Archived Division News

Fauquier County Public Schools and teachers have been named W!se Financial Literacy Blue Star Schools and W!se Gold Star Teachers.

The School Board will meet Monday, December 11, 2023.

With winter approaching, we must prepare for the possibility of inclement weather.

The tentative graduation schedule for the Class of 2024 has been released.

The School Board’s annual planning summit will take place on November 29 at 9 a.m. at the Fauquier Springs County Club.

Fauquier Reaches for Excellence in School Health (FRESH) is committed to providing free books to every child in Fauquier County. Thanks to a growing network of literacy allies, FRESH has made significant strides towards their goal.

Adrianna created "The Memory Stick Project,” a craft-making initiative to support students who are grieving or have experienced loss.

On November 2, Fauquier County came together in a show of community support for the annual Stuff the Bus food drive. This year, the event – hosted by the Fauquier County Public Schools transportation department – saw 21 schools and school-division departments donate an impressive 15,326 pounds of food to The Fauquier Community Food Bank. Six buses were dispatched across the county to collect and transport the donations.

Applications for 2024 Summer Residential Governor’s School are now available for 10th or 11th graders enrolled during the 2023-2024 school year.

‘Tis the season to celebrate school nutrition! Considered National Farm to School Month, October also includes Virginia Farm to School Week, Virginia’s annual ‘Crunch Heard ‘Round the Commonwealth’, and National School Lunch Week. To honor these many different ‘holidays’, Fauquier County School Nutrition and Fauquier Reaches for Excellence in School Health (FRESH) have partnered over the past several weeks to bring added excitement and engagement to cafeterias across the county.

Fauquier County Public Schools (FCPS1) announced one change in position and one addition to the team at Tuesday night's (October 10th) school board meeting. Fauquier High School (FHS) assistant principal, Mr. Jim Raines, will serve as interim principal for the remainder of the school year. Mr. Raines assumes the position, due to the passing of beloved principal, Kraig Kelican. Additionally, Ms. Erica Yelland, former Department of Defense Education Activity Public Affairs Specialist and Program Director for the Department of Defense, will become the Director of Communications of Fauquier County Public Schools and will replace former director, Tara Helkowski.

Warrenton, VA - 9/29/23 — Fauquier County Public Schools proudly welcomed The George Lucas Foundation's Edutopia film crew last week as they sought to spotlight the exceptional teaching practices flourishing at Fauquier High School. The visit was an exciting opportunity to showcase the remarkable educators and students who make Fauquier High School a center for innovative education.

Fauquier County Public Schools (FCPS) is embarking on a mission to enhance student attendance throughout the 2023-2024 school year. Recognizing the vital role attendance plays in a student's academic success, FCPS is taking proactive measures to increase student attendance.

Today We Are All Falcons! Sending all our love and support to the Kelican Family and the Fauquier High School Community. #WeLoveYouMrKelican

The U.S. Department of Education today recognized 353 schools as National Blue Ribbon Schools for 2023. The recognition is based on a school’s overall academic performance or progress in closing achievement gaps among student groups on assessments. Kettle Run High School was announced as 2023 Blue Ribbon School. Please click here for more information on this announcement from the U.S. Department of Education on Kettle Run High School as a National Blue Ribbon School. Congratulations KRHS on this honor!

Nineteen Fauquier County Public School (FCPS1) students were named Advanced Placement (AP) Scholars with Distinction in 2023. These students earned an average of 3.5 on all AP exams taken and scores of three or higher on five or more exams. Eleven FCPS students were named AP Scholars with Honor, as a result of earning an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP exams taken and scores of three or higher on four or more exams. Receiving scores of three or higher on three or more AP exams, eighty-nine FCPS students were designated AP Scholars. These groups included students from all three high schools within FCPS1.

Fauquier County Public Schools (FCPS) announced one change in position and one addition to the team at Monday night's (September 11) School Board Meeting. Dr. Amy Acors, Director of Instruction, Social Sciences, and School Counseling Services will join the Kettle Run High School (KRHS) administrative team as an assistant principal, taking over the position that became vacant when Mr. Mark Malloy was named Principal of KRHS earlier this year. Additionally, Ms. Malysa Rhodes, former Director of Finance at the City of Colonial Heights and Spotsylvania Public Schools, was announced as the School Board Technical Budget Manager.

Fauquier County Public Schools opened its doors to a new school year on August 16. Nearly 11,000 students were in attendance throughout the 19 campuses in the school division.

Fauquier Reaches for Excellence in School Health (FRESH) is excited to announce a new partnership with Fauquier Health. FRESH (a Fauquier County Public Schools program funded by the PATH Foundation) is on a mission to promote a ‘lifetime of wellness’ among Fauquier youth through nutrition, movement, and literacy enrichment.

At the August 9 Fauquier County School Board meeting, Superintendent Dr. Major Warner introduced Mark Malloy, 49, as the new principal of Kettle Run High School. After serving as the principal at Warrenton Middle School for the past four years and the assistant principal at Kettle Run High School for the previous four years, Malloy will take over from Meaghan Brill, who has taken on the role of FCPS Deputy Superintendent.

Fauquier County Public Schools invites all students, families and staff to attend the second annual FCPS Back-to-School Fairs at Bradley Elementary School on July 31, Marshall Community Center on August 1, and Marsh Run Community on August 2. All three events will last from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.; attendance is free.

Fauquier County Public Schools has named Ms. Meaghan Brill as its new deputy superintendent. Dr. Major Warner, division superintendent, announced her appointment during the Fauquier County School Board meeting on July 10. Effective July 11, Brill, 39, will fill the position Dr. Warner held for the past six years.

Fauquier County Public Schools (FCPS) will start the 2023-2024 school year with three new elementary principals – Bruce McDaniel at H.M. Pearson Elementary School, Erika Kersey at Greenville Elementary School and Mark Rendell at Grace Miller Elementary School. The three administrators will assume their new positions on July 1, 2023.

Fauquier County Public Schools invites teachers, administrators, families, and other interested stakeholders to review the ESL and world language textbooks and resources recommended for adoption. To view these materials, please visit the Library and Media Services Office located in Central Complex Building A at 430 East Shirley Avenue any time on any of the following days and times:

Fauquier County Public Schools (FCPS) has named Mr. Prashant Shrestha its new assistant superintendent for budget and planning. Shrestha will fill the position vacated in May by Denise Sandlin.

Fauquier Reaches for Excellence in School Health (FRESH), a Fauquier County Public Schools program funded by the PATH Foundation, has a number of free resources available to families this summer. FRESH’s mission is to inspire a ‘lifetime of wellness’ among Fauquier County children through nutrition, movement, and literacy enrichment.

Deputy Superintendent Dr. Major Warner has been named the new superintendent for Fauquier County Public Schools. The appointment was announced following a closed session during a special school board meeting on May 24. Effective July 1, Warner, 54, will fill the position Dr. David Jeck held for the past ten years.

Fauquier County Public Schools (FCPS) will close Warrenton Middle School at the end of this school year as the school merges with Taylor Middle School. The school has served as a high school, junior high school, middle school and elementary school in our community for the past century. To celebrate the rich history of the Warrenton School, FCPS will host a commemorative event on May 19, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., at 244 Waterloo Street in Warrenton. All alumni, community members, students and staff are invited.

Fauquier County Public Schools (FCPS), in partnership with the Mental Health Association of Fauquier County (MHAFC), will host a mental health community forum for parents and guardians on Wednesday, May 3, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Warrenton Community Center (430 E Shirley Avenue). All parents and guardians are invited to attend.

The Fauquier County School Board voted Tuesday morning to approve the request from Superintendent Dr. David Jeck to end his contract effective June 30, 2023. Dr. Jeck will assume the role of FCPS Special Projects Coordinator for the term of July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024.

Mountain Vista Governor’s School (MVGS) is a regional program for academically talented and highly motivated 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students. Science, mathematics, humanities, and research courses are uniquely integrated to provide a college-level, project-based learning environment.

Bruce McDaniel will become the interim principal at Greenville Elementary School beginning January 3, 2023, and lasting throughout the second semester of the 2022-2023 school year. The veteran administrator will take over for Principal Tim Gardner, who will fill an existing vacant position within FCPS.

Marshall C. “Clay” Campbell took an oath on November 16, 2022, to serve as the Scott District representative on the Fauquier County School Board. Campbell won the special election held on November 8, 2022, and assumed the seat previously held by Vincent Gallo. Gallo served as interim Scott District representative after being appointed by the Fauquier County School Board to fill the seat vacated on December 15, 2021, by Suzanne Sloane.

Applications for 2023 Summer Residential Governor’s School are now available. These worthwhile programs provide enrichment in the areas of agriculture, humanities, mathematics, science and technology, and the arts (dance, theatre, instrumental and vocal music and visual arts). Students, who should be nominated by a teacher, must be in 10th or 11th grade and enrolled during the 2022-2023 school year.

Fauquier County Public Schools (FCPS) recorded an on-time graduation rate of 94.8% in 2022, according to data released by the Virginia Department of Education. FCPS continued to achieve high graduation rates in all subgroup categories while maintaining a low dropout rate of 2.7%, compared to the state average of 5.2%.

The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) has accredited all Fauquier County Public Schools for the 2022-2023 school year. Eighteen schools received the highest accreditation rating, and Pearson Elementary School is accredited with conditions. The VDOE bases accreditation ratings on a school accountability system that provides a comprehensive view of school quality.

Late Friday afternoon, the Culpeper Police Department informed Fauquier County Public Schools that Daniel Garrison, a science teacher at Auburn Middle School since 2016, died in Culpeper.* Auburn Middle School notified its staff and families early Saturday morning, and school officials have made plans to support students and staff when classes resume on Monday.

The College Board recognized 135 Fauquier County Public Schools students for their performance on the Advanced Placement (AP) Exams taken during the 2021-2022 school year.

Fauquier County Public Schools invites teachers, administrators, families, and other interested stakeholders to review K-2nd Elementary Handwriting textbooks/instructional resources, which the School Board will consider for adoption/implementation this school year (2022-2023) with implementation next school year.

Warrenton - A Fauquier County Sheriff’s Deputy took a juvenile male into custody. A Juvenile Petition and a Detention Order are being requested Thursday afternoon, August 11. This morning a staff member at Kettle Run High School informed the School Resource Officer (SRO) of a suspicious individual and vehicle on the grounds of Kettle Run. The SRO attempted to make contact and the individual fled into the wooded area on foot. Patrol Division deputies, with detectives from the Criminal Investigation Division (CID), coordinated efforts and determined no credible threat existed to the school or students.

When Fauquier County Public Schools (FCPS) opens its doors to the new school year on August 10, a new learning management system (LMS) will be in place, Schoology. Schoology replaces Blackboard, which had been the school division’s LMS for nearly fifteen years.

Fauquier County Public Schools today announced its policy for providing free or reduced-price meals for children served under the National School Lunch and/or School Breakfast Programs.  Each school and/or central school nutrition office has a copy of the policy, which may be reviewed by any interested party.

Fauquier County Public Schools invites teachers, administrators, families, and other interested stakeholders to review the business, marketing and cosmetology education textbooks recommended for adoption. Anyone interested may make an appointment at the School Board Office by calling 540-422-7001 or emailing Kaye Day at kaye.day@FCPS1.ORG.

At the June 22 Fauquier County School Board meeting, Deputy Superintendent Dr. Major Warner introduced Tara Kidwell as the new principal and Megan Howland as the new assistant principal of James G. Brumfield Elementary School. Kidwell and Howland will take over on July 1 from current Brumfield Principal Matt Yonkey and Assistant Principal Kim Holcomb, who will move as a leadership team to Auburn Middle School.

At the June 22 Fauquier County School Board meeting, Deputy Superintendent Dr. Major Warner introduced Tara Kidwell as the new principal and Megan Howland as the new assistant principal of James G. Brumfield Elementary School. Kidwell and Howland will take over on July 1 from current Brumfield Principal Matt Yonkey and Assistant Principal Kim Holcomb, who will move as a leadership team to Auburn Middle School.

The 2022 FCPS School Quality Survey is designed to help schools gather data on how well the school is meeting the expectations of parents and families, faculty and staff, and students. Schools will use the survey results for planning and improvement.

The 2022 FCPS School Quality Survey is designed to help schools gather data on how well the school is meeting the expectations of parents and families, faculty and staff, and students. Schools will use the survey results for planning and improvement.

Superintendent Dr. David Jeck announced several school leadership changes Thursday afternoon. The following administrators will start in their new roles effective July 1, 2022.

Kindergarten registration for children attending Fauquier County Public Schools will be held April 4-8, 2022.  Children who are five years of age on or before September 30, 2022, are eligible for kindergarten.

Fauquier Reaches for Excellence in School Health (FRESH) provides children and families throughout Fauquier County with a wealth of information and activities about leading healthy, active lifestyles. FRESH has recently partnered with Seton School in Manassas to ensure primarily Spanish-speaking Fauquier families can also benefit from all that FRESH has to offer.

Bright and early August 11, 2021, Fauquier County Public Schools reopened its doors to five days a week of in-person learning. While thousands of students returned back to their schools, others logged on to the newly-launched FCPS Virtual Academy.

Cedar Lee Middle School seventh-grader Anna Snyder survived seven rounds to win Fauquier County Public Schools’ Sixteenth Annual Division Spelling Bee on Saturday, February 5, at Fauquier High School.

The Fauquier County Public Schools will hold an in-person Division Spelling Bee on Saturday, January 29, 2022, at 10 a.m. in the Fauquier High School auditorium.  Registration will begin at 9 a.m.  In the event of a cancellation, a backup date is set for February 5.

On Saturday, January 15, Governor Youngkin signed Executive Order Number Two, addressing mask-wearing in schools. Because this Order does not go into effect until Monday, January 24, Fauquier County Public Schools will keep all current mitigation strategies in place, including the wearing of masks, when students return to school on Tuesday, January 18.

Mountain Vista Governor’s School is a regional program for academically talented and highly motivated students in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade. Science, mathematics, humanities, and research courses are uniquely integrated to provide a college-level, project-based learning environment.

Today, Vincent “Vinny” Gallo took an oath to serve on the Fauquier County School Board as the interim Scott District representative until a special election is held on November 8, 2022. At its organizational meeting Monday night, the Fauquier County School Board appointed Gallo to fill the seat vacated on December 15 by Suzanne Sloane.

From December 16 – 29, the Fauquier County School Board will accept letters of interest from citizens of the Scott District who are interested in serving on the School Board on an interim basis. Interested citizens should complete the online form at http://fcps1.link/scott.

Fauquier FRESH was recently awarded funding through the Virginia Department of Education’s (VDOE) ‘Active Learning Grant.’ Focusing on children in pre-K to second grade, grant funding will support FRESH’s multi-year approach to integrating more movement in classrooms across Fauquier County. Grant programming will begin by piloting calming and refocusing strategies.

Fauquier Reaches for Excellence in School Health (FRESH) and Fauquier Public Library have partnered to bring StoryWalks® to the community. A StoryWalk® is a free outdoor activity that empowers families to move and read at the same time! Each page of a children’s book is placed on story boards along a walking path in the community. To read the book from beginning to end, families follow the path, visiting each signpost along the way.

Applications for the 2022 Summer Residential Governor’s School are now available. These worthwhile programs provide enrichment in the areas of agriculture, humanities, mathematics, science and technology, and the arts (dance, theatre, instrumental and vocal music and visual arts). Students, who should be nominated by a teacher, must be in 10th or 11th grade and enrolled during the 2021-2022 school year.

Fauquier Reaches for Excellence in School Health (FRESH) is a Fauquier County Public Schools (FCPS) program with a mission to maximize opportunities for students to engage in active learning, active living, and nutritional education. During the week of October 3rd, FRESH partnered with the FCPS School Nutrition Program to host ‘Farm to School Week,’ where children across the county had an opportunity to experience local meat and produce as part of their school meal.

Fauquier County Public Schools’ on-time graduation rate increased from 95.5% in 2020 to an all-time high of 96.2 percent in 2021, according to data released by the Virginia Department of Education.

The Virginia Board of Education recognized Fauquier County Public Schools as a “School Division of Innovation” at its September 23 meeting. FCPS was one of five Virginia school divisions to earn this distinction for designing and implementing alternatives to traditional instructional practices and school structures to improve student learning and promote college and career readiness and good citizenship.

For planning purposes for friends and family, Fauquier County Public Schools is announcing a tentative schedule of graduation dates for the Class of 2022. The school division anticipates that high school graduation dates will be as follows:

At the end of school year 2020-2021, twenty-four FCPS students were named AP Scholars with Distinction. These students earned an average of 3.5 on all AP exams taken and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams. Thirteen FCPS students were named AP Scholars with Honor because they received an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP exams taken and scores of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams. Receiving scores of 3 or higher on three or more AP exams, 61 FCPS students were designated AP Scholars. These three groups included high school students from Fauquier, Kettle Run, and Liberty.

The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) has released SOL test results for the 2020-2021 school year and updated School Quality Profile reports for each school and school division. Because school accreditation was waived for 2021-22 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, SOL test data will serve as a tool to set a baseline for recovery and measure student learning growth this year.

Beginning Monday, August 16, 2021, Fauquier County Public Schools (FCPS) will require all staff members, visitors, and students to wear face masks at all times indoors, except while eating, drinking, at nap time, when exercising, or playing a musical instrument. This includes any FCPS workplace, school buildings, and while entering, exiting, and riding the school bus.

Fauquier County Public Schools today announced its policy for providing meals for children. All schools in the division will be participating in the Seamless Summer Option (SSO) as implemented under the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. Enrolled students will be provided a nutritious meal for breakfast and lunch each day, Monday through Friday, at no charge to the household. Households will not be required to submit a meal application in order to receive meals at no charge.

Fauquier County Public Schools is accepting applications for the FCPS Virtual Academy, set to open August 11 for the 2021-2022 school year. Interested K-12 students and families should visit the FCPS Virtual Academy website at bit.ly/FCPS1Virtual to begin the application process.

Fauquier County Public Schools no longer requires the wearing of masks in FCPS buildings, buses or grounds. Students and staff will continue to have the option to wear face masks if preferred. The updated mask protocol took effect on July 1 to align with the expiration of Governor Northam’s Amended Declaration of Emergency, Executive Order 51.

All teachers and staff at Fauquier County Public Schools will receive five-percent raises next school year, thanks to the collaborative efforts of the Fauquier School Board and Board of Supervisors. The two boards agreed on compensation funding Thursday afternoon.

During the month of February, H. M. Pearson families and teaching staff curled up virtually for bedtime stories featuring a mystery guest reader. Over the course of 17 nights on Sunday through Thursday evenings, Pearson staff members picked a story that they particularly enjoyed to share with students. Each night, families signed in through Google Meet for a new Bedtime Story event. As an added incentive to participate, students recorded the book titles and guest readers’ names on their reading calendars and the form served as their entry ticket for a chance to win raffle prizes.

Kindergarten registration for children attending Fauquier County Public Schools will be held April 5-9, 2021. Children who are five years of age on or before September 30, 2021, are eligible for kindergarten.

Lisa Jones, a third-grade teacher at C. Hunter Ritchie Elementary School, Wendy Miller, a preschool teacher at W.G. Coleman Elementary School and France ter Weele, a world language teacher at Taylor Middle School and Cedar Lee Middle School, have been named National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs). Out of the 25 Board disciplines, Jones earned certification in Middle Childhood Generalist, Miller earned certification in Early Childhood Generalist and ter Weele earned certification in World Languages.

The Fauquier County Public Schools Division Spelling Bee will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021, at 10 a.m. In the event of school cancellation, the bee will take place on Wednesday, March 3, 2021. Unlike previous years, competing students will receive instructions from their school bee coordinator for reporting to their individual schools by 9 a.m. to register and log into the virtual platform. The bee will be livestreamed for public viewing at www.fcps1.org/spellingbee.

Fauquier County Public Schools has named Mrs. Denise L. Sandlin as its new assistant superintendent for business and planning. Dr. David Jeck, division superintendent, announced her appointment during the Fauquier County School Board meeting on February 8. Effective February 15, Sandlin, 62, will fill the position vacated in December by Prashant Shrestha.

It did not take long for FCPS educators to receive their first shots once Governor Northam announced that K12 teachers/staff would be included in the 1B group of essential workers. Within a week, the first doses of the Moderna vaccine were administered to school division staff. Days later, hundreds of FCPS educators had received their vaccine, with hundreds of more vaccinations scheduled.

The Fauquier County School Board met January 5, 2021, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the January 5, 2021, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

Mountain Vista Governor’s School (MVGS) is a regional program for academically talented and highly motivated students in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade. Science, mathematics, humanities, and research courses are uniquely integrated to provide a college-level, project-based learning environment.

The FCPS FRESH (Fauquier Reaches for Excellence in School Heath) and the FCPS School Nutrition Programs have partnered to bring local organizations together for the second Community Cares Day event, held on Tuesday, December 15, at Grace Miller Elementary School in Bealeton. The FRESH team coordinated a Grab and Go meal event, distributing milk, fruit, ground beef, and microgreens for families in need. Learning Starts Early provided puzzles, Books On the Bus provided books, and A Little Heart charity supplied warm winter coats for children and adults.

The Fauquier County School Board met on December 30, 2020, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the December 30, 2020 School Board agenda on the school division web page.

