laws.

Fairfax County refused to let black students attend and bused them out of the county to Manassas.^[4] Despite the 1954 Supreme court ruling to end racial segregation Fairfax County Schools did not allow any black students into designated white schools until 1960.^[5]

The county school system was previously headquartered at 10700 Page Avenue in an unincorporated area of the county completely surrounded by the City of Fairfax.^[6][7]

No contact rule

Kilmer Middle School, a school in the FCPS system, had a strict rule/policy of "no physical contact", meaning that contact such as high fives or hugs between friends were not allowed. The FCPS school system stood behind the rule and refused to rescind the rule. The issue was brought to light after a 13-year-old student was reprimanded for putting his arm around his girlfriend during a break, and his parents wrote to the Fairfax County School Board.^{[8][9][10][11][12][13]}

On January 22, 2009, the FCPS School Board directed Superintendent Dale to report back to it with a new version of the grading scale by March 2009.^[14] The Board also approved changing the weighting for Honors to 0.5 effective with the 2009-2010 school year and for AP and IB courses to 1.0 retroactively.^[14]

Beginning September 2009, the grading system was changed to a 10 point grading system with plusses and minuses. In this new grading system students must have a 92 for an A, 90 for an A-, 88 for a B+, and so on. Students receive a 4.0 for A's, 3.7 for A-'s, 3.3 for B+'s, and so on. Students still must reach 64 to pass.

Controversy over disciplinary policies

Fairfax County Public Schools and Superintendent Dale have been criticized for the Fairfax County school system disciplinary process, which has been blamed for the recent suicides of two students: Josh Anderson, of South Lakes High School, took his life in March 2009; and Nick Stuban, a "model student" at W.T. Woodson High School, committed suicide on January 20, 2011.^[15] On January 11, 2011, before the second suicide, Superintendent Dale had defended himself in a letter to the Fairfax County School Board and the Board of Supervisors. In that letter, Dale refused to admit that the disciplinary system needed to be reformed, and blamed the family of the first suicide victim for "unconscionable" actions and "furthering a falsehood" when they associated their son's suicide with the disciplinary process that had "crushed" his spirit.^[16] To date, the Fairfax County Public Schools, the School Board, and Superintendent Dale have not made any public statements related to reforming the county's school discipline process.

Schools

FCPS High Schools' Rankings on Newsweek's
America's Top Public High Schools.^[17][18]

School Name	2003	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Annandale	623	516	862	924	960	1004	1279
Centreville	177	149	99	112	106	131	141
Chantilly	72	94	162	133	126	136	224
Edison	425	692	657	694	751	798	804
Fairfax	92	196	211	157	258	133	182
Falls Church	128	289	395	1323	390	198	486
Hayfield	N/A	N/A	356	783	806	510	567
Herndon	115	174	139	161	145	166	153
Langley	31	50	81	72	55	102	118
Lee	787	1019	1215	1323	801	812	1218
Madison	787	1019	123	141	152	199	144
Marshall	184	187	201	211	254	159	203
McLean	152	128	86	76	99	115	102
Mount Vernon	305	729	636	1323	1398	1217	1516
Oakton	143	103	105	103	105	157	158
South County	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	143	176	308
South Lakes	407	383	608	842	515	570	221
Stuart	230	371	368	458	330	285	446
West Potomac	108	403	295	198	221	270	550
West Springfield	145	141	155	172	250	263	280
Westfield	48	126	142	179	148	192	353
Woodson	23	34	91	65	74	72	92

The Newsweek rankings do not include Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology because it is a selective school. Newsweek recognized it as one of America's "public elite" high schools, having few or no average students.^[19][20]

High schools

Secondary schools

Alternative high schools

Middle schools

Elementary schools

Special education centers

Interagency Alternative Schools

Transportation

FCPS operates a fleet of close to 1,600 school buses.^[1] The fleet make-up consists of buses that are from 1988 to 2008. FCPS operates the following bus models:

The transportation department is divided into 4 sections. Regular education is divided into Area 1, Area 2, and Area 3. The 4th section is Special Education. Area 1 serves the Southern part of the county, Area 2 the middle section, and Area 3 the Northern part. Special Education services the entire county.

There are three main garages that serve FCPS school buses. For service and repair, each bus is assigned to one of three garages; West Ox, Alban, or Newington.

See also

• List of Fairfax County Public Schools middle schools
• List of school divisions in Virginia

References

External links

• Fairfax County Public Schools
• Archives of fcps.k12.va.us

Fairfax County, Virginia Northern Virginia · Washington Metropolitan Area · Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area Administration Fairfax County Public Schools · Fairfax County Board of Supervisors · Fairfax County Park Authority · Fairfax County Economic Development Authority · Fairfax County Public Library · Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department · Fairfax County Police Department · Fairfax County Sheriff's Office Organizations Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce · Fairfax Symphony Orchestra Landmarks Fairfax County Government Center · Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts · Inova Fairfax Hospital · Mount Vernon · Gunston Hall · Tysons Corner Center · Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park · Great Falls Park · Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center · Washington and Old Dominion Railroad · Fort Belvoir Transportation Fairfax Connector · Washington Dulles International Airport · Silver Line · Fairfax County Parkway · Virginia State Route 123 · Springfield Interchange · Manassas Regional Airport Culture Battles Battle of Chantilly · First Battle of Bull Run · Second Battle of Bull Run Events Celebrate Fairfax! Education George Mason University · University of Fairfax · Northern Virginia Community College

Fairfax County Public Schools High Schools Annandale Centreville Chantilly Edison Fairfax Falls Church Herndon Jefferson Langley Lee Madison Marshall McLean Mount Vernon Oakton South Lakes Stuart West Potomac West Springfield Westfield Woodson Secondary Schools Hayfield Lake Braddock Robinson South County Alternative High Schools Bryant Mountain View Pimmit Hills