Due to the rising level of community spread of COVID-19 and the resulting impact on the FCPS workforce, all Fauquier County Public School students will return to an all-virtual learning model from Monday, December 14 through Thursday, December 17, 2020.

The Fauquier County School Board met November 23, 2020, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the November 23, 2020, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

Fauquier County Public Schools’ on-time graduation rate increased from 94.1 percent in 2019 to an impressive 95.5 percent in 2020, according to data released by the Virginia Department of Education. Not only did the school division fare well overall, but FCPS also achieved record-high graduation rates in four subgroup categories—Black students, Hispanic students, Students with Disabilities and Economically Disadvantaged Students.

Businesses, schools and families alike have felt the impact of COVID-19. Yet since the start of September, Fauquier businesses have donated food, time and resources to show their appreciation for the hard-working educators at Fauquier County Public Schools.

The Fauquier County School Board met October 12, 2020, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the October 12, 2020, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

Despite starting off the 2020-2021 school year in the midst of a pandemic, Liberty High School worked extremely hard to receive the opportunity to bring light and new opportunities into what seems to be a rocky start. On August 11th, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, James Lane, announced that Fauquier County, specifically Liberty High School, is one of the thirteen school divisions that will receive a state grant to develop or implement innovative programs that promote Virginia’s 5 C’s (critical thinking, creative thinking, collaboration, communication, and citizenship). While five school divisions will receive a $50,000 first-year innovation planning grant, Liberty specifically will be amongst four other school divisions that will receive a $ 50,000 second year-innovation implementation grant, while the other four school divisions in this specific category will split a fifth of a $50,000 grant.

Fauquier County Public Schools has extended the reopening survey deadline through Friday, October 9. The school division is administering the survey so families can select their preferred instructional model and transportation needs for the November 9 reopening.

The National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) has named Ladona Gorham, FCPS Instructional Supervisor for Gifted Education and Fine Arts, as the 2020 Gifted Coordinator Award recipient. NAGC presents this award to a gifted coordinator/administrator who has had a significant and positive impact on the gifted students in their district. Gorham will be honored at a virtual celebration of excellence during the NAGC 67th Annual Convention in November.

The Fauquier County School Board met September 14, 2020, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the September 14, 2020, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

Fauquier County Public Schools expanded its options for meal service this month to meet the needs of families. Hot meals are now available for pickup Monday - Friday at 16 schools. Pre-packaged meal bundles, comprised of five breakfasts and five lunches, are now available to pick up via a drive-through service at nine schools on Tuesdays and Thursdays and at Brumfield Elementary School on Saturday mornings. FCPS will also deploy 14 school buses to deliver meal bundles to 66 locations on Tuesday mornings. All meals are free for any student between the ages of 2 and 18.

Faced with insurmountable workforce issues, the Fauquier County School Board voted August 10 to move to a 100% virtual instructional model for all students through December. The first day of school remains August 24.

Fauquier County Public Schools will host four drive-thru immunization clinics at our middle schools to provide the TDAP, meningitis and HPV immunizations to rising seventh graders.

We invite community members to join us for a webinar to learn more about the Cedar Lee expansion and renovation project. Attendees of this hour-long webinar will learn about the construction plans and project timeline. Webinar participants will have an opportunity to submit questions to the architecture and engineering firm and school division administrators. The webinar will be live-streamed and recorded for viewing after the event. Cedar Lee Renovation Community Forum Thursday, July 23, 2020 6 - 7 p.m.

The Fauquier County School Board met July 13, 2020, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the July 13, 2020, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

Thanks to the generosity of Fauquier FISH, A Little Heart, and Saint James’ Episcopal Church and School, every family who comes to Grab-and-Go Meal sites will leave with food this summer—even if the site runs out of the meals they have planned. Working together, these organizations, along with help from SPARC Research and the Highland School community, assembled more than 1,000 “snow day kits” to address the needs of Fauquier County children who may be food insecure.

Fauquier County Public Schools reminds parents and guardians of school-age children that immunizations and physicals are still required for school enrollment and have not been waived due to COVID-19. Planning ahead to complete these state requirements for school enrollment will ensure a smooth and safe start when schools reopen.

The Fauquier County School Board met June 29, 2020, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the June 29, 2020, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

We join our students, staff, families, and community members who are horrified by the death of Mr. George Floyd and the national outcry that has ensued since his murder. We denounce hatred, racism, and violence of any kind and commit to addressing the inequities that continue to exist in our schools and community.

Fauquier County Public Schools announced it is participating in the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) program as part of a food assistance plan approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) that is being implemented statewide by the Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) and the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE).

The Fauquier County School Board met May 11, 2020, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the May 11, 2020, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

The Fauquier Reaches for Excellence in School Health (FRESH) program is sponsoring the Fill the Bucket Virtual 5K on June 18 through 21. FRESH’s goal is to provide 500 buckets filled with produce and fun summer activities for Fauquier children in need. In partnership with Fauquier FISH, The Heartwood Center, Fauquier Family Shelter Services, and Community Touch, Inc., FRESH will fill and donate a bucket to a child in need for each person who registers and completes the race. Registration is FREE!

Happy Family Ranch and the FRESH Program, in collaboration with the Town of Warrenton Parks and Recreation, will be sponsoring “Nacho Average Drive-Thru Lunch” on Wednesday, May 20, 2020, for families in need. From 11:00 – 1:00, or until ingredients run out, meals will be distributed to children at the Warrenton Aquatic and Recreation Facility (WARF) at 800 Waterloo Road in Warrenton.

Fauquier County Public Schools deployed ten school buses equipped with Wi-Fi hotspots to locations throughout Fauquier County this week. Each bus emits a Wi-Fi signal up to a distance of 300 feet. By launching this fleet of smart buses, FCPS aims to increase student access to learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Fauquier County Public Schools is proud to announce that Carrie Linebaugh, mathematics and special education teacher at Liberty High School, has been selected as the 2019-2020 Teacher of the Year.

For Immediate and Sympathetic Help, better known as FISH, “envisions Fauquier County as a place where no one goes hungry and anyone in need has a place to turn.” Their team of volunteers has held true to this mission despite increased demand and diminishing supplies, but now they need our community’s help.

Liberty High School Principal Sam Cox has been named the 2019-2020 Principal of the Year for Fauquier County Public Schools. Cox was surprised with the award during a Liberty High School virtual faculty meeting on April 17.

The Fauquier County School Board met April 20, 2020, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the April 20, 2020, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

Fauquier County Public Schools has extended the Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI) applications deadline for the 2020-2021 school year to May 5, 2020. VPI serves students residing in Fauquier County who are four years old on or before September 30, 2020, and who meet income-eligibility or other risk-factor guidelines. Grace Miller, W.G. Coleman, J.G. Brumfield, M.M. Pierce, and C. Hunter Ritchie elementary schools will host the VPI program.

Fauquier County Public Schools will be issuing Chromebooks to students in need of a computer to continue learning during this extended closure. Devices have been cleaned, disinfected, and prepared for distribution. Read the FCPS Device Distribution Plan for details, including who needs a device, how to obtain a device and more.

The traditional school year ended suddenly on March 13 for the more than 11,000 students who attend Fauquier County Public Schools. Since then, the school division has worked to solve challenges related to the extended school closure, including how to continue to meet the instructional needs of all students. This afternoon, the school division released the FCPS Continuity of Learning Plan to outline guidelines for the continued learning that will begin on April 14.

At its March meeting, the Fauquier County School Board honored 19 teachers, all of whom have been nominated to be Fauquier County’s representative in the Washington Post Teacher of the Year competition. A selection panel will choose one of the 19 teachers to be the Fauquier County Teacher of the Year to be announced in mid-April.

Beginning Monday, March 30, 2020, Fauquier County Public Schools will expand its grab-and-go meal distribution to include three new locations —Marsh Run Community, M.M. Pierce Elementary School and the Marshall Community Center. The program will also transition to a once-a-week distribution day on Mondays through the rest of the academic year.

Fauquier County Public Schools will provide grab-and-go meals for students from 10:30 a.m. – noon on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays beginning March 23, 2020. Each day of the program, students will be offered two sacks of food, each containing breakfast and lunch. Full participation in the program will provide students with up to six breakfast and lunch meals per week.

For the latest information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) and its impact on schools, please see the FCPS Coronavirus website at www.fcps1.org/covid19 and the message below from Dr. Jeck. Additionally, you can view Dr. Jeck's message here.

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to rapidly evolve, with two presumptive positive cases in Virginia as of March 8, 2020. While there are no reports of COVID-19 in Fauquier County, we have heard from families who are seeking guidance and expressing concerns. Fauquier County Public Schools continues to work closely with the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) in monitoring the status of the virus and is following current guidance from the VDH and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The Fauquier County Regional Science & Engineering Fair, junior division (6th – 8th grades), will be held Saturday, March 14, at Fauquier High School. The fair will feature projects from public and private middle school students throughout Fauquier County.

The Annual Regional Science & Engineering Fair, senior division (9th -12th grades), will be held Saturday, February 29, at Fauquier High School. The fair will feature projects from FCPS high schools, Fauquier County private schools, and Mountain Vista Governor’s School.

The Fauquier County School Board met February 24, 2020, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see the supporting documents with the February 24, 2020, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

AP Seminar and Research is a two-year program that teaches students to become critical and independent thinkers, writers, and speakers. It’s about learning transferable skills that inform and enhance their academic lives no matter what subject area they are studying. Be sure to read the full story to learn more about the skills these students are building. While you're there, consider leaving the students a comment!

The Fauquier County School Board met February 10, 2020, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the February 10, 2020, School Board agenda on the school division web page or the video recording on the live stream web page.

Fauquier County Public Schools will join 132 other school divisions throughout the state to celebrate School Board Appreciation Month in February. Almost 850 elected and appointed school board members throughout Virginia will be recognized by schools and communities for their service and dedication to public education.

Fauquier County Public Schools is proud to announce that Carrie Linebaugh, mathematics and special education teacher at Liberty High School, has been selected by the Virginia Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (VASCD) as the Region IV recipient of the 2020 IMPACT Award.

The Fauquier County School Board met February 3, 2020, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the February 3, 2020, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

The Fauquier County School Board met January 13, 2020, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the January 13, 2020, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

Application Process Open for 2020-2021 Mountain Vista Governor’s School is a regional program for academically talented and highly motivated students in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade. Science, mathematics, humanities, and research courses are uniquely integrated to provide a college-level, project-based learning environment.

The Fauquier County School Board met Jan. 6, 2020, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the Jan. 6, 2020, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

The Fauquier County Public Schools Division Spelling Bee will be held Saturday, January 11, 2020, at 10 a.m. in the Taylor Middle School Auditorium. Registration begins at 9 a.m.

Fauquier Excellence In Education Foundation and Fauquier County Public Schools are proud to announce that a generous $10,000 donation from Ms. Ann Anderson will pay off school lunch debt for Fauquier County public school students in need. Ms. Anderson's gift will directly impact those families who have qualified for reduced lunch or have shown that they are unable to pay.

The Fauquier Excellence in Education Foundation, in partnership with Fauquier County Public Schools, is proud to present “My First Book Club,” a preschool program designed to improve literacy, promote a love of reading and develop peer interaction for 4-year-olds attending Fauquier County Public Schools.

The C.L. Payne FFA chapter of Bealeton, VA, has been recognized in the 2019 National Chapter Award Program from the National FFA Organization.

The Fauquier County School Board met December 9, 2019, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the December 9, 2019, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

Early morning on December 5, school bus driver Sharon Elgin alerted the residents of a home in the Marsh Run Community that their house was on fire. Her heroic actions enabled the residents inside to escape unharmed.

Salem Sifford of the C.L. Payne FFA chapter at Liberty High School recently competed for national recognition in a career development event at the 92nd National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis, Oct. 30-Nov. 2.

The Fauquier County School Board met November 25, 2019, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the November 25, 2019, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

The Parent Resource Center has partnered with the Fauquier Public Library in an effort to make books, periodicals, and DVDs more accessible to families. Resources previously stored at Central Complex have been moved to each of Fauquier Public Library’s three branches.

The Fauquier County School Board met October 15, 2019, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the October 15, 2019, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

Applications for 2020 Summer Residential Governor’s School are now available. These worthwhile programs provide enrichment in the areas of agriculture, humanities, mathematics, science and technology, and the arts (dance, theatre, instrumental and vocal music and visual arts). Students, who should be nominated by a teacher, must be in 10th or 11th grade and enrolled during the 2019-2020 school year.

The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) has accredited all Fauquier County Public Schools for the 2019-2020 school year. Eighteen schools received the highest accreditation rating, and Taylor Middle School is accredited with conditions. The VDOE bases accreditation ratings on a school accountability system that provides a comprehensive view of school quality.

Fauquier County Public Schools earned the top rating from the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) for improving outcomes for students with disabilities and for compliance with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The school division received a total performance grade of 95 percent based on 2017-2018 data —the best rating the school division has ever received for serving students with disabilities.

Today, Friday, September 27, 2019, Fauquier High School (FHS) staff and the school resource officer (SRO) received an anonymous tip about a suspicious item in a closet near the cafeteria. FHS staff and the SRO searched an unsecured custodial closet and located a BB pistol.

The Fauquier County School Board met September 23, 2019, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the September 23, 2019, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

MIDDLEBURG, Va. —On August 15, Windy Hill Foundation and Fauquier County Public Schools (FCPS) were awarded one of 28 grants by the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) in the amount of $149,740 for the development of a 21st Century Community Learning Center. The grant money will allow Windy Hill Foundation, in partnership with FCPS, to create the Horizons program serving children who live in the Windy Hill Community in The Plains and Marshall and their neighbors who attend W.G. Coleman Elementary, Claude Thompson Elementary and Marshall Middle schools.

The Fauquier County School Board met September 9, 2019, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the September 9, 2019, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

The Fauquier County School Board met August 19, 2019, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the August 19, 2019, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

FAIRFAX, VA – “W.C. Taylor High School: A Legacy,” the first documentary produced within the Mason Film Lab, will make its debut at a celebration event on Saturday, August 31, 2019 at 4 p.m. in the Addison E. Lightfoot Auditorium of Fauquier High School, followed by a dinner with the film’s participants. The “Celebration of the William C. Taylor High School Legacy” evening is open to the public. The evening will include a free screening of the film, followed by a dinner with alumni (tickets required). The evening is presented by the William C. Taylor High School Alumni Committee, Taylor Middle School, and George Mason University’s Film at Mason program. Proceeds from the dinner will go to the Hazzard Johnson Memorial Fund. The community is invited to come meet the alumni of Wm. C. Taylor High School and to learn the legacy of the innovative school. You can watch a behind the scenes look at the making of the documentary now at https://vimeo.com/343508720.

Fauquier County Public Schools and Liberty High School are proud to announce the award of $50,000 for the 2019 Virginia Department of Education’s High School Innovation Grant. This first-year innovation planning grant – awarded to only five school divisions in the state - will allow Liberty High School to expand their vision of creating opportunities for students as they prepare for life during and after high school.

On Monday, August 19 at 4 p.m., Fauquier County Public Schools will take part in Most Likely to Succeed’s worldwide campaign to re-imagine education. The screening will be hosted by Liberty High School in Bealeton and will be open to the public. A post-film discussion will be led by Ted Dintersmith, author of What School Could Be: Insights and Inspiration from Teachers Across America.

Teachers, administrators, parents, and other interested stakeholders are invited to an open house to review family and consumer science textbooks recommended for adoption. Anyone interested may drop by the Library and Media Services Office (formerly the Teacher Resource Center) located in Central Complex Building A at 430 East Shirley Avenue from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the following days:

Two Kettle Run High School teams placed in the top ten at the National Technology Student Association’s Conference held at the Gaylord National Resort June 28 - July 2. TSA is an organization for students interested in technology, encompassing the study of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) beyond the classroom. More than 5,000 students participate in the national TSA conference each year. Kettle Run TSA had seven students qualify for this year’s national competition.

The Fauquier County School Board met July 22, 2019, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the July 22, 2019, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

Fauquier County Public Schools will start the 2019-2020 school year with seven new assistant principals – Jamie Edgar at Pearson Elementary, Michael Hodge at Southeastern Alternative School, Kimberly Holcomb at Brumfield Elementary, Eric Kelly at Smith Elementary, Krystal Otto at Kettle Run High, Jesse Rivera at Kettle Run High and Colleen Robson at Fauquier High. Mark Rendell, who served as assistant principal for the past three years at Pearson Elementary, is the new assistant principal at Miller Elementary. These eight administrators assumed their new positions on July 1, 2019.

Members of the C.L. Payne FFA Chapter at Liberty High School won a first-place, two second-place and two third-place titles at the 93rd annual Virginia FFA State Convention held June 17-20 at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA. The C.L. Payne Chapter also earned a gold rating in the National Chapter Award Program and will advance to further competition at the National FFA Convention and Expo in Indianapolis this fall.

Tom Edwards, 49, was named the Director of Facilities for Fauquier County Public Schools in May. Since then, he has been coordinating the summer repair and maintenance projects at the school division’s 20 schools. Edwards replaced long-time director Greg Livesay, who had held the position since 2006.

Ten students from Fauquier County Public Schools attended American Legion (AL) Boys State and American Legion Auxiliary (ALA) Girls State from June 16-22.

The Fauquier County School Board met June 27, 2019, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see the June 27, 2019, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

Nine students from Fauquier County Public Schools will spend at least part of this summer pursuing further academic excellence: eight at a Summer Residential Governor’s School and one at a Governor’s Foreign Language Academy.

The Fauquier County School Board met June 10, 2019, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the June 10, 2019, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

Rain clouds finally cleared and sunshine spread among the Marsh Run Community for the inaugural Flash Grub event, organized by Fauquier County Public Schools. Teachers and staff members from Mary Walter Elementary, Cedar Lee Middle, and Liberty High schools, along with the Books on the Bus (BOB) team, representatives from the FRESH program, the Bealeton Public Library, and the Fauquier Free Clinic convened at the Marsh Run commons area on May 15 to visit with families and serve more than 300 hot dogs.

Books On the Bus (BOB) will be expanding both its outreach and offerings this summer thanks to the generosity of our community. A combination of private donations and grants will provide the funding for BOB to continue to travel to northern, central and southern Fauquier County weekly. BOB’s schedule is as follows:

Fauquier Excellence In Education Foundation is proud to announce its 20th annual golf tournament on Monday, June 17th at Fauquier Springs Country Club. This year’s title sponsors are STANTEC and ABM Facility Support Services.

Books on the Bus (BOB) is introducing a new feature this spring, thanks to the collaboration of local nonprofits and the generous support of Sonny Merryman, Inc. The Fauquier Excellence in Education Foundation (FEIEF) was awarded a grant of $850 from the Jesse and Rose Loeb Foundation in 2018 to fund the purchase and installation of an interlock system, a safety feature that prevents a vehicle from starting when a wheelchair lift is in use.

At the May 13 Fauquier County School Board meeting, Superintendent Dr. David Jeck introduced Mark Marchinetti, 40, as the new principal of Pearson Elementary School effective July 1. After serving as assistant principal at Southeastern Alternative School since 2014, Marchinetti will take over from current Pearson Principal Wendy Wilcox, who announced in February that she would be retiring.

At the May 13 Fauquier County School Board meeting, Superintendent Dr. David Jeck introduced Debbie Diaz-Arnold as the new principal of Grace Miller Elementary School effective July 1. After serving as assistant principal at P.B. Smith Elementary for the past two years, Diaz-Arnold will take over from Principal Bruce McDaniel, who announced last month he would be retiring. Diaz-Arnold will be the first Hispanic female school principal in FCPS.

At the May 13 Fauquier County School Board meeting, Superintendent Dr. David Jeck introduced Mark Malloy, 45, as the new principal of Warrenton Middle School effective July 1. After serving as an assistant principal at Kettle Run High School for the past four years, Malloy will take over from eleven-year Warrenton Principal Barbara Bannister, who announced last month she would be retiring.

The Fauquier County School Board met May 13, 2019, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the May 13, 2019, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

Liberty Eagles are always up for a challenge. Their latest mission? Coming up with a way to get the entire school community involved in celebrating the Bealeton high school's 25th anniversary.

The Fauquier County Public Schools Innovation Festival will take place 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. May 11 in the gymnasium at Fauquier High School. The Innovation Festival is a community celebration of science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM). The event is free and open to the public.

Preschool students at M.M. Pierce Elementary School now play in a brand new setting, thanks to a generous donation from Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC). Preschoolers, school staff and ODEC employees enjoyed the playground’s grand opening on April 22.

Fauquier County Public Schools will offer the Outdoors: Explore!! Elementary Summer Environmental Camp for rising fourth, fifth, and sixth graders this summer. Camp sessions will be held June 3-6 and June 10-13 at the Fauquier Outdoor Lab, located behind Fauquier High School. The four-day camp will run from 9 a.m. - noon and will cost $75 per session per participant.

by Zoe Lowe and Jasmine Beverly, Patriot Press editors The challenge was issued in January. Artistically talented high school students from throughout Fauquier County were needed to submit t-shirt designs for Area 27 Virginia Special Olympics. The designs needed to include a motivating and positive slogan, accurately represent Special Olympics sports such as swimming, bowling, basketball, track and field, bocce, tennis and volleyball, and, of course, mention Fauquier County Area 27 Special Olympics.

The Sixth Annual Fauquier Regional Science & Engineering Fair, junior division (6th-8th grades), was held at Fauquier High School on March 16. The fair hosted 27 of the top middle school competitors from Fauquier County schools including Auburn MS, Cedar Lee MS, Highland School, Marshall MS, Taylor MS, Wakefield School, and Warrenton MS. This year two new directors coordinated the fair - Regional Fair Director Erica Deane from Highland School and District Fair Director Kara Reffitt from Kettle Run High School.

Books On the Bus (BOB) is stocked with thousands of books for the summer thanks to the generosity of our community. Book drives were organized throughout March at a variety of locations, including many schools throughout Fauquier County. On April 4, 2019, 12 volunteers from Greystone boarded two school buses and traveled to schools in Fauquier County picking up 228 boxes of books.

The Fauquier County School Board voted unanimously to adopt the Fiscal Year 2020 Budget at their meeting on April 9. The school division’s budget will increase by $7.5 million next year to total $148.3 million. FCPS teachers will receive raises between two and 14.7 percent to move to 92 to 100 percent of the market.

The Fauquier County School Board met April 9, 2019, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the April 9, 2019, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

Kettle Run High School seniors Miles Housley and Natalie Seyler and Fauquier High School senior Mark Zitzmann have advanced to Finalist standing in the 64th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. They received a Certificate of Merit in recognition of this accomplishment. These three students will now move on to the final phase of this program where approximately 7,500 merit scholarship winners will be chosen and awarded scholarship offers.

At a staff meeting on March 25, Superintendent Dr. David Jeck announced Matt Yonkey, 37, would be the interim principal of J.G. Brumfield Elementary School for the 2019-2020 school year effective July 1. After serving as the assistant principal of Brumfield for the last two and a half years, Yonkey will be taking over from seven-year Brumfield Principal Julie Gagnon, who announced she has accepted a teaching position in Loudoun County.

At a staff meeting on March 25, Superintendent Dr. David Jeck announced Kraig Kelican, 58, would be the interim principal of Fauquier High School for the 2019-2020 school year effective July 1. After serving as the assistant principal of FHS since 1997, Kelican will take over from six-year Fauquier Principal Clarence “Tripp” Burton, who announced last month he would step down as principal.

More than 100 students from five Fauquier County Public Schools participated in the Fauquier County Recycling Committee’s poster contest aimed at promoting awareness and educating students and the community about recycling.

Applications are now being accepted for the Cyber Security Academy. This four-year program is offered to incoming freshman who will attend Liberty High School. The program will focus on the evolving and all-pervasive technological environment with an emphasis on securing personal, organizational and national information. The Cyber Security Academy will feature cross-curricular courses with a Cyber Security emphasis, workplace readiness skills and certifications, and Cyber Security-related extracurricular and co-curricular community activities. Students can pick up registration packets from their school counselors. Applications are due by April 22, 2019

The Fauquier County School Board met March 11, 2019, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the March 11, 2019, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

The Sixth Annual Fauquier Regional Science & Engineering Fair, senior division (9th-12th grades), was held on Saturday, March 2 at Fauquier High School. The fair hosted 19 of the top high school competitors from Fauquier County. This year two new directors coordinated the fair - Regional Fair Director, Erica Deane from Highland School and District Fair Director Kara Reffitt from Kettle Run High School.

Fauquier County Public Schools confirms the following schedule of graduation dates for the Class of 2019. • Southeastern Alternative School – 10:30 a.m. Monday, May 20 at Southeastern Alternative School • Fauquier High School - 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 22 at Falcon Field • Liberty High School - 7 p.m. Thursday, May 23 at Jiffy Lube Live • Kettle Run High School - 6 p.m. Friday, May 24 at Cougar Stadium

At its Feb. 25 meeting, the Fauquier County School Board honored 18 teachers, all of whom have been nominated to be Fauquier County’s representative in the Washington Post Teacher of the Year competition. A selection panel will choose one of the 18 teachers to be the Fauquier County Teacher of the Year, and that teacher will be entered into the Post’s Teacher of the Year competition. The Fauquier County Teacher of the Year will be announced later in March.

The Fauquier County School Board met Feb. 27, 2019, and took the following official action out of closed session. The School Board voted unanimously to authorize the Superintendent and his representatives to explore purchase options for the property discussed and authorization to agree to a reasonable market purchase price contingent upon School Board approval.

Teachers, administrators, parents, and other interested stakeholders are invited to an open house to review textbooks and curriculum resources recommended for adoption for the Intellectual Disabilities (ID) and Autism (AUT) classrooms in the high school settings. Upon approval, these items will be implemented during the 2019-2020 school year. Anyone interested may drop by the Library and Media Services Office (formerly the Teacher Resource Center) located in Central Complex Building A at 430 East Shirley Avenue according to the following schedule:

The Fauquier County School Board met Feb. 18, 2019, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the Feb. 18, 2019, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

Fauquier County Public Schools will use banked hours to make up for the next five days missed due to inclement weather. Superintendent Dr. David Jeck announced the plan at the February 18 School Board meeting. Banked hours are instructional hours accrued beyond the state requirement and may be used to offset days missed.

Fauquier County Public Schools, in conjunction with LFCC’s Workforce Solutions, will offer a heavy equipment operator certification course on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. starting March 26 and ending June 13. The course will take place at the Vint Hill Campus of Lord Fairfax Community College. Six seats will be available free of charge for FCPS students.

Teachers, administrators, parents, and other interested stakeholders are invited to an open house to review K-5 music and possibly high school music theory resources recommended for adoption and to be implemented during the 2019-2020 school year. Anyone interested may drop by the Library and Media Services Office (formerly the Teacher Resource Center) located in Central Complex Building A at 430 East Shirley Avenue according to the following schedule:

Applications are now being accepted for the iSTEM Academy. This four-year program is offered to incoming freshman and current students who will attend Kettle Run High School. The iSTEM Academy is a program that focuses on cross-curricular courses with a STEM emphasis, workplace readiness skills and certifications, and STEM-related extracurricular and co-curricular community activities. Students can pick up registration packets from their school guidance counselors. Applications are due by March 15, 2019.

Applications are now being accepted for the Fauquier Environmental Studies Academy (FESA). This four-year program is offered to rising 9th and 10th graders who will attend Fauquier High School. The Fauquier Environmental Studies Academy is a program that focuses on environmental studies, forestry, game and wildlife, ecology, and natural resources. Students can pick up registration packets from their school guidance counselors. Applications are due by March 15, 2019.

A group of 55 eighth-grade French students, parents and teachers from Warrenton Middle School, traveled to Québec City, Canada, to engage in a French-immersion adventure during the week of January 15-21. Led by French teacher Mme. Jennifer Piercy, the group enjoyed various activities, including dog sledding, snowshoeing and meeting their pen pals. The students also visited the only ice hotel in North America and spent time tubing and tobogganing on a 135-year-old toboggan slide right along the St. Lawrence River.

In keeping with the 2018-2019 school calendar, students in Fauquier County Public Schools will attend school on the following dates to make up for days missed due to inclement weather:

Fauquier County Public Schools is now accepting Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI) applications for the 2019-2020 school year. VPI serves students residing in Fauquier County who are four years old on or before September 30, 2019, and who meet income-eligibility guidelines. Grace Miller, W.G. Coleman, J.G. Brumfield, M.M. Pierce, and C. Hunter Ritchie elementary schools will host the VPI program.

Dr. David Jeck, superintendent of Fauquier County Public Schools, and Suzanne Sloane, chairman of the Fauquier County School Board, attended the Virginia School Boards Association’s Capital Conference on January 23 and 24 in Richmond. The event brought together school board members, superintendents, state delegates and senators, and others to consider the major educational issues facing the 2019 General Assembly.

The Fauquier County School Board met January 22, 2019, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the January 22, 2019 School Board agenda on the school division web page.

The Fauquier County Public Schools Division Spelling Bee will be held Saturday, January 26, 2019, at 10 a.m. in the Taylor Middle School auditorium. Registration begins at 9 a.m.

Application Process Open for 2019-2020 Mountain Vista Governor’s School is a regional program for academically talented and highly motivated students in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade. Science, mathematics, humanities, and research courses are uniquely integrated to provide a college-level, project-based learning environment. - Mountain Vista Governor’s School is a regional program for academically talented and highly motivated students in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade. Science, mathematics, humanities, and research courses are uniquely integrated to provide a college-level, project-based learning environment.

The Fauquier County School Board met Jan. 7, 2019, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the Jan. 7, 2019 School Board agenda on the school division web page.

Fauquier High School sophomore McKenzie Hurley participated in a panel discussion hosted by Microsoft in Washington, D.C. last month. Representing the National FFA Organization, Hurley joined two 4-H students to discuss the importance of bringing broadband to rural areas in the United States. The event provided an update to the Microsoft Airband Initiative that aims to bring broadband access to 3 million Americans by July 2022.

The National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) named Kettle Run High School teacher Linda Correll the 2018 recipient of the Outstanding Biology Teacher Award (OBTA) for Virginia. The association recognizes an outstanding biology educator for grades 7-12 from each of the 50 states based on their teaching ability and experience, cooperativeness in the school and community, and student-teacher relationships.

Fauquier, Virginia– Parents in this northern Virginia community may never have to ask again, “When does the bus arrive?” thanks to a powerful new mobile application. The Fauquier County Public Schools district is introducing a rapidly expanding mobile application that aims to improve how students, parents and school administrators manage the daily bus commute.

The Fauquier County School Board met Dec. 10, 2018, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the Dec. 10, 2018, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

Artwork from Fauquier County Public Schools art teachers and students is on display at Fauquier Hospital through January 1, 2019. The gallery unites the work of the following art teachers and their students in a side-by-side display:

What happens when your principal meets you at the bus, cooks you a hotdog, and throughout the evening your teachers stop by to visit and challenge you to a game of corn hole? Memories are made, and relationships are formed.

The Fauquier County School Board met Nov. 12, 2018, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the Nov. 12, 2018, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

Access to high-quality preschool education is becoming a reality for increasing numbers of Fauquier County children, thanks to the efforts of Fauquier County Public School’s expanding Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI) and the efforts of the Fauquier Preschool Coalition.

Teachers, administrators, parents, and other interested stakeholders are invited to an open house to review K-12 mathematics program materials recommended for adoption and to be implemented during the 2019-2020 school year. Anyone interested may drop by the Library and Media Services Office (formerly the Teacher Resource Center) located in Central Complex Building A at 430 East Shirley Avenue according to the following schedule:

The Fauquier County School Board met Oct. 17, 2018, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the Oct. 17, 2018, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

Fauquier County Public Schools will host a Be-A-Teacher event on October 25, 2018, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Fauquier High School. Aspiring teachers will have an opportunity to consult with FCPS Human Resources staff, school administrators and current teachers about the teaching profession and alternative routes to teaching licensure. This event is open to anyone who is considering teaching as a profession.

Kettle Run High School seniors Miles Housley and Natalie Seyler and Fauquier High School senior Mark Zitzmann have been designated as Semifinalists in the 64th annual National Merit Scholarship Program, giving them the opportunity to continue in competition for 7,400 National Merit Scholarships worth around $33 million to be offered next spring.

All Fauquier County Public Schools are fully accredited for the 2018-2019 school year, according to the results released by the Virginia Department of Education on September 27. This year’s accreditation ratings are based on a new school accountability system that provides a more comprehensive view of school quality.

From Idea to Vision to Reality - Fauquier County Parks and Recreation and Fauquier County Public Schools dedicated Marshall Community Center’s newly renovated basement on Saturday, September 8. The Bland-Graham Learning Den officially opened its doors to an after-school program for students on September 10. Enrollment in the program currently stands at 32 students.

The Fauquier County School Board met Sept. 10, 2018, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the Sept. 10, 2018, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

The Fauquier County School Board met August 27, 2018, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the August 27, 2018 School Board agenda on the school division web page.

Faced with the reality of a nationwide teacher shortage, Fauquier County Public Schools realized it was time to think differently about recruiting. The FCPS Department of Human Resources stepped-up its hiring campaign, incorporating nontraditional tactics to attract qualified candidates. And their efforts have paid off. Just one week into the new school year, the division has filled 120 certified vacancies, leaving only 10 certified positions open.

The Fauquier County School Board met August 14, 2018, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the August 14, 2018 School Board agenda on the school division web page.

During school year 2017-2018, ten students from Fauquier County Public Schools scored well enough on Advanced Placement (AP) exams to earn top honors as National AP Scholars: senior Clay Shafer from Fauquier High School; seniors Justin Magill, Nicholas O’Connor, Liam Whitted, and Jakob Wine from Kettle Run High School; and senior Genevieve Hebert from Liberty High School. Top honors also went to three juniors from Kettle Run High School: Joseph Rowell, Natalie Seyler, and Joshua Wine and Mark Zitzmann from Fauquier High School. To achieve these honors, the ten students had to earn an average score of at least 4 on all AP exams taken and scores of 4 or higher on eight or more of these exams. AP exam scores are reported on a 5-point scale, rating the student’s qualifications to receive college credit or advanced placement: 5=Extremely Well Qualified, 4=Well Qualified, 3=Qualified, 2=Possibly Qualified, 1=No Recommendation.

Eight students from Fauquier County Public Schools attended the American Legion Auxiliary Department of Virginia Girls State Program (72th Session) at Longwood University in Farmville and American Legion Department of Virginia Boys State Program (76th Session) at Radford University in Radford from June 17-23.

First Three School Security Officers Start --The Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office transferred three school security officers— Franz Mahler, Sal Torelli, and Jeffrey Crane—to Fauquier County Public Schools on July 16, establishing the school security officer program in the school division. FCPS and the Sheriff’s Office will partner to equip each of the county’s 20 schools with officers by adding three school resource officers and 12 school security officers during the 2018-2019 school year.

Julia Heckathorn, the author and illustrator of Search for the Hidden Clover children’s books, will join Books on the Bus (BOB) at Eva Walker Park in Warrenton from 9 a.m. -10 a.m. on July 25. Children will have an opportunity to meet the author, have their books signed in-person, and enjoy an informal book reading. The first 200 families at the event will receive a new copy of one of her books.

Student fees for school year 2018-2019 in Fauquier County Public Schools will be as follows: Consumable material fees (for workbooks, writing and drawing books, etc.): $12.00 for grades K-5 $20.00 for grades 6-8 $25.00 for grades 9-12

The Fauquier County School Board met July 9, 2018, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the July 9, 2018 School Board agenda on the school division web page.

Three Fauquier County Public Schools rising seniors—Nada Ismael from Liberty High School, Chris Kiser from Fauquier High School, and Troy Sloane from Kettle Run High School—attended the Thomas D. Horne Leadership in the Law Program June 17-22 in Leesburg. The three joined 21 students from private and public schools in Fauquier and Loudoun Counties to participate in the in-depth training in the legal system.

The Fauquier County School Board met June 25, 2018, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the June 25, 2018, School Board agenda on the school division web page. Approved the revisions to Policy 7-3.1 “Code of Student Conduct” Established one instructional coach and mentoring coordinator position.

At its June 11 meeting, the Fauquier County School Board approved the appointment of two new assistant principals. Amy Cackowski will be the assistant principal at M.M. Pierce Elementary School effective June 18, and Sydney Kelly will be the assistant principal at Greenville Elementary School effective July 1.

The Fauquier County School Board met June 11, 2018, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the June 11, 2018, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

Typical peers serve as role models in a developmentally appropriate Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) preschool program at seven Fauquier County Public Schools elementary schools (Bradley, Brumfield, Coleman, Miller, Pearson, Pierce and Walter). ECSE classrooms can have up to eight students receiving special education services and four typical peers.

The Fauquier County School Board approved the appointment of Angie Ashley as the school division’s new mathematics instructional supervisor at its May 14 meeting. Effective July 1, she will fill the position currently held by Jane Grove, who will be retiring. Ashley is currently serving as an elementary lead teacher, providing mathematics support to four elementary schools - Miller, Ritchie, Greenville and Smith.

The Fauquier County School Board met May 14, 2018, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the May 14, 2018, School Board agenda on the school division web page. Approved the consent agenda which included minutes from the April 9 School Board m

Blaire Conner, mathematics teacher at Liberty High School, has been selected as the Superintendent’s Innovator of the Year for 2018. This first-time $1000 award, funded through a grant from Apple Federal Credit Union Educational Foundation, is designed to recognize the outstanding efforts of a teacher who incorporates innovation into instruction. Four teachers were named as finalists for the Superintendent’s Innovation Award - Leslie Baccus, Linda Correll, Janell Maszatics, and Cary Poe. As finalists, they each received a $375 award, funded through a grant from Apple Federal Credit Union Educational Foundation.

The Fauquier Excellence in Education Foundation (FEIEF) is pleased to announce awards of more than $15,000 to ten applicants who impressed the committee with their proposals for professional growth opportunities designed to benefit their students. Together, these educators have taught in Fauquier County for a total of 111 years.

Katelyn Rockefeller, music teacher at Grace Miller Elementary School, and Annie Glascock, civics teacher at Warrenton Middle School, have been selected as the FCPS Rookie Teachers of the Year. This award was presented to one elementary and one secondary teacher to recognize the outstanding efforts of teachers just entering the profession. Both winners received a $500 check funded through a grant from Apple Federal Credit Union Educational Foundation.

Fauquier High School junior Natalie Barrera placed first in the epidemiology competition at the Health Occupations Student Association State Leadership Conference in Williamsburg, VA, March 16-18. From Liberty High School, senior Brooke Hutchison placed second in the state for sports medicine and a team of four - seniors Jazmine Edwards, Brooke Hutchison, Kara Maine and junior Haleigh McGuin - placed second in medical innovation. As first and second-place state winners, they will have the opportunity to compete at the HOSA International Leadership Conference June 27-30, in Dallas, TX.

Six Liberty High School students earned high honors at the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) State Conference held in Virginia Beach, April 14-15. Juniors Alyssa Brennan and Angel Springhetti, sophomores Grace Hinkler and Leah Eckert, and freshman Makaila Johnson received bronze medals in the Food Innovation and Focus on Children team events. Senior Jazmine Edwards placed second in the Teach and Train category. As the second-place state winner, Edwards will have the opportunity to compete at the FCCLA national convention June 28-July 2 in Atlanta, GA.

There is a danger within Fauquier County. One affecting the students. It is a monster that strikes during the warm months of summer break. It locks down student’s minds, like a warden in a prison. It is the beast known as summer slide.

Youth from the Fauquier High School chapter of Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) recently participated in a weekend leadership training conference held April 13-15 in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Attendees participated in a weekend of workshops and sessions that challenged, informed, and motivated members and their advisers to learn more about leadership through FCCLA. Along with over 1,000 other advisers and members, Fauquier High School’s FCCLA chapter adviser, Rebecca Hale accompanied two members to the meeting.

Fauquier County’s annual Summer Residential Camp for rising 5th graders has a new name! Known for the past 11 years as Camp Moss Hollow, the name changed this year to Camp SMILE (Summer of Memories, Inspiration, Learning, and Enrichment). In addition to the name change, the summer camp also has a new location—the Northern Virginia 4-H Educational Center, just outside Front Royal.

The 9th Annual 24 Game Tournament boasted over 200 students competing in a fast-paced math competition at Fauquier High School in late February. Teams from all 16 elementary and middle schools gathered with the goal of being the best at calculating numbers to equal 24. Thompson Elementary School and Marshall Middle School were named overall school winners. The elementary junior champion was Maggie Gardner, while Jake Stern led the way in the elementary challenge division. The middle school champion title went to Colin Doyle, who is no stranger to winning this competition.

On April 9, 2018, Elk Lodge Exalted Ruler, Dennis Henline, and Jane Wine, secretary of Elk Lodge 2382 in Front Royal, VA, delivered 1,644 Virginia Elks safety glasses to Fauquier County Public Schools. The 1,452 glasses were divided among all 11 FCPS elementary schools for use in grades K-5. Each elementary school received 132 glasses for science use. Students will use the remaining 192 glasses in career & technical education classes. These donations were provided through the Elks National Foundation Gratitude Grant.

The Fauquier County School Board met April 23, 2018, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the April 23, 2018, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

For the past two years, Linda Hume, language arts teacher at Warrenton Middle School, has engaged her seventh-grade students in an ongoing service project. Students have sent letters, cards, and small care packages to National Guard soldiers in Kuwait. Last month, students reflected on those experiences through essay writing. As the students thought critically about the impact of community service, they discovered the power of giving.

Two students from Fauquier County were special award winners at the 33rd annual Virginia State Science & Engineering Fair (VSSEF) competition at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute in Roanoke, VA, on April 14. Maria Cruz Caballero and Amy Lee, 12th graders from Liberty High School, were awarded third place and a $100 cash prize from American Water Works for their project “Pond 2 Potable: Creating a Solar Powered Water Filtration Device”.

The school year will end on Thursday, May 31, as outlined in the 2017-2018 school calendar. The last two days of school, Wednesday and Thursday, May 30 and 31, will be half days, which is the common practice for the two final exam days of each school year. The schedule for the last week of school is as follows:

The Destination Imagination team from Pearson Elementary School – “The Somethings from HMP” – qualified to compete in the Destination Imagination Global Finals in Knoxville, TN, May 23-26, where they will join teams from around the world to showcase their solution to the Service Learning Challenge. The Pearson team will be the only FCPS team to participate in the DI Global Finals this year.

At a School Board meeting and work session on April 9, the Fauquier County School Board appointed Laura Hoover, 40, as the principal of Margaret M. Pierce Elementary School effective immediately. After serving one year as the assistant principal of Pierce, she had been appointed last April as the one-year interim principal when Principal Bruce McDaniel assumed the position as principal of Grace Miller Elementary School.

The Fauquier County School Board met April 9, 2018, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the April 9, 2018, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

During February, Taylor Middle School students participated in Hoops for Heart, a fundraiser event geared at raising awareness about heart health and safety while also raising funds for the American Heart Association (AHA). Students collected money throughout the month and took part in a culminating event on Friday, Feb. 16, during their regularly scheduled physical education classes. The event included four basketball-related stations. All the students had a blast working together in teams and celebrating their accomplishment of raising an astounding $5,167.30 for the cause.

The FCPS Profile of a Graduate community forum, initially scheduled for April 12, will now take place on April 17, 2018, from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. at Coleman Elementary School. The event will also be live-streamed, courtesy of Fauquier Excellence in Education Foundation and School Support Council. The online version will be viewable from the Fauquier Excellence in Education Facebook page.

Marisa Pappas, art teacher at Warrenton Middle School, was named the 2018 National Middle Level Art Educator by The National Art Education Association (NAEA). This prestigious award, determined through a peer review of nominations, recognizes the exemplary contributions, service and achievements of one outstanding NAEA member annually at the National level within their division. Pappas accepted the award at the NAEA National Convention in Seattle on March 22.

Michele Damer, special education teacher at Fauquier High School and Erika Kersey, gifted and talented teacher at Ritchie Elementary School have been named National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs). Both Damer and Kersey earned their certification in Exceptional Needs Specialist/Early Childhood Through Young Adulthood, one of the 25 Board disciplines.

Kettle Run High School’s National Honor Society (KRNHS) is making an impact on our community, and their hard work is getting noticed. After learning that the 76-member honor society logged a record 1314.25 community service hours during the fall term, Lovepop, an up-and-coming card company, decided to sponsor a college scholarship fundraiser for KRNHS. Sales of Lovepop cards began March 1 and will continue throughout April or until sold out.

Kindergarten pre-registration for children attending Fauquier County Public Schools will be held April 9-13, 2018. Children who are 5 years of age on or before September 30, 2018, are eligible for kindergarten.

The annual Fauquier County Arts Festival will take place on Friday, March 23 from 6:00–8:00 p.m. and Saturday, March 24 from noon–3:00 p.m. at Fauquier High School. The event is free and open to all community members.

Fauquier High School culinary arts students will prepare and serve a three-course dinner at Field and Main restaurant in Marshall. This event, originally scheduled for Tuesday, March 20, will be rescheduled to either April 24 or May 1. The meal, consisting of “worldwide chicken & egg cuisine,” is available for $39 per person. Prepayment is required and can be made online at the Field and Main website or by calling the restaurant at 540-364-8166. All proceeds will benefit the culinary arts program at Fauquier High School.

Four students from Fauquier High School and Marshall Middle School contributed their graphic design and artistic talents to the 2018-2019 Program of Studies publications, distributed to all high school and middle school students. The Program of Studies assists students and parents when making course selections for the upcoming school year.

The 3rd annual Miss Abilities Pageant, hosted by the Miss Abilities Organization, took place on Saturday, March 3rd at 3:00 p.m. at the Winchester Church of God in Winchester, Virginia. At this year's pageant, 28 girls were crowned, young ladies and women who brightly and boldly put the ABILITY in disability as they graced the stage throughout the evening. It was an evening full of glitter, smiles, and pure joy for everyone in attendance.

A Fauquier County Public School student will appear on an exciting new game show "Genius Junior," which celebrates the brightest children in America. The weekly one-hour competition series is the ultimate test of intelligence and endurance. Genius Junior, hosted and produced by Neil Patrick Harris, features twelve teams of the most incredible children in the country, ages 8 to 12, who will take the stage to compete in a series of increasingly complex quizzes with the goal of being crowned Genius Junior. See the Genius Junior video trailer for a sneak peek of the show. Melody Harlan, one of the contestants on “The Brainy Bunch” team, is a Fauquier County resident, and a 4th grade student at Greenville Elementary School in Nokesville, Virginia. She will compete in this game of brains in its inaugural season, which premieres on Sunday, March 18 at 9:00 PM, ET.

Teachers, administrators, parents, and other interested stakeholders are invited to an open house to review K-12 history and social science program materials recommended for adoption and to be implemented during the 2018-2019 school year. Anyone interested may drop by the Library and Media Services Office (formerly the Teacher Resource Center) located in Central Complex Building A at 430 East Shirley Avenue according to the following schedule:

The Fauquier County School Board met March 12, 2018, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the March 12, 2018, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

The Fauquier County Regional Science & Engineering Fair, junior division (6th – 8th grades), will be held Saturday, March 17, at Fauquier High School. The fair will feature nearly 70 projects from public and private middle school students throughout Fauquier County. Judging, which is closed to the public, will occur between 9 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. The public is invited to visit the fair from 2-3 p.m., followed by the awards ceremony from 3-4 p.m.

H.M. Pearson and Mountain Vista Governor’s School (MVGS) partnered together for Pearson’s Read Across America celebration on February 28. Pre-K through fifth grade classrooms were visited by two different MVGS guest readers who shared their favorite children’s book and engaged students in rich discussions about the text.

Kettle Run High School seniors Nicholas O’Connor and Liam Whitted have advanced to Finalist standing in the 63nd annual National Merit Scholarship Program. They received a Certificate of Merit in recognition of this accomplishment. These two students will now move on to the final phase of this program where approximately 7,500 merit scholarship winners will be chosen and awarded scholarship offers.

Fauquier County Public Schools confirms the following schedule of graduation dates for the Class of 2018.

The Fauquier County School Board met Feb. 26, 2018, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the Feb. 26, 2018, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

The Fifth Annual Regional Science & Engineering Fair, senior division (9th -12th grades), has been postponed and will now be held Saturday, March 10, at Fauquier High School. The fair will feature projects from FCPS high schools, Wakefield School and Mountain Vista Governor’s School. Judging, which is closed to the public, will occur between 3 and 5:30 p.m. The public is invited to visit the fair from 6 -7 p.m., followed by the awards ceremony from 7-8 p.m.

Registration is now open for the Fauquier Environmental Studies Academy (FESA); a four-year program offered to incoming freshman at Fauquier High School focused on environmental studies, forestry, game and wildlife, ecology, and natural resources. Students can pick up registration packets from their middle school guidance counselors. Registration is due by March 16, 2018. Parents of rising FHS 9th graders are invited to an informational meeting for the Fauquier Environmental Studies Academy on Thursday, March 8, at 7 p.m. in the Fauquier High School Falcon Room.

Thanks to the efforts of Bianca Owens at Marshall Exxon, Claude Thompson Elementary has been awarded a $500 ExxonMobil Educational Alliance grant. The money will be used to help supplement materials needed in math. The ExxonMobil Educational Alliance program is designed to provide Exxon retailers like the one in Marshall, Virginia, an opportunity to invest in the future of their communities through educational grants to neighborhood schools. Claude Thompson students and staff want to thank the Marshall Exxon and the Owens family for their continued support.

At its Feb. 12 meeting the Fauquier County School Board honored 19 teachers, all of whom have been nominated to be Fauquier County’s representative in the Washington Post Teacher of the Year competition. A selection panel will choose one of the 19 teachers to be the Fauquier County Teacher of the Year, and that teacher will be entered into the Post’s Teacher of the Year competition. The Fauquier County Teacher of the Year will be announced in March. The evening began with a reception to honor the nominees, featuring appetizers presented by culinary arts students at Fauquier High School. At the school board meeting, each school’s Teacher of the Year nominee received a glass apple award when introduced to the room filled with family, friends and colleagues. Following are nomination excerpts read at the board meeting in recognition of the 19 Fauquier County Teacher of the Year nominees.

Judges are needed for this year’s Fauquier County Regional Science & Engineering Fairs to be held Saturday, March 3 (senior division, grades 9-12) and Saturday, March 17 (junior division, grades 6-8).

The Fauquier County School Board met Feb. 12, 2018, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the Feb. 12, 2018, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

Fauquier County Public Schools career and technical education (CTE) programs will host eighth-graders at the Academic and Career Fair on Feb. 22, 2018, from 8:30 a.m. until 2:15 p.m. at Fauquier High School. Students will rotate through 14 CTE areas and seven academic areas to learn about the courses available to them as they enter high school.

The Fauquier County FFA Alumni Chapter will sponsor the second annual Rising Sun Challenge on February 21 at 7:00 p.m. in Fauquier High School’s Falcon Room. Middle and high school FFA chapters from across the county will compete by conducting the opening and closing ceremonies for an official FFA meeting.

It would seem likely that an event featuring delicacies such as veggie sushi roll and shrimp tomato gazpacho would focus primarily on cooking techniques. Yet, culinary skills were just the beginning of the expertise demonstrated by FCPS high school students at the Culinary Arts Open House on January 24 at Stoneridge Events Center.

Danielle Tapscott, most recently a dean at Osbourn High School in Manassas City Public Schools, returned to the Fauquier school community last month to serve as assistant principal at Fauquier High School, replacing Donna Guzman, who assumed the role of principal at Marshall Middle School.

A group of 70 eighth-grade French students, parents and teachers from Warrenton Middle School, traveled to Québec City, Canada, to engage in a French-Canadian adventure during the week of January 9-14. Led by French teacher Mme. Jennifer Piercy, the group enjoyed various activities, including dog sledding, snow shoeing, taking a ferry across the frozen St. Lawrence River, eating, dancing, making maple butter at an authentic sugar shack and snow tubing.

Judges are needed for upcoming science and engineering fairs to be held at Fauquier County’s five public middle schools. Qualifications include the following: bachelor’s degree or higher, currently working in a science, technology, engineering or math related field, or have recently taken AP science classes in high school or college. Individuals should have familiarity with either the experimental or engineering design process. Community members are invited to contact the school coordinator for any of the fairs they would be interested in judging.

The Fauquier Retired Teachers Association is pleased to announce the winners of the second annual teacher assistance grants. Three teachers’ projects were selected from a pool of 18 applications. The successful applications represent elementary, middle and high schools, and support humanities and STEAM programs. All applications were judged by the strength of the request rather than the grade level or any other consideration. Congratulations to Kathryn Davis, Mandie Sayers, and Linda Correll.

The next FCPS Profile of a Graduate community forum, initially scheduled for Feb. 9, will now take place on February 20, 2018, from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. at Auburn Middle School. The event will also be live-streamed, courtesy of Fauquier Excellence in Education Foundation and School Support Council. The online version will be viewable from the Fauquier Excellence in Education Facebook page. Families, students, faculty and staff, and community members are encouraged to attend in person or join via live-stream to continue the important conversation about the impending changes to the Standards of Accreditation and the rollout of “The Profile of a Graduate”. Attendees will also hear about the latest updates received from the Virginia Department of Education.

Greenville Elementary School fourth-grader Melody Harlan survived 11 rounds to win the 12th annual FCPS Spelling Bee Jan. 27 at Taylor Middle School. All 11 elementary schools and all five middle schools held school bees and sent 49 students to participate in the county bee, which was held before a full house of parents, siblings, grandparents, principals, teachers, family and friends.

In keeping with the 2017-2018 school calendar, students in Fauquier County Public Schools will attend school on the following dates to make up for the two days missed thus far for inclement weather: Monday, February 19, 2018 and Wednesday, March 14, 2018

FCPS invites all January 24 - The FCPS Profile of a Graduate community forum will take place on January 24, 2018, from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. at Taylor Middle School. The event will also be live-streamed, courtesy of Fauquier Excellence in Education Foundation and School Support Council. With the theme “The Class of 2022 – Our Future Is Now,” this forum will continue to address impending changes to the Standards of Accreditation and the rollout of “The Profile of a Graduate.” The evening’s discussion will focus on how classrooms, schools, and education will change in the next few years, along with changes to graduation requirements.

The Fauquier County School Board met Jan. 16, 2018, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the Jan. 16, 2018, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

The Fauquier County Public Schools Division Spelling Bee will be held Saturday, January 27, 2018, at 10 a.m. in the Taylor Middle School auditorium. Registration begins at 9 a.m. Forty-nine students, representing 11 elementary schools and five middle schools, will participate in the school division bee as winners of their school-level or grade-level spelling bees. TMS reading specialist John Lucas is the school division’s bee coordinator, and Dr. Eileen Burgwyn, retired FCPS instructional supervisor is the pronouncer.

Application Process Open for 2018-2019. Mountain Vista Governor’s School is a regional program for academically talented and highly motivated students in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade. Science, mathematics, humanities, and research courses are uniquely integrated to provide a college-level, project-based learning environment.

Fauquier County Public Schools announces the release of its new mobile app as the division continues to expand its community engagement project. The new mobile app is available for Android devices, iPhones and iPads. To download, visit your App Store (iTunes), (Google Play) and search for Fauquier County Public Schools. Please note: If you have the old FCPS mobile app, please remove it before downloading the new one.

Thompson Elementary School third graders donated 77 pairs of pajamas to Scholastic’s Ninth Annual Great Bedtime Story Pajama Drive. The pajamas will go to at-risk children, and in partnership Scholastic Book Clubs will donate a new book to go with every set. Since 2009, classrooms nationwide have collected and donated over 600,000 pajamas through this program. Scholastic’s goal this year is 100,000 pajamas and books. “We are proud of our third graders and are so excited to be a part of their efforts. We are so grateful to the families that participated and to our fabulous third-grade teachers for organizing the effort. They are giving children in need a warmer good night and are helping teach our children what Christmas is all about,” said Assistant Principal Mollie Hess.

Typical peers serve as role models in a developmentally appropriate Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) preschool program at eight Fauquier County Public Schools elementary schools (Bradley, Brumfield, Coleman, Miller, Pearson, Pierce, Ritchie and Walter). ECSE classrooms can have up to eight students receiving special education services and four typical peers. Each child to be considered for a typical peer position must pass a developmental screening that looks at all areas of development. Screenings will be administered by the ECSE teachers in the fall of 2018 for the classroom in which the child may be placed. Children who pass the developmental screening may then be invited to a “play date” within the ECSE classroom. Typical peers must be at least three years six months by Sept. 30, 2018, and must be toilet trained.

Where can you find kids and dads at school as early as 6:30? At the 7th annual Donuts with Dad event hosted by MMS library teacher, Lanelle Hilling.

Liberty High School’s C.L. Payne FFA chapter has been recognized in the 2017 National Chapter Award Pro-gram. The program recognizes outstanding FFA chapters from throughout the country that actively implement the mission and strategies of the organization. These chapters improve chapter operations using the National Quality FFA Chapter Standards and a program of activities that emphasizes growing leaders, building commu-nities and strengthening agriculture. Chapters are rewarded for providing educational experiences for the en-tire membership.

Whitney Boring, most recently the Career and Technical Education department chairman at Liberty Middle School in Fairfax County, has been named assistant principal at Taylor Middle School, effective January 1, 2018, replacing Kimberly McKinney, who recently moved to the Adult Education Center.

Donna Guzman, assistant principal at Fauquier High School for the past three years, has been named principal at Marshall Middle School, effective December 27, 2017, replacing David Graham, who will fill the newly established position of executive director of administration and planning. Prior to coming to Fauquier she was an instructional coach based at Lorton Station Elementary School in Fairfax County.

Josh Miller, most recently assistant principal at Prince William County’s Patriot High School, has been named principal at Auburn Middle School, effective January 1, 2018, replacing longtime principal Steve Kadilac, who will retire at the end of the year. Miller has spent his entire twenty-year career within the Prince William County school division.

Two major events – Sophomore Interview Day and Career Shadowing Day – highlighted “Fall Career Month” at Liberty High School in November. At Sophomore Interview Day on Nov. 17 guest interviewers from around the county interviewed English 10 students, who dressed appropriately for their scheduled appointments where they were asked a variety of questions regarding what they want to do and why they believe they can excel. Interviewers included local employers, the superintendent’s senior staff members, school board office and central office staff and LHS administration, teachers and counselors.

The Fauquier High School National Honor Society (NHS) and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) joined together to sponsor a “Mega Food Drive” in November. In just over two weeks, Nov. 1-16, NHS and SADD collected 4,769 food items, a record for the annual drive which was in its fifth year; last year’s drive brought in 2,753 food items. NHS and SADD advertised the food drive throughout the school so students, faculty and staff could all participate; however, students donated the majority of the goods. After school on Nov. 16, students from both organizations gathered to sort, pack and transport food to the Fauquier County Food Distribution Coalition at the Warrenton Methodist Church.

The C.L. Payne FFA Chapter invited fourth-grade students from surrounding elementary schools to the annual Liberty Elementary Agriculture Day (LEAD) in late September. Liberty students helped during the day with all of the stations and acted as tour guides helping the students through each station. The FFA students taught the elementary students about agriculture in everyday life. The event began with a presentation from the Mobile Dairy Classroom from Southland Dairy to teach how milk is produced and processed. Following that presentation the fourth-grade students split into smaller groups to go to separate stations including a hayride, hunting and fishing safety, all about FFA, welding safety, and rock painting.

Fauquier County Public Schools celebrated Veterans Day with various activities, ranging from parades to ceremonies and special assemblies with veterans in attendance.

There were some new faces wandering the halls of Kettle Run and Fauquier High Schools this month. Ten students from Builth Wells, Wales spent two weeks in Fauquier County as part of a cultural exchange program. The students, who ranged in age from 15-18, arrived on Thursday, Oct. 26, and returned home on Wednesday, Nov. 8. Emma Gray, Kettle Run sophomore, hosted one of the exchange students. “I liked getting to see the differences in cultures compared to us,” she said. “It’s nice to see the perspective of our nation from an outside source.”

Organizers of the 2017 Vint Hill Fall Festival presented Kettle Run High School’s DECA/FBLA members with a check for $500 as a thank you for their hard work at the festival. Ten students volunteered at this year’s festival checking in vendors, helping set up, parking cars and emptying trash cans. Tanner Sapp, DECA vice president, helped park cars. “I decided to volunteer so I could show that I was trustworthy and could handle the position of vice president,” Sapp said. Event organizers were thankful for the extra hands and wanted to show their appreciation.

Twenty-two schools and school-division departments donated 9,402 pounds of food on Nov. 9 to be delivered to the community food bank. Three school buses traveled throughout the county with students and staff com-ing out to stuff the buses with all their donated food items. The Fauquier County Public Schools transportation department began the annual “Stuff the Bus” food drive in 2012.

The C.L. Payne FFA Chapter at Liberty High School took 23 students to the Virginia State Fair in Doswell to compete in four events – agriscience demonstration, forestry field day, horticulture demonstration and dairy judging. Participating in the agriscience demonstration on Oct. 3, freshmen Caitlyn Butler and Riley Hines placed first out of 17 teams, winning the junior division with their presentation on how to make your own all-natural fly spray. In the senior division Chapter President Mackenzie Mitchell presented how to create mini airplant magnets and placed third out of 16 competitors.

The C.L. Payne FFA Chapter of Liberty High School held a “Kiss the Calf” fundraiser during the week of homecoming. Five Liberty staff members were chosen as candidates to kiss a calf. The staff member receiving the most money at the end of the week would have to kiss the calf brought to the after-school homecoming tailgate event.

Students at Pearson Elementary School participated in events last week to celebrate America Recycles Day! Pearson got involved to promote awareness, increase their recycling rate and motivate occasional recyclers to become everyday recyclers. During the week of Nov. 13-17, students and teachers were invited to become active recyclers in many different ways. The program, originated by librarian Laura Holmes, featured themed days including dress-up activities (wearing fleece and red, white and blue) combined with bringing in a certain recyclable item each day. Pearson collected cardboard, paperboard, magazines, plastic bags galore, cans, plastic bottles, batteries, and used clothing.

Special readers helped English teacher Linda Hume’s seventh-grade students at Warrenton Middle School celebrate Read Aloud to a Child Week Oct. 22-28. Readers included WMS assistant principal Karyn Spahr, art teacher Marissa Pappas, school guidance counselor Jennifer Kuehn, school resource officer Sal Torelli, librarian Kathy Howard, instructional technology resource teacher Tina Ference and school board chairman Brian Gorg. “Students loved having time to listen to different adults read a variety of books,” said Hume. “There is a misconception that once students enter middle school, they are too old to be read to, but that’s just not true. Not only do the students enjoy hearing stories read, it’s also a great opportunity to model reading.”

Fauquier County Public Schools is one of 33 school divisions in Virginia to earn recognition as a Certified Green School Division by implementing new actions and adopting new policies that earn the division “green points” from the Virginia School Boards Association. At its annual convention held in Williamsburg last week, VSBA presented awards to school divisions placing in the 2017 VSBA Green Schools Challenge, sponsored by Moseley Architects and ABM Education. The challenge is a friendly competition designed to encourage implementation of specific environmental policies and practical actions that reduce the carbon emissions generated by both the local school division and the broader community.

Saint James Episcopal Church & School will host its third annual Gobble, Gobble Run or Wobble 5K and Fun Run this Saturday, Nov. 18, with proceeds supporting the Fauquier County Public Schools’ preschool program. The church’s “Learning Starts Early” program has supported the Virginia Preschool Initiative along with Head Start, Caring for Angels and other programs in the community that serve at-risk students.

David Graham, 49, principal of Marshall Middle School since July 2013, will fill the newly established position of executive director of administration and planning contingent upon finding a replacement for him as MMS principal. The Fauquier County School Board approved his appointment at its monthly meeting Nov. 13. In this role Graham will oversee school division transportation, nutrition, and construction and facilities. Graham will move with some reluctance from the school setting to the school board office setting. He has been at Marshall for 17½ years – four and a half as principal, nine as assistant principal and four as special education teacher.

The Northern Virginia I-CAR Committee has awarded a $5,500 Ultimate Collision Education Makeover school grant to the Fauquier County Public Schools’ automotive body repair program, located at Fauquier High School. Winners were announced at the Collision Repair Education Foundation’s Oct. 31 Makeover grant reception during the 2017 SEMA Show in Las Vegas. Craig Canard, instructor of collision repair classes at FHS, said he plans to use the grant funds to purchase tools and equipment for his classes; 47 students are currently enrolled in the three-level program.

DECA and FBLA students from Fauquier High School and Liberty High School participated in a Wounded Warrior service project hosted by Families4Fauquier on Sunday, Nov. 5, at Earth, Glaze and Fire. Students decorated candy containers and toiletry bags for patients at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Karen Chipman, Fauquier High School FBLA advisor, and Valerie Hermes, Liberty High School DECA advisor, participated with their students at the project. “This is a great project,” said Sarah Frye, instructional supervisor for career and technical education for FCPS. “What a great way for students to give back to those who have risked so much.”

Christena Smith, Kettle Run High School art teacher and lead art teacher for Fauquier County Public Schools, was named Secondary Division Art Educator of the Year for the 20 counties in the Blue Ridge Region at this year’s Virginia Art Education Association (VAEA) annual state conference, held Nov. 2 to 4. Several Fauquier County Public Schools art teachers attended the conference to learn about the changes in the Virginia visual arts standards of learning, review project-based learning strategies and get ideas for new lessons and techniques for the classroom.

Fauquier County Public Schools and Lord Fairfax Community College are among the first-ever recipients of the Governor’s Award for Excellence and Innovation in Education; out of more than 120 nominations, 13 were selected for recognition. In a ceremony at the Executive Mansion on Oct. 26, Governor Terry McAuliffe presented the inaugural award to representatives from FCPS and LFCC as the two entities jointly received the award in the “community partnerships and collaboration” category. An Oct. 27 news release from the Governor’s Office noted, “The school district has collaborated with the Fauquier Excellence in Education Foundation (FEIEF) and the Lord Fairfax Community College – Fauquier Campus to connect students and parents to the opportunities available at Lord Fairfax Community College.”

Smith Elementary School held a Halloween STEAM-Fest where students and adults, many in costume, participated in science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) activities. In one “fun and yummy” activity coordinated by gifted/talented teacher Emily Fenner, a group of “math buddies” – fifth graders paired with second graders – made candy corn catapults, designing and building the devices and then testing their range. In Gail Angelos’ second-grade class, students, assisted by parent volunteers, made slime and elephant toothpaste by combining simple ingredients; of course, students donned trash bag lab coats and goggles for safety.

Fauquier County Public Schools will offer a series of monthly workshops for employees of community preschools and day care facilities and for child care providers who service preschool-aged children. The workshops will be presented in the parish hall at St. James Episcopal Church, 73 Culpeper St., Warrenton, VA from 7-8:30 p.m. on the following Wednesdays: • November 15: Early Literacy/Speech and Language – Learn how to support language and literacy development • December 13: Gross Motor Activities – Learn how to support gross motor skills development such as hopping, skipping and climbing.

Kindergarten through second grade classes at Smith Elementary School recognized the 50th day of school on Thursday, Oct. 26, by dressing as if they were living in the 1950’s. Teachers and students donned poodle skirts and leather jackets to celebrate being 50 days smarter!

Fauquier County Public Schools will transition to a new parent and staff notification system in November. Known as “Mass Notify,” the new messaging and alert system is the second component in the Blackboard Community Engagement solution, which includes five areas: web community (website), Mass Notify (alerts and messaging), social media manager, mobile communications (mobile app) and teacher communications (link to Blackboard Learn). The website component became operational at www.fcps1.org just over a year ago, and the other three components will be implemented by the end of this school year.

A team from the University of Virginia’s “Project Kaleidoscope” headlined a “Literacy Diner” at Pearson Elementary School on Oct. 19 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Guests enjoyed a variety of healthy snacks and conversation with other families while they waited for the presentation to begin. Three presenters worked with parents and students on the topic “Five Ways to Empower and Engage Children in Reading Away from School.” The strategies shared included the many ways to read, making the love of reading visible, using child choice, talking about reading, and celebrating success. Parents and children were given opportunities to practice the strategies and receive feedback from the presenters. First, the presenters had the children use pictures and/or words to write down topics about which they would be interested in reading. Then later in the evening the children selected a book to read with their parents and practiced talking about what they had read.

Thompson Elementary School students explored a wide range of career options at a Kids’ Conference on Oct. 18 when over 20 community presenters described what their jobs entail. Students journeyed in groups from station to station to hear about a multitude of jobs and to ask questions of the men and women holding those jobs. The careers presented were as unique as the students learning about them. There was a horse trainer, a doctor, an attorney, a helicopter pilot and many others. Kindergartners through third graders went with their class to assigned stations while fourth and fifth graders could pre-select stations to visit with others from their grade level.

With “a mixture of sadness and excitement” Steve Kadilak, principal of Auburn Middle School since August 2008, has announced his retirement effective January 2, 2018. “I have enjoyed a fulfilling career as an educator in Fauquier County for 23 years,” Kadilak said. “As many peo-ple know, I joke about having a ‘middle school mind’ and truly this has enabled me to appreciate and share a special connection with our students throughout that time.” Kadilak has been at Auburn since the school first opened its doors to students in the fall of 2004 – first as assis-tant principal for four years and then as principal for just shy of a decade.

Parents, students, school employees and community members are invited to nominate a teacher for the 2018 Fauquier County Public Schools Teacher of the Year Award, presented in recognition of teachers who exemplify excellence in their profession. Recipient of the FCPS award will be nominated for The Washington Post Teacher of the Year Award, presented to one teacher from the DC/Maryland/Virginia region.

The Cerebral Palsy Foundation (CPF) is excited to announce the expansion of its “Just Say Hi” program to Brumfield Elementary School in Warrenton. The program is focused on increasing engagement with people with disabilities and addressing the unnecessary hesitation some people feel around disabilities. In schools, inclusion can start by just saying hi, but it doesn’t need to end there.

The Chronicle at Kettle Run High School received a Trophy Class ranking, the equivalent of a state championship, in both the newspaper and website categories at the Virginia High School League’s Me-dia Championships on Oct. 10 in Fredericksburg. This is the second year in a row that the newspaper received Trophy Class and the first year the website received Trophy Class.

On Oct. 12 just before noon the Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of an adult male lying in a ditch with a weapon in the 6100 block of Willow Place in Bealeton. Cedar Lee Middle School was notified of the incident as a precaution to implement safety procedures since this incident occurred on Marsh Rd across from the school campus. Deputies located this individual, and he was taken into custody and the weapon secured without incident. This matter is a MENTAL HEALTH issue and the individual is being evaluated. The incident was isolated to the Willow Place location, and there was no immediate threat to the Cedar Lee Middle School campus. The Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office has not issued any public information or statements at this time.

The Working in Support of Education (W!SE) program has recognized Fauquier High School, Kettle Run High School and Liberty High School as 2016-2017 Blue Star Schools for their financial literacy education. To earn the national recognition, schools testing 10 or more students must achieve an 80 percent passing rate on the W!SE Financial Literacy Certification Test and have a majority of students on a given grade level take the test, or have the students who took it achieve an average score of 85 percent or higher.

Marshall Middle School held its first-ever “Take Your Parents to P.E. Week” Sept. 25-29 in collaboration with Active Schools, a national movement to help schools provide at least 60 minutes a day of physical education. Throughout the week physical education staff members invited parents to come to before-school workouts or during their students’ physical education classes to participate with their child and promote an active, healthy lifestyle.

Liberty High School senior Kenneth Edwards and Fauquier High School junior Gerald Barney placed first in the automotive technology competition held at the State Fair on Oct. 2. They competed against 20 other teams from around the state. The competition consisted of electrical diagnoses, meter usage, scan tool diagnostics, Virginia state inspection, precision measuring, brake repair, component identification and job interview. Scott Freeman is the instructor of the school division’s automotive technology program at Fauquier High School.

The Fauquier County School Board met Oct. 9, 2017, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the Oct. 9, 2017, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

As soon as weather reports started flooding the news with predictions of devastation in Texas due to the anticipated arrival of Hurricane Harvey, students at Greenville Elementary School wanted to do something to help other students who would be impacted by the storm. Many watched in awe as streets, homes, and schools were damaged by the flooding. In the aftermath, students wondered how they could help. Greenville Assistant Principal Jasmine Carpenter and School Counselor Cheryl James managed to connect with a school with a similar name, Greene Elementary, who agreed to partner with Greenville to get help to students in need. The principal at Greene, Lesa Gaffey, said she was willing to reach out to other schools in the Clear Creek Independent School District near Houston and share supplies if Greenville students would send some. Gaffey said her school is registering many students from other districts, students who lost everything to Hurricane Harvey. Thanks to Matthew Glick, an employee of JGH Attcheson Plumbing Supplies and a Greenville parent, Greenville Elementary shipped 23 boxes of supplies to Greene Elementary on Sept. 15.

On Monday, October 2, 2017, the Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) was contacted by an administrator at Liberty High School (LHS) regarding the discovery of a written conversation between LHS students that occurred online. This conversation took place among six juveniles, ages 16 to 17, and focused on another juvenile who also attends Liberty High School. This conversation took place in a private chatroom in an APP called Discord. The name of the chat was “operation-will-to-kill.” The conversation mostly centered on the participants’ dislike for the other student, who was not a part of this chatroom conversation. Ultimately, one of the chatroom participants shared screenshots of this conversation with the other student. The purpose was not to threaten or intimidate this student but rather to inform this student what the others were saying behind his back. The student then took this information to the school administration. Sheriff’s detectives and the LHS school resource officer identified the chatroom participants and the student who was the focus of their conversation and conducted interviews. Evidence was obtained and examined. The conversation was found to include very disturbing language referencing killing, bodily harm and a school shooter list. A thorough and comprehensive investigation was conducted in conjunction with the Fauquier County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office and the Fauquier County Public Schools Division.

On Wednesday, Oct. 4, students in all Fauquier County Public Schools had the opportunity to celebrate Farm to School Week by participating in “Crunch at Lunch Day,” the local school division’s version of the statewide “Crunch Heard ’Round the Commonwealth” event. Approximately 14,000 apples from Thornton River Orchard in Rappahannock County were made available for FCPS students to enjoy at lunchtime. Students could pick from three varieties – Fuji, Braeburn or Golden Delicious. The Virginia Department of Education had encouraged schools across the Commonwealth to celebrate Virginia Farm to School Week Oct. 2-6. The farm-to-school program helps connect schools with local food producers to purchase fresh, healthy food items for availability in school cafeterias. In addition, all Virginians were encouraged to “make some noise” for local farm-to-school programs by participating in the Crunch Heard ’Round the Commonwealth event on Oct. 4 at 10 a.m. when participants were asked to simultaneously take a bite out of a locally sourced (i.e. Virginia) apple. FCPS opted to crunch away throughout all school lunch periods.

Taylor Middle School hosted a discussion panel of veterans on Wednesday, Sept. 27. Service men and women from all branches of the military except Coast Guard served on the panel, sharing historical information and personal anecdotes with sixth-grade students. Veterans also shared artifacts including medals, letters of commendation and photographs. In preparation for the panel discussion, all TMS sixth-graders prepared questions during their history classes.

Kettle Run High School seniors Nicholas O’Connor and Liam Whitted have been designated as Semifinalists in the 63rd annual National Merit Scholarship Program, giving them the opportunity to continue in competition for 7,400 National Merit Scholarships worth around $33 million to be offered next spring. They are among 16,000 of the 50,000 highest scorers designated as Semifinalists on a state representational basis; semifinalists represent less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors.

On Sept. 19 at Auburn Middle School, storyteller Dylan Pritchett performed three times, once for each grade level. A professional, fulltime story teller for the past 27 years, Pritchett focuses on African and African-American stories that give his listeners a chance to experience history while developing critical-thinking skills. Mia DiSantis, seventh-grade English teacher at Auburn, wrote the following about Pritchett’s visit with seventh graders.

Fauquier County Public Schools will host four community forums throughout this school year to educate parents and other interested citizens about how classrooms, schools and education will change in the coming years. With the theme “The Class of 2022 – Our Future Is Now,” the forums will specifically address impending changes to the Standards of Accreditation and the rollout of “The Profile of a Graduate.” The first forum will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 14, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Liberty High School. Two more forums will be held during the winter – on Jan. 24 at Taylor Middle School and on Feb. 9 at Auburn Middle School – and the final forum will be held in the spring – on April 12 at Coleman Elementary School, each from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

Nathaniel Ribeiro, an eighth grade student at Warrenton Middle School, was named in the “Top 300” in a national science fair competition for middle school students, Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering Rising Stars) earlier this month. Broadcom MASTERS received 2,499 applications nationwide from 6,000 eligible students who were nominated by their regional science fairs as being among the top ten percent of their middle school science projects. Each application was reviewed and evaluated independently three times, by a panel of distinguished scientists, engineers, and educators. Nathaniel is among six semifinalists from Virginia.

The Fauquier County School Board met Sept. 18, 2017, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the Sept. 18, 2017, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

Nikki Jenkins has been named as the new science, health and physical education instructional supervisor for Fauquier County Public Schools, effective Oct. 2. The Fauquier County School Board approved her appointment at its Sept. 18 meeting. She will fill the position currently held by Pam Pulver, who will become the supervisor for FRESH (Fauquier Reaches for Excellence in School Health), overseeing the PATH Foundation-funded health initiative in the school division; Pulver will also assume her new position on Oct. 2.

At the Sept. 18 meeting of the Fauquier County School Board, Dr. David Jeck, division superintendent of Fauquier County Public Schools, announced the restructuring of a senior staff position. The opportunity for restructuring came on the heels of the retirement of Janice Bourne from the assistant superintendent for administration (ASA) position last month; as the ASA, Bourne was responsible for the school division’s construction and facilities, school nutrition and transportation departments. Upon approval of the board, Dr. Jeck announced that, effective Sept. 19, Prashant Shrestha, executive director of budget and planning for the past year and a half, will assume the new title of assistant superintendent for business and planning.

Baller gone bad. Those three words perhaps best describe the old Chris Herren, former NBA player with the Denver Nuggets and Boston Celtics who chose to let alcohol and drugs derail his professional basketball career and almost cost him his life and family. Man on a mission. Those four words perhaps best describe the new Chris Herren, sober for nine years and hoping to reach “at least one kid” in the gymnasiums and arenas where he now shares his fall from fame toward death and his painfully desperate climb toward life. Thanks to a PATH Foundation grant, Herren spoke to packed gymnasiums at Fauquier High School and Kettle Run High School on Sept. 13 and Liberty High School on Sept. 14. The one-time nationally ranked top-10 high school basketball player told local Fauquier County high school students, “Just like you, at my high school (Durfee High in Fall River, MA) I remember some 35-year-old guy talking to us about drug abuse. And, just like some of you, I wanted to skip this talk. I told myself – just like you’re telling yourselves – ‘Why am I here? That’ll never be me. All I do is drink and smoke. I’m never gonna be THAT guy.”

Noelle Lilly’s story is one of true grit, and oh, by the way, part of the story’s happy ending is a $4,000 college scholarship for the Walter Elementary School fifth-grader. Even though she doesn’t like the limelight, all eyes were on the shy 11-year-old when she received an oversized check for four grand at a “Dare to Dream…Expect to Succeed” assembly sponsored by the National College Scholarship Program on Sept. 13 at her school. Standing in front of the entire student body and proud family members, Noelle accepted the monetary prize which honored her submission to the national scholarship competition as a third grader at Walter two years ago.

On Sept. 13 Taylor Middle School students and staff participated in the fourth annual global event known as Character Day; it was the first year Taylor had participated. During homeroom and seminar classes, students and staff engaged in conversations about the importance of developing character – qualities like empathy, curiosity, grit, humility, bravery, and social responsibility. They talked about the importance of good character and what that means to them.

Eighteen of 19 Fauquier County Public Schools are fully accredited (94.7 percent) for the 2017-2018 school year, according to a Sept. 13 news release from the Virginia Department of Education. The 19th school, Pearson Elementary, barely missed full accreditation, falling one percentage point short in reading while reaching the benchmark in mathematics, science and history. Last year 16 Fauquier County schools reached full accreditation.

Students at Marshall Middle School celebrated Patriot Day Monday, Sept. 11, to honor and remember the men and women who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001. During homeroom classes students viewed a memorial video and briefly discussed the terrorist attack 16 years ago and the bravery of the first responders.

Not all that long ago an employer hiring a student fresh out of high school expected the new employee to have a basic knowledge of “reading, writing and ’rithmetic.” Those days are gone and soon- to-be long gone. Employers now want to hire graduates who can think issues through, communicate their own ideas, work with others to solve problems, be creative and interact effectively with others.

Pearson Elementary School's “One World” lobby display began with a simple request from English as a Second Language teacher Andrea Martens but evolved into something larger. With the help of a grant from the Fauquier Excellence in Education Foundation, Martens spent a month in Peru this past summer: two weeks at a Spanish language immersion school and another two weeks traveling. Eager to share her adven-tures, Martens asked Pearson Principal Wendy Wilcox if she could display some souvenirs from her Peruvian trip in the lobby display case. Wilcox readily agreed to the proposition but suggested a broader theme de-signed to educate students about the world outside Fauquier County.

The 2016-2017 SAT results recently released by The College Board for Fauquier County Public Schools are at the highest level locally than any time in the division’s 30-year history of recording SAT scores. Average SAT scores for FCPS in 2016-2017 were 575 in evidenced-based reading and writing and 550 in math for a total SAT score of 1125.

During the 2016-2017 school year seventh-grade students in Warrenton Middle School English teacher Linda Hume’s language arts classes participated in the “Adopt a U.S. Soldier” program; throughout the year they corresponded with an Army sergeant named Patty stationed in Kuwait, writing her letters, sending postcards, and sending small care packages to her unit, an Army National Guard battalion headquartered in New York City and serving in Kuwait.

Liberty High School took a family-friendly approach to the traditional Back to School Night by holding its first-ever outside Family Open House on Friday, Aug. 25, immediately prior to the school’s first football game of the season. Instead of parents visiting their students’ classrooms, family members visited tables in the LHS parking lot where teachers could chat with parents and answer questions in a relaxed atmosphere.

Students in the Future Farmers of America (FFA) and animal classes at Fauquier High School are collecting items for pets affected by the Texas floods. The drive for pet supply donations will end at the close of the school day this Friday, Sept. 1. Items may be dropped off at the front office at FHS. Food items should be unopened, and supplies should be new or gently used. Following is a list of items needed:

The Fauquier County Public Schools 2017-2018 school year kicked off with the return of students on Wednesday, Aug. 16.

The Fauquier County Public Schools Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC) will host a special speaker from the Virginia Department of Education at its upcoming meeting on Thursday, Sept. 7, at 6 p.m. at Central Complex Building A, 430 E. Shirley Ave. in Warrenton. Hank Millward, director of the VDOE Division of Special Education and Student Services and Office of Specialized Education Facilities and Family Engagement, will discuss the value of SEAC and how collaborative communications can lead to better membership. SEAC invites parents, teachers, and administrators who want Fauquier County to excel in their services to children with special needs to attend.

Jessica Seeboth and Madison Lawrence, both of whom were eighth graders at Auburn Middle School last year, have been named second and third place winners, respectively, in the Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign poster contest. Theme of the contest was “Virginia is for givers.” AMS art teacher Annie Malloy asked all of her second-semester eighth-grade students to enter the contest; she learned this week that two of her students had placed. The students will receive cash prizes and will be invited to meet the governor or first lady at the campaign kickoff in Richmond in October. Their winning artwork is featured on the CVC website and will be rotated for display in the General Assembly Building, the Governor’s Mansion and the Virginia Department of Education.

Fauquier High School student Malynda Hale joined more than 7,500 Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) student leaders, members and advisers at the Music City Center in Nashville, TN, July 2-6 to participate in the annual FCCLA National Leadership Conference. As a second-place winner at the state level in the nutrition and wellness category, she participated at the national level in one of 30 competitive events related to family and consumer sciences. After making an electronic presentation describing her month-long nutrition and wellness plan and results and then participating in an interview session with judges, she received a silver medal and scholarship money for her FHS chapter.

Fauquier County Public Schools today announced its policy for providing free or reduced-price meals for children served under the National School Lunch and/or School Breakfast Programs. Each school and/or central school nutrition office has a copy of the policy, which may be reviewed by any interested party.

All Fauquier County Public Schools will dismiss 15 minutes later than normal on Monday, August 21, the date of the nationally anticipated total solar eclipse. Dr. David Jeck, division superintendent, made the decision to delay dismissal by 15 minutes due to the timing of the maximum impact of the eclipse in Fauquier County, which should occur locally around 2:30 to 2:45 p.m. during the normal dismissal time for the school division’s three high schools and four of five middle schools. The 15-minute delay in dismissal time for secondary schools on Aug. 21 will have a domino effect on elementary schools due to the fact that many FCPS buses do a double run – first transporting high school and middle school students home and then returning for a second run to transport elementary school students home.

Since his arrival in Fauquier County four years ago, one way Dr. David Jeck, superintendent of Fauquier County Public Schools, has answered tough questions about the school division was via “One Hard Question,” a video feature on the school division website at www.fcps1.org. It was a virtual way for stakeholders – students, parents and community members – to ask the superintendent hard questions to which they wanted honest answers. Beginning with this new school year, “Checking In with Dr. Jeck” will replace “One Hard Question (OHQ).”

The Fauquier County School Board met Aug. 14, 2017, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the Aug. 14, 2017, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

Marshall Middle School landed in first place in regional rankings of the top middle schools in Northern Virginia, as determined by Northern Virginia Magazine. The August 2017 edition of the monthly magazine publishes the top 25 percent of schools in the region based on academic quality. For elementary and middle schools the attributes considered are the 2015-2016 Standards of Learning (SOL) assessment results, percentage of students who performed above average on the SOLs, the average SOL pass rate over a three-year time period (2013-2016) and the percentage of students who receive free or reduced lunch. For high schools one additional attribute is considered: the percentage of students who graduated with advanced diplomas in the 2015-2016 school year.

In an announcement Aug. 8 from Governor Terry McAuliffe and the state Board of Education, Ritchie and Smith Elementary Schools and Kettle Run High School received accolades for advanced learning and distinguished achievement. The awards are based on student achievement and other performance indicators during 2015-2016.

Bus routes for Fauquier County Public Schools have been posted and are now available on the school division’s website at www.fcps1.org/busroutes. Parents and students are reminded that they may experience slight delays in school bus arrival times especially on the first day of school and throughout the remainder of the week. While FCPS has been able to hire a sufficient number of drivers to cover all 156 routes for this school year, Fauquier County Public Schools – like many other school divisions – is experiencing a shortage of substitute bus drivers. When unforeseen circumstances result in driver absences, the shortage of substitute drivers may impact the timely arrival of buses. Parents are encouraged to access the “Late Buses” link on the school division’s website; the transportation department endeavors to update the late bus information as quickly and frequently as possible.

The Virginia Department of Education has recognized Fauquier County Public Schools for success in implementing the Virginia Tiered System of Supports (VTSS), a systematic approach to meeting the academic, behavioral and social needs of students. FCPS along with 24 other school divisions received the recognition on the closing day of the department’s July 24-25 Classrooms not Courtrooms conference in Richmond.

Rising fourth- and fifth-graders from Pierce Elementary School spent two weeks this summer at a Writing Boot Camp at the school. Designed to give recommended students a boost to prepare them for the new school year, the camp featured physical exercise to get brains working: morning kickboxing courtesy of Smith Elementary School kindergarten teacher Lisa Larkin, a recently certified kickboxing instructor. The daily kickboxing activity supports the school division’s reinvigorated push for physical fitness through the PATH Foundation-funded FRESH program and “Let’s Move” program.

“Transitions” is a new community-based program that will benefit Fauquier County Public Schools’ special education students ages 18-22 by providing hands-on work experience and life-skills education in a community setting. The public is invited to come learn about the program at a ribbon- cutting ceremony to be held on Wednesday, Aug. 9, from 5-7 p.m. at the program site, the Warrenton Odd Fellows Charity Lodge at the corner of 5th and Main Streets in Old Town Warrenton. Light refreshments will follow the ceremony.

Student fees for school year 2017-2018 in Fauquier County Public Schools will be as follows: Consumable material fees (for workbooks, writing and drawing books, etc.): $12.00 for grades K-5, $20.00 for grades 6-8, $25.00 for grades 9-12.

The Fauquier County School Board met July 10, 2017, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the July 10, 2017, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

Janice Bourne, assistant superintendent for administration for Fauquier County Public Schools for the past 13 years, will retire effective August 4, 2017. Dr. David Jeck, division superintendent, made the announcement at the Fauquier County School Board meeting on July 10. Bourne said she made the decision to retire “after much reflection and with feelings of both regret and promise,” admitting that she had found her passion in her work with the school division.

Liberty High School student Anna Brickey (front row, far left in the photo) attended the Thomas D. Horne Leadership in the Law program June 18-23 in Leesburg, one of 24 students from Fauquier and Loudoun Counties selected to participate. At the camp student legal teams received a case outline, studied the facts, visited the crime scene, interviewed witnesses and experts, analyzed evidence, developed exhibits and prepared witnesses and experts for trial. The program ended with a mock trial before a jury of experts. The students assumed the roles of lawyers, and a sitting Circuit Court Judge presided over the trial.

Eight students from Fauquier High School attended the 91st Virginia FFA Convention at Virginia Tech June 26-30. The Fauquier FFA Chapter received a superior rating and silver award in the National Chapter Award Competition. Additionally, Savanah Curry, Dylan Kezele and Ben Scaring received their FFA State Degrees. At the convention FHS students competed in contests in agricultural sales, agriculture mechanics and floriculture. Camden Franklin (pictured below) placed second in the agricultural sales career development event. Throughout the convention students attended career interest and leadership workshops and attended motivational seminars.

Members of the C.L. Payne FFA Chapter at Liberty High School won one first-place and two second-place state titles at the 91st annual Virginia FFA state convention held June 26-29 at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. Megan Day took first place in dairy handling and will represent Virginia at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, IN, in October. Christopher Kuhler came in second in extemporaneous public speaking and will represent Virginia at the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, MA, this fall. Tori Claveloux won second place in computer applications.

Students from Kettle Run High School fared well at the National Technology Student Association’s Conference held in Orlando, FL, from June 21-25. TSA is an organization for students interested in technology, encompassing the study of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) beyond the classroom. More than 5,000 students participate in the national TSA conference each year.

Eight students from Fauquier County Public Schools attended the American Legion Auxiliary Department of Virginia Girls State Program at Longwood University in Farmville and American Legion Department of Virginia Boys State Program at Radford University in Radford from June 18 -24.

The Fauquier County School Board is seeking help with identifying needs in the education of children with disabilities in Fauquier County Public Schools through a survey for children receiving services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Finn Cook, a rising senior at Fauquier High School, received the Centurion Award at a Scholars Reception on June 9 at The Museum of American Finance on Wall Street in New York City. The award honored Cook for scoring 100 percent on the National Certified Financial Literacy Test. The reception was sponsored by Working in Support of Education (W!SE), a New York City-based educational not-for-profit focused on promoting student financial literacy nationwide.

At its June 13, 2017, meeting the Fauquier County School Board approved two revisions to the school year 2017-2018 calendar, which the board originally approved in January 2016: The week of spring break is changed to March 26-30, 2018, one week earlier than originally designated. The change aligns the FCPS spring break with that of the majority of surrounding school divisions and allows for employees to be off on Good Friday, a request made through the superintendent’s Advisory Committee for Educators and Staff (ACES).

The Fauquier County School Board met June 13, 2017, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the June 13, 2017, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

There is hope for the Fauquier County Public Schools student holed up in his or her room for hours on end laboring over homework assignments. Love it or hate it or simply wanting to debate it, homework can be the bane or boon of a student/parent relationship and a help or hindrance to a student/teacher relationship. Major Warner, associate superintendent for instruction, presented a regulation to the Fauquier County School Board at its June 13 meeting that will lay a firm foundation for what homework should look like for FCPS students in the coming school year and beyond. The regulation, which did not require school board approval, will be attached to the existing FCPS Homework Policy 6-5.4. FCPS principals devoted an almost year-long effort toward clarifying the school division’s position on homework.

At its June 13 meeting the Fauquier County School Board approved the appointment of five new assistant principals – for Kettle Run High School, Liberty High School, Marshall Middle School, Coleman Elementary School and Smith Elementary School – effective July 5, 2017.

Les Balgavy, assistant principal of Marshall Middle School for the past four years, has been selected as the new supervisor of assessment and testing for Fauquier County Public Schools. In this position Balgavy will supervise the school division’s testing programs, including all standardized tests, Standards of Learning assessments, PSATs, SATs and advanced placement exams. He will also analyze and interpret test results along with preparing and presenting reports to the school board and supervising and training school test coordinators.

Nick Napolitano, assistant principal at Liberty High School for the past three years, has been named principal of Taylor Middle School, effective July 5, 2017, replacing longtime principal Ruth Nelson, who will retire June 30. Prior to coming to Liberty he was a physical education teacher at Aldrin Elementary School in Reston, VA.

Fauquier County School Board member Raymond “Duke” Bland (Marshall District) was elected chairman of the Mountain Vista Governor’s School Governing Board for a third term at the board’s meeting on June 8. Dr. David Jeck, division superintendent of Fauquier County Public Schools, was reappointed as executive superintendent of the board, and FCPS was affirmed as fiscal agent. All three appointments are for one year.

John Malone, special education teacher at Liberty High School, has been selected as the Rookie Teacher of the Year for 2017. This first-time $500 award, funded through a grant from Apple Federal Credit Union Educational Foundation, is designed to recognize the outstanding efforts of teachers just entering the profession.

Fauquier County Public Schools recently received a $5,000 environmental stewardship grant from the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation. Funds will be allocated to purchase several pieces of Vernier scientific equipment for the new Environmental Studies Center at Fauquier High School.

Graduation 2017 Pictorial

Three second graders from Fauquier County Public Schools were among the highest-ranked students in the nation in the Online Math League contest for high-achieving math students in grades 2-5. The contest takes place throughout the school year with students taking three math tests for which their scores are compiled and entered online along with those from other students across the nation. Contests are of varying difficulty so all students are appropriately challenged.

Again this year, in an effort to save money in utility costs, Fauquier County Public Schools will institute a four-day work week for employees who work during the summer. From June 5 through August 4, FCPS employees will work on an extended schedule Monday through Thursday – from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. – and all FCPS buildings, including the School Board Office, will be closed on Fridays.

Seven students from Fauquier County Public Schools will spend at least part of this summer pursuing further academic excellence: two at a Summer Residential Governor’s School and five at a Governor’s Foreign Language Academy.

In view of the forecast of inclement weather during this week of graduation ceremonies for Fauquier County Public Schools, the following plans are in place: Fauquier High School plans to hold graduation Wednesday, May 24, at 6 p.m. on Falcon Field, if possible. A decision will be made by 2 p.m. on Wednesday at the latest, and if the ceremony will be moved into the gymnasium, FHS will announce the decision through its automated phone call system and Twitter account, twitter.com/fauquierhs.

The Caribbean steel pan sounds of Trinidad & Tobago may be heard coming from the Fauquier High School band room June 18-22 when the Fauquier High School bands and the Falcon Band Organization offer a Caribbean Steel Pans Camp for middle school students, high school students and adults as well. Cost is $75, and proceeds of the camps benefit the FHS “Talons of Steel” pan programs. (See the video.) FCPS teachers may receive professional development credits by attending the camp.

The Kindness Clubs at Greenville Elementary School have been hard at work, encouraging goodwill, charity and volunteerism. “What was originally an idea to create a climate of kindness in the school has morphed into a way to incorporate the FRESH Initiative (intentional movement in the school). The group was divided due to overwhelming response, and Greenville now has a kindergarten through second grade (K-2) group and a third through fifth grade group totaling 74 students,” said Nina Anderson, a second-grade teacher who sponsors the Kindness Clubs.

Justin Bean, a student in the automotive technology program at Fauquier High School, took third in the state in the automotive service technology competition at the 53rd Annual SkillsUSA Virginia State Leadership Conference in Fredericksburg April 28-29.

Fauquier High School seniors Emma Winters and Morgan Miller won first place in the children’s stories category at the TSA Technosphere State Conference held May 5-7 at the Hampton Roads Convention Center. The two students qualified to compete at the national TSA Conference in Orlando, FL, June 21-25.

Mountain Vista Governor’s School and Liberty High School student Heather Wotton, winner of the Fauquier County Regional Science & Engineering Fair, senior division, presented at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair underway in Los Angeles, CA, May 14-19. She received an all-expenses-paid trip to LA to compete alongside 1,700 other participants from around the world.

Eleven middle school students took top honors and cash prizes at the Fourth Annual Regional Science & Engineering Fair, junior division (6th-8 grades), on Saturday, April 29, at Fauquier High School. The fair drew 80 middle school competitors from Fauquier County Public Schools and two private schools, Wakefield and Highland. Keynote speaker was Dr. David Jeck, division superintendent of Fauquier County Public Schools. This year the fair was coordinated by a new director, FCPS biology teacher Chandra Wilkemeyer, who assumed the position this past summer. For the first time the senior division and junior division fairs were held on different dates, March 11 and April 29 respectively.

The Fauquier County School Board met May 16, 2017, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the May 16, 2017, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

The Fauquier County School Board honored 10 Fauquier County Public Schools classified employees with special recognition and a cash award during its meeting May 16 at Liberty High School. A first- and second-place winner were selected in five categories of Tree Awards, part of the school division’s “Aspirations” strategic plan. Now in its sixth year, the Tree Awards program recognizes employees for their outstanding work accomplishments, interaction with others, demonstration of initiative, training and development activities, and their ability to improve the work process. First place winners received $500, and second place winners received $250. Winners were honored with the following comments during the awards ceremony.

Meaghan Brill, assistant principal at Kettle Run High School for the past four years, will succeed Major Warner as Kettle Run’s principal effective June 5, 2017. Warner was selected in February to become the associate superintendent for instruction upon the retirement of Dr. Sandra Mitchell, who had held that position for 15 years. Prior to becoming an AP at Kettle Run, Brill was an agricultural education teacher at the school.

Gillian Tocheny from Liberty High School was a National Finalist who placed in the nation’s top 10 in the personal financial literacy event at the International Career Development Conference in Anaheim, CA, April 26-29. She received a medallion for being one of the top 10 in the nation in her event. Erin Jones from Fauquier High School was a National Finalist in the business services marketing category. While not a competitor, LHS student Olivia Castaldy attended the international conference where she completed the IGNITE – Emerging Leader Series, acquiring skills to provide effective leadership for DECA at Liberty. DECA advisors attending the conference were Valerie Hermes from Liberty High School and Kathleen Lynch from Fauquier High School.

The Boys & Girls Club of Fauquier (BGCF) and Fauquier County Public Schools (FCPS) have developed a partnership to synchronize efforts aimed at fostering career and academic success and good character and leadership in the youth they dually serve. As part of this synchronization, the two entities will strive to: ● make Blackboard, the Internet-based application which allows instructors to put class materials on the Internet, more easily available at the computer labs in the Warrenton location ● provide teachers the ability to earn professional development credits towards their licensure by tutoring Boys & Girls Club members at either of the Club sites.

The Destination Imagination team from Pierce Elementary School – “Pierce’s Prodigious Pickles Go Meow Meow” – won second place at the DI state tournament held April 8 at Atlee High School in Mechanicsville, VA. The team participated in the challenge “Project Outreach: Ready, Willing and Fable.” The team qualified to compete in the Destination Imagination Global Finals in Knoxville, TN, May 24-27. Competing with other teams from around the world, they will perform an eight-minute play that they wrote – “The Fox and The Bird” – about a tricky fox who learns all about being kind; the Pierce students created all of the scenes, props and costumes for the play. This is the second year in a row a Pierce team will head to DI Global Finals.

Fauquier County Public Schools and Defense Acquisition University will conduct an Engineering Management Workshop summer camp from June 5-9 at Kettle Run High School. The camp is for rising ninth through 12th graders.

Applications are now being accepted for Fauquier County Public Schools summer STARTALK Arabic and Turkish language program. Classes will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Bradley Elementary School from Monday, July 10 through Thursday, July 20 (no classes on Friday, July14). Cost is $75. Due to a significant reduction in the federal STARTALK grant, bus transportation and lunch will not be provided.

Fauquier High School has earned a spot on the “100 Best W!SE High Schools Teaching Personal Finance” national ranking released by Working in Support of Education (W!SE), a New York City-based educational not-for-profit focused on promoting student financial literacy nationwide, and sponsored by Voya Financial®. This means that students at Fauquier High School performed among the highest in the country on the W!SE standardized Financial Literacy Certification Test. First established in 2003, W!SE’s financial literacy certification program provides teachers with a curriculum and instructional resources to teach personal finance and measure students’ financial literacy through W!SE’s certification test. Students who pass the test are designated Certified Financially Literate™. The ranking recognizes the top performing high schools in W!SE’s national network.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 9835 in Warrenton selected Gail Angelos from Smith Elementary School, Selena Dickey from Taylor Middle School and David Kuzma from Kettle Run High School as the Post’s Teachers of the Year. All three teachers advanced to the VFW Department of Virginia District 8 for judging where Angelos and Kuzma were selected as the District 8 Teachers of the Year in their respective categories.

Fauquier High School junior Meredyth Canard and sophomore Natalie Barrera placed third in the state in medical photography and epidemiology competition at the HOSA State Leadership Conference for future health professionals in Williamsburg, VA, March 10-12. As third-place state winners they will have the opportunity to compete at the HOSA International Leadership Conference June 21-24 in Orlando, FL.

Two students from the FBLA chapters at Fauquier and Liberty High Schools qualified for competition at the national level by exceling at the Virginia FBLA State Leadership Conference held April 7 and 8 in Reston. Ron Borta from Fauquier High School placed first in the state in the agribusiness competition, and Genevieve Hebert placed fourth in the state in the business communications category. Both qualified to compete at the FBLA National Leadership Conference to be held in Anaheim, CA, June 29-July 2. Unfortunately Ron will be attending an equestrian competition in Canada that same week and will be unable to compete at the national conference. The Liberty FBLA Chapter was recognized as an Honor Chapter at the state conference. FBLA advisors are Karen Chipman, Fauquier High School, and Karen Pattie, Liberty High School.

The Warrenton Middle School physical education department recently held a fundraiser for Semper K9 Assistance Dogs, kicking off the campaign in the fall with a visit from the founder and executive director, Christopher Baity. He spoke with WMS students about what the organization does and how the assistance dogs help wounded warriors. PE teacher Denise Smith-Haynes spearheaded the fundraiser with a silent basket and silk tie auction (ties painted by the school’s National Junior Art Honor Society), a three-hour Zumbathon on April 5, hat day, and donations from students and staff.

The Fourth Annual Regional Science & Engineering Fair, junior division (6th-8th grades), will be held Saturday, April 29, in the Fauquier High School cafeteria, featuring more than 80 middle school presenters from public and private schools in Fauquier County. Judging, which is closed to the public, will occur between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. The public is invited to visit the fair from 1:30-2:30 p.m., followed by the awards ceremony which will feature a brief keynote address by Dr. David Jeck, division superintendent of Fauquier County Public Schools.

Twenty-seven Fauquier County seniors were invited to take a special tour of the campus of Lord Fairfax Community College on Monday, April 3. The high school students, representing Fauquier, Kettle Run and Liberty High Schools, took part in the event, spearheaded by Fauquier Excellence in Education Foundation board member Douglas Marshall and Dr. Christopher Coutts, provost of the Fauquier campus of LFCC.

Mindy Hale, a junior at Fauquier High School, placed second in the state in the nutrition and wellness category at the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) State Conference held in Virginia Beach April 7-9. For the competition Mindy created a family plan project entitled “Living a Better and Healthier Life,” which included a 10-minute oral presentation with a Power Point to explain her plan to the judges.

Judges are needed for the Fauquier County Junior Division Regional Science & Engineering Fair to be held Saturday, April 29; the junior division includes grades 6-8. Qualifications include the following: bachelor’s degree or higher; three years of experience in a related science, technology, engineering or math field; and familiarity with the experimental or engineering design process. Anyone interested in serving as a judge (from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday, April 29) may complete a form at https://goo.gl/forms/EI5Dy1SNmzyV9q1y2.

The Fauquier County School Board met April 17, 2017, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the April 17, 2017, School Board agenda on the school division web page.

Dr. David Jeck, division superintendent of Fauquier County Public Schools, announces three administrative changes for school year 2017-2018. The changes are effective July 1, 2017.

One could argue that Latin is behind Kim Matthias’ selection as the 2017 Teacher of the Year for Fauquier County Public Schools. She didn’t teach it. She almost failed it. Talis vita est. (That means “Such is life” in Latin, for any who might sympathize with Matthias’ early-high-school struggle with the ancient language.)

Just before spring break Auburn Middle School had a wilderness-themed, spring book fair which included a fundraising challenge; 15 staff members good-naturedly volunteered to eat crickets if they were the one to receive the most votes from students. Students made donations to the "All for Books" program which helped Auburn Librarian Laura Spota purchase books for the school.

Crowds filled the halls of Liberty High School on March 24 and 25 to get a closer look at the artistic works completed by students in all grade levels of Fauquier County Public Schools at the school division’s annual Arts Festival. The festival drew large crowds as family, friends, relatives and neighbors came to enjoy a celebration of student art and music; there was artwork from every school in the county on display and many student music groups performed, showcasing the creativity and talent of students.

Liberty High School students Jennifer Garay and Sidney Kaczar (pictured at right with Tammy Jenkins, RN, HOSA advisor at Liberty) placed first in the state in forensic medicine competition at the HOSA (Future Health Professionals) State Leadership Conference in Williamsburg, VA, March 10-12.

“Are we sure? Are we sure?” Team captain Ali Patusky whispered that question to her four fellow Thompson Elementary School team members through nearly every one of the 12 regular rounds and three tie-breaking rounds at the annual Elementary School Battle of the Books competition April 5 at Liberty High School. Ali’s strategy prior to voicing her team’s answer ended up being a winning one as Thompson Elementary tied with private Wakefield School for the coveted title.

Five students from Fauquier County – four of whom were from Mountain Vista Governor’s School (MVGS) – placed at the 32nd annual Virginia State Science & Engineering Fair (VSSEF) in Lexington March 25. VSSEF awards first, second and third place recognition per category (17 categories total) and then selects top grand award winners for cash prizes and scholarships.

The musical theater program at Warrenton Middle School recently received a grant from the PATH Foundation to purchase a special backdrop and projector that will allow the group to work with digital backdrops.

The Auburn Middle School sixth-grade Lynx teams are back from a virtual adventure of climbing moun-tains, hiking trails, trekking across the desert and swimming in the ocean. “Our cross-curricular national parks project is officially over, and while we are proud of the hard work we did and ready to move on to our next unit, we will miss learning about our national parks,” said sixth-grade language arts teacher Joy Fredericks, brainstorm behind the project.

The Region IV Virginia Association of School Superintendents (VASS) has named Dr. David Jeck, su-perintendent of Fauquier County Public Schools, as the 2018 Superintendent of the Year for Region IV. Dr. Peter Noonan, superintendent of the City of Fairfax Schools and chairman of Region IV VASS, made the announcement on March 22. “As the regional superintendent’s group, we are so proud of the work Dr. Jeck does, and he serves as an outstanding representative of our team,” Noonan said.

Anyone who ever wondered how proficient Fauquier County Public Schools students are at math facts should have been at Fauquier High School on Saturday, Feb. 25. Brains were churning, cards were flying, and players and high school proctors were busily calculating four numbers to make an equation that would result in an answer of 24.

Six Destination Imagination (DI) teams representing five Fauquier County Public Schools will advance to state competition based on their performance at the DI Northwest Regional Tournament at John Handley High School in Winchester on Saturday, March 4. Representing FCPS at the state tournament April 8 at Atlee High School in Mechanicsville will be teams from Bradley Elementary, Coleman Elementary, Greenville Elementary, Pierce Elementary and Cedar Lee Middle School. Two of the teams, Cedar Lee and Pierce, won first place in the region.

All students, teachers and staff members at Miller Elementary School – pre-school through fifth-grade – dressed in an assigned color on March 10 to show their support for Youth Art Month on the school’s “Colors of the Rainbow Spirit Day.” Coordinator of the event, art teacher Heather Deeney, gathered everyone on the playground for a rainbow photo.

During the month of February, Taylor Middle School students participated in Hoops for Heart, a fundraiser event geared at raising awareness about heart health and safety while also raising funds for the American Heart Association (AHA). Students collected money throughout the month and took part in a culminating event on Friday, Feb. 17, in their regularly scheduled physical education classes. The event included four basketball-related stations with an interesting heart fact designating each station.

Students from the FBLA chapters at Fauquier and Liberty High Schools are advancing to state competition at the Virginia FBLA State Leadership Conference April 7 and 8 in Reston. The students initially participated in Germanna Region competitive events on Feb. 16 through online tests or performance events in a broad range of business and career-related areas; some competed individually and some as a team. Then the competitors attended the FBLA Germanna Regional Spring Conference at Brentsville High School on March 9 to get results from the earlier competitive events.

On March 10 in Winchester two Fauquier High School FFA members, Jessica Gray and Dylan Kezele, attended the Forum for Rural Innovation, an annual event that showcases new projects and programs that enhance farm or rural business profitability. Individual farms, businesses and universities from Virginia and West Virginia present their plans for adapting to and driving change in agriculture. The students heard guest speakers discuss business ventures, learned about marketing agriculture products, represented the FFA and met with Virginia Secretary for Agriculture and Forestry Dr. Basil Gooden and Assistant Secretary Dr. Megan Seibel to talk about trends in agriculture.

More than 1,000 students from ten Fauquier County Public Schools participated in the Fauquier County Recycling Committee’s art contest aimed at promoting awareness and educating students and the community about recycling. At each school a school selection committee chose the top artwork at each grade level to submit for division-wide judging. Then representatives from the Fauquier County Recycling Committee along with School Board Office staff selected the following contest winners, listed in order of first and second places and honorable mentions for each grade level.

Four Mountain Vista Governor’s School (MVGS) students took top honors and cash prizes at the Fourth Annual Regional Science & Engineering Fair, senior division (9th-12th grades), on Saturday, March 11, at Fauquier High School. The fair drew 21 high school competitors from Fauquier County Public Schools and one private school, Wakefield. Keynote speaker was Dr. David Jeck, division superintendent of Fauquier County Public Schools. This year the fair was coordinated by a new director, FCPS biology teacher Chandra Wilkemeyer, who assumed the position this past summer. For the first time the senior division fair was held separately from the junior division fair (sixth-eighth graders), which will be held on Saturday, April 29.

Third, fourth and fifth-grade students at Pearson Elementary School had the opportunity to run, do yoga or participate in an exercise Lego experience during the school’s first FRESH after-school club day on March 7. FRESH stands for “Fauquier Reaches for Excellence in School Health,” which is a school-based program, funded by a grant from the PATH Foundation, focusing on healthy eating and active living.

Three Fauquier High School students and one Liberty High School student qualified for national DECA competition by taking top honors at the DECA State Leadership Conference March 3-5 in Virginia Beach. From FHS, Oliver Wrigley won first place in the state in the sports and entertainment marketing category, Erin Jones placed second in the state in business services marketing, and Emma Symanski placed fifth in the state in entrepreneurship franchise business plan. Gillian Tocheny from LHS placed in the top eight overall in personal financial literacy. All four qualified to advance to national competition at the International Career Development Conference in Anaheim, CA, April 26-29.

A Disability and Transition Fair will be held at Fauquier High School on Wednesday, April 19, from 3:30-7 p.m., hosted by the Fauquier County Public Schools Parent Resource Center and the Office of Special Education. The fair will feature workshops on Medicaid waivers, IEPs, preparing for college, post-grad options, and special needs trusts. Local agencies and support organizations will be on hand with informational resources.

Three Kettle Run High School students, Belle Keiser, Lauren Leonard and Rebekah Dass, placed first, second and third respectively, in architectural 2D CAD (computer-aided design) at the Northern Regional Technology Students Association (TSA) competition held at Briar Woods High School Saturday, March 4. The three will move on to state competition May 5-7 at the Hampton Roads Convention Center. TSA advisers at KRHS are Bill Davidson and Karen Frye.

Each year the 60 or so students at Southeastern Alternative School (SAS) are presented a theme that serves as a driving question or backdrop for the year, and this year’s theme was “The Power of…” Throughout this entire school year teachers and students have woven that theme through all the different academic content areas at the project-based learning school which offers students a hands-on, interactive approach to learning. On Friday, March 10, SAS students proudly presented hundreds of projects at the school’s annual symposium, which was well attended by family members, school board members, school division administrators and other guests.

All Fauquier County Public Schools evening activities on Monday, March 13, are canceled due to the winter storm warning; all activities scheduled in FCPS facilities must be completed by 6:30 p.m. The school board meeting scheduled for tonight, including the reception and recognition of student and staff first-term achievements, is postponed until Monday, March 20, at Liberty High School: reception at 6 p.m., recognitions at 6:30 p.m. and regular meeting at 7 p.m.

No one has to convince Fauquier County maintenance worker Garry Miller that Venus Bowen, Coleman Elementary School nurse, embodies the qualities of the Roman goddess Venus (love and beauty) and the planet Venus (brightest of the planets). Miller, 52, learned of Bowen’s goodness firsthand on Wednesday, March 1, when the school nurse literally saved the life of the plumber’s assistant by administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to the unconscious, non-breathing employee.

The Fourth Annual Regional Science & Engineering Fair, senior division (9th-12th grades), will be held this Saturday, March 11, at Fauquier High School, featuring 21 high school presenters from public and private schools in Fauquier County. Judging, which is closed to the public, will occur between 9 and 11:30 a.m. The public is invited to visit the fair from noon to 1 p.m., followed by the awards ceremony from 1-2 p.m. featuring a brief keynote address by Dr. David Jeck, division superintendent of Fauquier County Public Schools.

Fauquier County Public Schools art teachers are pleased to announce the exhibit of student artwork throughout the Warrenton community from March 1-30. March is Youth Art Month (YAM), an annual observance recognized throughout all 50 states to emphasize the value of art education for all children and to encourage support for quality art programs. This year 41 businesses (listed at the end) will participate in the Community Art Walk, displaying 90 pieces of student work. Some of the pieces will be in the businesses’ windows and some will be inside.

Kindergarten registration for children attending Fauquier County Public Schools will be held April 3-7, 2017. Children who are 5 years of age on or before September 30, 2017, are eligible for kindergarten. Between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on any of the five days – April 3, 4 5, 6 or 7 – a parent should visit the school the child will attend. Some schools may require your child’s presence at the time of registration; please check with your school. If needed, parents are encouraged to use the attendance zone locator service on the school division’s website at www.fcps1.org.

Taylor Middle School student Elizabeth Ott and Warrenton Middle School student Josie Hutt have been notified by the National Geographic Society that they are two of 100 semifinalists in the state eligible to compete in the 2017 Virginia National Geographic State Bee. The contest will be held at Longwood University in Farmville on Friday, March 31. This is the second level of the National Geographic Bee competition, now in its 29th year. School Bees were held in schools with fourth- through eighth-grade students throughout the state to determine each school champion. School champions then took a qualifying test, which they submitted to the National Geographic Society. The National Geographic Society has invited 100 of the top-scoring students in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Department of Defense Dependents Schools and U.S. territories to compete in the State Bees.

At a special meeting and work session on March 6, the Fauquier County School Board appointed Timothy Gardner, 35, as the principal of Greenville Elementary School effective immediately. After serving six years as the assistant principal of Ritchie Elementary School, he had been appointed last May as the one-year interim principal when three-year Greenville Principal Dan Phillips accepted a position as a certification specialist and elementary education administrator in the Fauquier County Department of Human Resources.

Whether weather was a topic of interest to every Coleman Elementary School fourth- and fifth-grader or not, meteorologist Brian van de Graaff of ABC 7 News made the subject come alive to all of them when he visited the school on Tuesday, Feb. 21.

Kettle Run High School senior Nicholas Seyler has advanced to Finalist standing in the 62nd annual National Merit Scholarship Program. He received a Certificate of Merit in recognition of this accomplishment. Nicholas is one of 15,000 Finalists who will be considered for a National Merit Scholarship to be offered this spring; approximately 7,500 Finalists will receive a Merit Scholarship award.

The National Art Education Association (NAEA) selected Marisa Pappas, art teacher at Warrenton Middle School, as the Southeastern Region Middle Level Art Educator for 2017. This prestigious award, determined through a peer review of nominations, recognizes the exemplary contributions, service and achievements of an outstanding NAEA member annually at the regional level within their division; the Southeastern Region consists of 12 states and the Virgin Islands. Pappas received the award at the NAEA National Convention in New York, NY, March 2-4.

The National Honor Society (NHS) at Kettle Run High School will host a “Don’t Be Fooled! 5K” on Saturday, April 1, at 9 a.m. to benefit a primary school in Africa. Kettle Run’s NHS has been participating in the Build Africa’s school-linking program for the entire school year raising funds for the St. Aloysius Primary School in Kumi, Uganda. Funds raised help provide desks, books, school supplies, and fresh water for the students. The 5K is another fundraiser for St. Aloysius.

The movie “Resilience” will be shown on Wednesday, March 29, at 6 p.m. in the Fauquier High School auditorium at an event co-hosted by Fauquier County Public Schools and the Greater Piedmont Trauma Informed Community Network. The 75-minute movie will be followed by a 30-minute community discussion on “What’s Next: Opportunities to Engage in Building Resilience in Our Community.”

Applications for a free preschool program for at-risk four-year-olds who reside in Fauquier County are now available at these locations: all FCPS elementary schools, Central Complex Building B, Head Start/Bright Stars administrative office and Fauquier County Department of Social Services. Eligibility for the program, which is known as the Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI), is based on family income and child and family risk factors.

Students in Fauquier County Public Schools will attend school for a half day on Wednesday, March 15, a day originally slated for schools to be closed for parent-teacher conferences. In addition, the school year will end earlier than expected – prior to Memorial Day – thanks to revisions to this year’s calendar recommended by the superintendent and approved by the Fauquier County School Board on Feb. 27. The school year will now end on Friday, May 26, and the last two days of school, Thursday and Friday, May 25 and 26, will be half days, which is the common practice for the two final exam days of each school year.

Taylor Middle School handily won the second annual Fauquier County Middle School Geography Tournament, outscoring the second-place team by over 200 points. The tournament took place Wednesday evening, Feb. 15, in the Falcon Room at Fauquier High School. Four teams demonstrated their knowledge of world geography, and the victorious Taylor team – consisting of Noah Bonnaire, Elizabeth Ott, Haley Strong and Lane Ways – received a trophy to display at their school.

Southeastern Alternative School’s annual Project-Based Learning Symposium will be held Friday, March 10, from 9 a.m.-noon. This is an opportunity for students, parents, community members and staff to experience the hands-on activities and projects developed throughout the 2016-2017 school year while exploring answers to the year’s theme, “The Power of…”

On Tuesday, Feb. 21, Dr. Seokhan Kyle Song of Fauquier Health Family Practice at Bealeton came to Walter Elementary School to demonstrate proper hand-washing techniques to first-grade students. Dr. Song discussed when and why the students should be washing their hands and how easy it is for germs to hide out on hands if hands are not washed properly. He then had the students and teachers cover their hands with a special gel before washing them with soap and water. When the students and teachers placed their hands under a black light, it revealed the places that need more attention when washing hands.

Three students in the automotive technology program at Fauquier High School took first, second and third places at the District 10 SkillsUSA automotive technology competition held Feb. 18 at Fauquier High School. Justin Bean took first, Cody Heyl second and Wadell Bourgeois third.

Two years after being selected as The Washington Post’s Distinguished Educational Leader for Fauquier County, Kettle Run High School Principal Major Warner has been named the new associate superintendent for instruction for Fauquier County Public Schools. The appointment was announced following a closed session during a special school board meeting Feb. 21. Effective June 5, Warner, 47, will fill the position held for the past 15 years by Dr. Sandra Mitchell, who retired at the end of December.

More than 100 Bradley Elementary School students became scientists for an evening at a Family Science Night hosted by the PTO on Feb. 16. On hand to run the hands-on experiments were Dr. Catherine Swanwick, science teacher at Fauquier High School, and her students. At the various stations the Bradley student-scientists were able to make slime or magnetic slime, use binary coding to make color-coded bead bracelets of their initials, test their engineering skills with marshmallows and toothpicks against “earthquakes,” extract DNA from strawberries and place it into a necklace vial for keeping, and view bird blood, tapeworms and butterfly wings using microscopes.

When students arrived at Taylor Middle School on Valentine’s Day and made their way to their lockers, each one found a construction-paper heart taped on his or her locker’s metal door expressing words of affirmation and love. Special education teacher Jen Linthicum spearheaded the effort, enlisting the aid of several teachers and staff, who wrote positive words on the hearts such as “You are loved,” “You are awesome,” and “You make a difference.” Every assigned locker in the building sported a heart for the early-morning welcome.

Second graders at Walter Elementary School turned to wax, so to speak, as the stars of the second grade’s annual Famous Americans Wax Museum Jan. 23. The students had researched and prepared a project on a famous American who has made a positive contribution to our country. On the day of the Wax Museum, they dressed as their famous Americans, and each set up a “booth.” The famous Americans sat motionless, wax-like, holding a pose until a visiting adult or student pressed the button at their booth to free them to move and to recite a short informational report on the famous American they were portraying in wax.

At its Feb. 13 meeting the Fauquier County School Board honored 16 teachers, all of whom have been nominated to be Fauquier County’s representative in the Washington Post Teacher of the Year competition. A selection panel will choose one of the 16 teachers to be the Fauquier County Teacher of the Year, and that teacher will be entered into the Post’s Teacher of the Year competition. The Fauquier County Teacher of the Year will be announced in mid-April. At the school board meeting each school’s Teacher of the Year nominee received an award in the form of a glass apple. The Fauquier Excellence in Education Foundation will also honor the nominees at a reception where each will receive a cash award.

Four representatives from the Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office attended an appreciation luncheon hosted by Miller Elementary School on Tuesday, Feb. 14. On hand for the event were Sheriff Robert Mosier, Captain Ray Acors, Deputy Gary Jenkins and Deputy Chris Meyers. “We wanted to show appreciation to our SROs (school resource officers) and the sheriff’s department for all they do in our schools,” said Miller Principal Dennis Adkins, who planned the event with other Miller staff – Lisa Sak, Sherri McMillion, Barbara Love, Carol Miller and Susan Aylor.

The Fauquier County School Board met Feb. 13, 2017, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the Feb. 13, 2017, School Board agenda on the school division web page www.fcps1.org.

Seventh-grade students Annelise Borst of Auburn Middle School and Mikey Goltry of Warrenton Middle School have been selected to participate in the 2017 American Choral Directions Association’s All-Virginia Middle School Honor Choir. Out of 1,096 submissions, 318 students from across the Commonwealth were selected to participate. Each student had to audio record an audition in three parts: a music scale, “My Country Tis of Thee” and a song of their choice. The All-Virginia Middle School Honor Choir will rehearse April 27-30 culminating in a concert at 2 p.m. at the Virginia Tech campus on April 30.

Fauquier County Public Schools is currently updating its website at www.fcps1.org in order to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Essentially the update means content on the site will be more limited. For approximately three months the school division has been making changes to the site in response to an out-of-state complaint filed with the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) saying the FCPS site is not compliant with ADA.

The Fauquier High School VEX Robotics Club participated in its first-ever competition this past Saturday, Feb. 4, at Woodgrove High School in Purcellville, VA, almost breaking into the top 20 teams in a field of 52. In spite of complications, including the rescheduling of the event twice due to inclement weather and the unavailability of several Team B members on the rescheduled event day, the FHS VEX Robotics Club would not be deterred. To compensate for the absence of several Team B members, FHS’ Team A split into two teams, with each of the two teams garnering three wins, two losses and no ties, which landed the newly formed Team B into the 21st place and Team A in 25th.

On Saturday, Feb. 4, Fauquier High School automotive technology students Cody Heyl and Wadell Bourgeois won the NASCAR Top Tech Challenge at UTI in Mooresville, NC. Justin Bean and Tyler Newman placed third in the competition. The first-place team won $10,000 in scholarships and over $3,000 in tools for the Fauquier automotive technology program. The third-place team earned $5,000 in scholarships and $1,000 in tools for the automotive program. In January Cody Heyl and Tyler Newman placed sixth out of 135 teams competing in the Top Tech Challenge in Exton, PA, earning $13,500 in scholarships.

Savannah Johnson, a senior at Kettle Run High School, won first place in the high school division of the annual Virginia Youth Art Month (YAM) Flag Design Contest sponsored by the Virginia Art Education Association. She will receive an award, letter of commendation, art supplies and large color poster of her work. Christena Smith is Savannah’s art teacher at Kettle Run. In addition, Warrenton Middle School student Josie Hutt won second place in the middle school division of the statewide flag design contest, and WMS student Erin Soldon received an honorable mention in the middle school division. They will receive an award and letter of commendation. Josie’s and Erin’s art teacher is Marisa Pappas.

Judges are needed for upcoming science and engineering fairs to be held at Fauquier County’s five public middle schools. Qualifications include the following: bachelor’s degree or higher in a science, technology, engineering or math field and familiarity with the experimental or engineering design process. Community members are invited to contact the school coordinator for any of the fairs they would be interested in judging:

Judges are needed for this year’s Fauquier County Regional Science & Engineering Fairs to be held Saturday, March 11 (senior division, grades 9-12) and Saturday, April 29 (junior division, grades 6-8). Qualifications include the following: bachelor’s degree or higher; three years of experience in a related science, technology, engineering or math field; and familiarity with the experimental or engineering design process. Anyone interested in serving as a judge may complete a form at https://goo.gl/forms/EI5Dy1SNmzyV9q1y2.

Shelby Gohn has been selected as an instructional supervisor in the Fauquier County Public Schools special education department. She will provide support for special education across the school division, working closely with teachers and building administrators to improve service delivery and ensure compliance with state and federal regulations.

What do you want to be when you grow up? When you’re six or seven years old, or even 10 or 11 years old, that can be a difficult question to answer. Pierce Elementary School students got a little assistance with that thought process at a Career Day held in the school gymnasium on Jan. 27. Pierce school counselor Debbie Melton invited more than a dozen parents and community members to come and explain to students exactly what their jobs entail.

Fauquier County Public Schools career and technical education (CTE) programs will host eighth-graders from around the division at the Academic and Career Fair at Fauquier High School on Feb. 15, 2017 (snow date Feb. 16) from 8 a.m. until 2:15 p.m.

On Friday and Saturday, Jan. 20 and 21, students from all Fauquier County public middle and high schools came together at Kettle Run High School to participate in the All-County Chorus event. Top students from every school joined together to learn new music under a new director to create an advanced Honor Choir.

Parents of middle school students are invited to an informational meeting regarding Mountain Vista Governor’s School on Wednesday, Feb. 8, at 7 p.m. in the Fauquier High School auditorium.

In the 12th round – and by correctly spelling the word “sentries” – Lily Von Herbulis, a fifth-grade student at Smith Elementary School, won the 11th annual FCPS Spelling Bee Jan. 29 at Taylor Middle School.

Pierce Elementary School will dismiss students at 11:15 a.m. today, Jan. 31, due to a faulty furnace that is emitting fumes in the cafeteria and boiler room area of the school. Other areas of the building were not affected by the fumes, and no students were in the affected areas. The building will be without heat, and Fire and Rescue is on the scene.

Kettle Run High School student Natasha Gwinn, a senior enrolled in instructor Tonya Smith’s Cosmetology 3 class, took first place honors in the SkillsUSA District 10 cosmetology competition held Jan. 23 at Madison County High School. Alison Farmer, also a KRHS senior in Cosmetology 3, took third place. As District 10 winner, Natasha will represent KRHS and her district at the State SkillsUSA Leadership Conference and Skills Competitions April 28 and 29 at the Fredericksburg Expo and Conference Center.

Two students in instructor Randy White’s second-year residential wiring class took top honors in the SkillsUSA District 10 electrical construction wiring contest held Jan. 21 at the Blue Ridge Technical Center in Front Royal. Fauquier High School student Shane Campbell won first place, and last year’s winner, Kettle Run High School student J.R. Mills, took second.

Ten marketing students from Fauquier High School, three from Kettle Run High School and three from Liberty High School qualified for state DECA competition by taking top honors at the district level during the 2017 DECA District Leadership Conference Jan. 11 in Winchester, VA. Through role plays and interviews, students competed in various categories testing their marketing, management and entrepreneurial skills.

A group of 56 eighth-grade French students from Warrenton Middle School, accompanied by 20 parents and teachers, headed to Québec City, Canada, on Jan. 10 to embark on a five-day French-immersion adventure.

The Fauquier Excellence In Education Foundation is excited to announce that the 2017 Teacher Fellowship Grant Applications are now open for submission.

Elementary teachers, administrators, parents, and other interested stakeholders are invited to an open house to review K-5 elementary literacy program materials recommended for adoption this fiscal year and implementation during the 2017-2018 school year. Anyone interested may drop by the Library and Media Services Office (formerly the Teacher Resource Center) located in Central Complex Building A at 430 East Shirley Avenue during the following hours:

The Fauquier County Public Schools Division Spelling Bee will be held Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017, at 10 a.m. in the Taylor Middle School auditorium. Registration begins at 9 a.m. (Snow date is Saturday, Feb. 4, same time, same place.)

The Fauquier County School Board met Jan. 9, 2017, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the Jan. 9, 2017, School Board agenda on the school division web page www.fcps1.org.

MCLEAN, Virginia—Jan. 9, 2017—Kajeet, the industry leader for safe, mobile student Internet connectivity, announces its expanded partnership with Fauquier County Public Schools (FCPS) to improve digital equity, especially within rural areas in the division.

Forty-seven years have come and gone since Diana Ross debuted “Reach out and touch somebody’s hand, make this world a better place if you can” on her first solo album; that was some 35 years before seventh-graders at Warrenton Middle School were even born. Nonetheless, the pre-teens at WMS lived out the song’s theme this past Christmas through two service projects that reached out and touched others nearly 7,000 miles away.

Thanks to a $1,600 donation from the Blue Ridge Orthopaedic Foundation, students participating in the Fauquier County Public Schools’ Virginia Preschool Initiative will be able to take home a bagful of learning activities. The VPI program is underway in four public elementary schools – Brumfield, Coleman, Miller and Ritchie – and each VPI classroom received 20 bags filled with books, literacy and math activities for the preschoolers to take home on a rotating basis.

The American Scholastic Press Association (ASPA) has ranked the Kettle Run High School yearbook for school year 2015/2016 as one of the top-scoring yearbooks in the country. Kettle Run’s “Prowl” was one of 13 yearbooks in the nation to receive a “First Place with Special Merit” ranking in the ASPA contest. In a special category award, Prowl was also named one of the 10 “Most Outstanding High School Yearbooks for 2016.”

Mountain Vista Governor’s School invites prospective students and parents to an informational meeting from 7-8 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 24 at the LFCC Warrenton Campus in the Barn (weather cancellation date is Jan. 31). Faculty and staff will be present to discuss the MVGS program and answer questions. Current MVGS students will be available to describe their experience in the MVGS program.

Ronald McDonald visited Coleman Elementary School Dec. 21 to participate in the school’s annual Christmas sing-along. Accompanying the famous clown character was Kristen Claus, special events manager of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Washington; the two came to accept a large donation of pop tabs from Coleman and from Marshall Middle School. Ronald McDonald House Charities, which helps families of seriously ill children, collects the tabs for recycling as a way to raise funds in support of their benevolent work. Together the two schools collected 153,307 pop tabs which equals 121 pounds; this donation of pop tabs will allow one family to spend five nights at the Ronald McDonald House.

Typical peers serve as role models in a developmentally appropriate Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) preschool program at nine Fauquier County Public Schools elementary schools. ECSE classrooms can have up to eight students receiving special education services and four typical peers.

The student-run branch of Apple Federal Credit Union held a grand opening Dec. 8 at Liberty High School. Credit Union and LHS officials – along with three of the four students who work at the branch, Kenyi Juarez, Shania Yates and Lauriane Alou – were on hand for the event.

Warrenton Middle School’s National Junior Art Honor Society spent the morning of Dec. 5 teaching Bradley Elementary School’s fifth graders. As part of the NJAHS’s outreach program WMS students went to Bradley Elementary to give a presentation about middle school in general and about its art program. The NJAHS also selected and designed two lessons to teach to the fifth graders with the guidance of Marisa Pappas, WMS art teacher. In preparation for the trip and working in groups of three or four, each of the NJAHS students created a “teacher sample” and a short lesson plan to follow.

Tuba and euphonium students from Auburn, Cedar Lee and Marshall Middle Schools as well as Fauquier High School attended the 43rd Annual TubaChristmas Dec. 14 at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. FCPS students, along with 300 other professional and amateur tuba and euphonium performers, gave a concert in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall with the musicians on stage and surrounding the entire hall from the balconies.

Pierce Elementary School held its first-ever Winter Hop after school Dec. 9 for third, fourth and fifth graders. One of Pierce’s Destination Imagination (DI) Teams, “Prodigious Pickles Go Meow, Meow,” led by team manager/Pierce art teacher Karla Kolb, sponsored the hop to help a charity named Mason’s Toy Box out of Charlottesville, VA, as part of their DI Service Learning Challenge this year. The students on the team, Drew Kolb, Alexa Meriwether, Lillie Ferguson, Ashley Brod, Josh Cooper, and McKenna Cupka, organized the entire event from making all of the games and decorations to deciding how the event would be organized.

Liberty High School is the recipient of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Safe Sports School Award for its athletic training program. The award champions safety and recognizes secondary schools that provide safe environments for student athletes. The award reinforces the importance of providing the best level of care, injury prevention and treatment.

The Fauquier County School Board met Dec. 12, 2016, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the Dec. 12, 2016, School Board agenda on the school division web page www.fcps1.org.

The public is invited to the Polar Express Interactive Experience this Sunday, Dec. 18, at 3 p.m. at Fauquier High School. There will be activities throughout the movie for the children. For example, at the famous hot chocolate scene, everyone gets homemade cookies and hot chocolate and the kids get a keepsake hot chocolate mug (while supplies last) which they can decorate. There are activities throughout the movie: an elf party to send Santa on his way, the frantic train ride over the ice, and much more. Children also receive a Polar Express jingle bell (while supplies last) that they can keep, and there will be a quick visit from Santa himself!

Staff and students at two Fauquier County Public Schools hosted Delegates Michael Webert (R-18th District) and Scott Lingamfelter (R-31st District) for tours as part of the Virginia School Boards Association’s annual “Take Your Legislator to School” event. Delegates Webert and Lingamfelter visited Greenville Elementary School and Kettle Run High School on Dec. 2.

Published poet and Taylor Middle School parent Steve Bucher visited Kristin Kasselder’s seventh-grade Honors language arts classes on Dec. 6 to discuss his poetry and to offer advice to the students about how to improve their own poetry.

Artwork from Fauquier County Public Schools’ art teachers is currently on display at the Fauquier Hospital Gallery through Jan. 1, 2017. The show unites the work of nine teachers together including Jessica Beach from Brumfield Elementary, Tisha Burke from Kettle Run High, Gary Colson from Liberty High, Tom Falkowski from Fauquier High, Pat Hill from Ritchie Elementary, Brian Lindenberg from Marshall Middle, Annie Malloy from Auburn Middle, Marisa Pappas from Warrenton Middle and Christena Smith from Kettle Run High.

In November the fifth-grade Gateways students at Thompson conducted a fundraiser to benefit local veterans. In a book the students had been reading, the main character raised money for her friend’s disabled veteran son. The fundraiser in the novel occurred on Armistice Day, now Veterans Day. The Thompson students decided they wanted to help local veterans by having a school-wide coin drive of their own.

Dr. Eileen Burgwyn, former instructional supervisor for English and reading (K-12) and former Title 1 supervisor for Fauquier County Public Schools, will serve as interim associate superintendent for instruction, effective Jan. 3, 2017. Dr. Burgwyn, who retired July 1, 2015, following a 41-year career in education, will fill the position to be vacated by Dr. Sandra Mitchell, who will retire Jan. 1. Dr. Mitchell will become a part-time educational leadership instructor and the program administrator for the leadership preparation program for the University of Virginia, Falls Church campus.

The following information was posted recently on the Fauquier Excellence in Education Foundation website: an update on improvements to the school division's outdoor lab.

During this month of Thanksgiving, Southeastern Alternative School is especially grateful for the generosity of several community organizations that have been willing this fall to invest in the future of Fauquier. Consider the following:

The agriculture departments in Fauquier County Public Schools announce their upcoming Holiday Open Houses. Fauquier High School will have its open house Dec. 5-7 from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Email shilleary@fcps1.org for further information.

Four Fauquier County School Board members attended the Virginia School Boards Association 2016 Annual Convention held Nov. 16-18 in Williamsburg, VA. Chairman Brian Gorg (Center District), Vice Chair Raymond “Duke” Bland (Marshall District), Suzanne Sloane (Scott District) and Don Mason (Lee District) attended the convention along with Dr. David Jeck, division superintendent. They joined approximately 1,000 school governance leaders for workshops, clinics and critical-issue sessions focused on topics such as boardsmanship, school law, workforce readiness, school construction, advocacy, educational trends and special education.

The Fauquier County Public Schools Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC) is designed to support and advise the Fauquier County School Board related to special education programs and services. The SEAC consists of parents, teachers and members of the community. The SEAC has scheduled a public forum for Tuesday, Nov. 29, from 6-8 p.m. at Warrenton Middle School. The purpose of the public forum is for SEAC to obtain feedback and insights from parents, teachers and members of the community related to the existing FCPS special needs programs and services. The general public is invited to attend the forum to share their insights and feedback.

Many Fauquier County Public Schools were awash with red, white and blue the week of Veterans Day, as students and staff held special programs and activities in honor of veterans. Following is a recap of some of the schools’ activities.

It’s time for Fauquier County students to begin thinking about the 2017 Regional Science & Engineering Fairs. Yes, fairs is plural. For the first time, the senior and junior division fairs will be held on different dates. The senior division fair for 9th-12th graders will be held on Saturday, March 11, and the junior division fair for 6th-8th graders will be held on Saturday, April 29.

The Fauquier County School Board met Nov. 14, 2016, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the Nov. 14, 2016, School Board agenda on the school division web page www.fcps1.org.

The Skyped live image of Hacksaw Ridge co-producer Steve Longi may have been a bit dark and indistinct, projected onto the white board in journalism teacher Shelly Norden’s classroom at Kettle Run High School, but the insider information Longi provided to Norden’s film students was crystal clear.

The C.L. Payne FFA Chapter at Liberty High School took 27 students to compete in four events at the Virginia State Fair in Doswell, VA, at the end of September; students competed in dairy judging, forestry field day championships, horticulture demonstration, and agriscience demonstration.

Youth motivational speaker Corey Jones entertained students and staff at Coleman Elementary School on Oct. 20 during a high-energy, engaging assembly where students and teachers learned how to apply their knowledge of Responsibility, Organization, Achievement, and Respect – also known as ROAR to the Coleman Wildcats. Jones emphasized that every student’s character is reflected by the choices he or she makes every day and not by what others say about them.

Building on the success of last year’s “Parents as Educational Partners” events, Pearson Elementary School hosted a “Fall into Reading” family literacy night on Thursday, Oct. 27. The goal was to teach families quick and easy strategies they could use to help their children with reading, while also emphasizing the joys of being a lifelong reader. More than 20 families, including many of English as a Second Language families, attended.

The Kettle Run High School marching band received a superior rating at the Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association (VBODA) marching assessment Oct. 22 at Rock Ridge High School in Ashburn; the band received superior ratings from all seven adjudicators. A rating of superior is the highest rating a marching band in Virginia can earn; typically only 45 to 50 schools earns this distinction each year. This is the eighth time in nine years that Kettle Run has received the superior rating. The band was under the direction of Matt Yonkey, former KRHS band director who is now assistant principal at Brumfield Elementary School, assisted by KRHS music teacher Elisabeth Deavers.

Parents, school employees and community members are invited to nominate a teacher for the 2017 Fauquier County Public Schools Teacher of the Year Award, presented in recognition of teachers who exemplify excellence in their profession. Recipient of the FCPS award will be nominated for The Washington Post Teacher of the Year Award, presented to one teacher from the DC/Maryland/Virginia region.

Over 20 students from Kettle Run and Liberty High Schools combined to form a jazz ensemble in response to an invitation to perform on Norwegian Cruise Line’s “Breakaway.” At the end of October, students traveled to New York City and set sail for Bermuda.

For the past three weeks fifth graders at Pierce Elementary School have studied the presidential election process. The school purchased each fifth grader a book from Scholastic Publishing about the election. Students read non-fiction passages about the election process, branches of government, how the electoral college works and what the main issues are in the election. Students read about all of the candidates and their platforms. As their election homework, this week students will color the electoral college map red and blue based on actual results.

The Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI), currently in its second year of operation in Fauquier County, is benefiting from the philanthropy of several organizations giving donations and/or grants to the program. VPI was created to reduce inequalities among young children upon formal school entry and to reduce or eliminate those risk factors that lead to early academic failure. Eligibility for VPI is based on family income as well as child and family risk factors.

It was a foreign idea to these modern-day middle schoolers – that people were barred from a restroom or restaurant because of skin color. The Auburn Middle School sixth-graders’ questions to historical fiction author A.B. Westrick reflected both innocence and incredulity. Visiting Auburn on Oct. 25, Westrick spent nearly an hour talking to each grade level separately and also ate lunch with and signed books for some of the students. All sessions were based on her book Brotherhood, a Virginia Readers’ Choice selection for school year 2016-17.

Did you know that socks are the most needed and least donated items to homeless shelters? Liberty High School and Fauquier High School have teamed up once again to collect socks to donate to Fauquier Family Shelter and Bookbags for the Homeless. Last year Liberty had a landslide victory in the Bird Bowl sock-off. Can FHS make a comeback this year?

Anyone close to Cedar Lee Middle School Saturday morning may have needed a double take to see if they were seeing what they thought they were seeing. Zombies. Yep, The Walking Dead. [Spoiler Alert: Of course, there’s no such thing, and this was all strictly in fun.]

The Virginia Department of Education is asking parents, educators and other citizens interested in the commonwealth's public schools to complete a brief online survey on school quality and accountability. Results from the survey will help inform the development of the commonwealth's plan to implement the Every Student Succeeds Act, the 2015 federal education law that replaced No Child Left Behind.

For the first time in Kettle Run High School’s history, the school’s newspaper, The Chronicle, received the Virginia High School League’s highest ranking of Trophy Class for 2015-2016 for superior rankings in content, writing and editing, art and photography, design and production. The Chronicle was one of eight newspapers to rank in Trophy Class.

The Working in Support of Education (W!SE) program has recognized Fauquier High School, Kettle Run High School and Liberty High School as 2015-2016 Blue Star Schools for their financial literacy education. To earn the national recognition, schools testing 10 or more students must achieve a 75 percent passing rate on the W!SE Financial Literacy Certification Test and have a majority of students on a given grade level take the test, or have the students who took it achieve an average score of 85 percent or higher.

Peggy Recker, seventh-grade civics teacher at Warrenton Middle School, has been named the Virginia Middle School Association’s “Master of the Middle” Teacher of the Year. She will receive the award Friday, Oct. 21 at the VMSA conference at James Madison University. Ms. Recker learned of the honor when WMS Principal Barbara Bannister made a surprise announcement at a hastily arranged seventh-grade assembly on Oct. 14.

Marshall Middle School is currently involved in collecting items to be given to breast cancer patients – items like gum, hard candy and travel-sized mouthwash. Since the list of requested items also included lap robes and scarves, MMS students joined together in teams to hand-tie fleece lap robes and scarves to be donated. Because many of the students know cancer patients, they were eager to participate in making patients more comfortable.

A sea of pink floated onto the Coleman Elementary School “redtop” near the playground on the morning of Oct. 12 as hundreds of students and staff members gathered for a group photo of Pink Out Day. Second-grade teacher Mendy Graham, a breast cancer survivor, came up with the idea, inspired by the Pink Out Nights local high schools have held. She enlisted the help of Shelley Millerson, early childhood special education teacher and Coleman’s social committee chair, to help organize the school-wide event to draw attention to the observance of October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

National School Bus Safety is Oct. 17-21. This year’s theme is “Bully Free Zone!” To celebrate, the Fauquier County Public Schools transportation department will host a pancake breakfast for all drivers and aides on Thursday, Oct. 20.

We know them for their acting or singing, but the following celebrities have done more than hone their craft – they’ve found their crafty side as well. Who knew… • Taylor Swift likes to make snow globes. • Julia Roberts enjoys knitting. • Tom Selleck is into woodworking. • Marie Osmond sews and quilts. • Anthony Hopkins is a painter. • Brandy Payne makes fabric wreaths. Wait a minute, who?

Pierce Elementary School participated in Spirit Week Oct. 3-7, the same week as nearby Liberty High School. The theme for each day found Pierce’s faculty, staff and students in unusual attire – representing their favorite sport on Monday; donning crazy socks and hairstyles on Tuesday; mixing it up with mismatched clothing on Wednesday; wearing red, white and blue on Thursday; and finishing off the week with Dress Up Friday in conjunction with picture day.

The Fauquier County School Board (FCSB) met October 10, 2016, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the October 10, 2016, School Board agenda on the school division web page www.fcps1.org.

The leadership team of Fauquier County Public Schools unknowingly authored a book a few months ago, thanks to an assignment from Dr. David Jeck, division superintendent, and a well-kept secret among a handful of his staff members. “This book is unlike any other book ever produced, which was the idea from the beginning,” Dr. Jeck wrote in the book’s acknowledgements. “Members of the leadership team were given a writing assignment, not knowing that their submittals would end up in this book. Even in the midst of the complaining and gnashing of teeth, I was encouraged and consistently inspired by what I read.”

Fauquier County Public Schools will participate in an earthquake drill on Thursday, October 20, 2016, at 10:20 a.m. The drill is part of the fifth annual Great SouthEast ShakeOut, a multi-state simultaneous earthquake drill in which participants practice the recommended action to take during an actual earthquake.

The following article by Dr. David Jeck, division superintendent, appears in the October edition of the Warrenton Lifestyle magazine. The topic of the article is the $664,000 FRESH grant from the PATH Foundation; the grant funds the first year of a five-year plan to improve nutrition and increase movement for students in Fauquier County Public Schools.

Ritchie Elementary School students welcomed a special guest on Sept. 28 to help them celebrate World School Milk Day. Local dairy farmer Ken Smith, owner of Cool Lawn Farms and the Moo Thru in Remington, brought a 20-day-old calf to the school on a day dedicated to highlighting the health benefits and value of milk in schools. As the students entered the cafeteria for lunch, Smith answered their questions while they petted the calf (with plenty of hand sanitizer readily available, of course!) and had pictures taken.

The six student leaders of the Cedar Lee Middle School Chapter of the National FFA Organization participated in yesterday’s National Blue Shirt Day, an initiative sponsored by the organization STOMP Out Bullying™. STOMP Out Bullying™ is the leading national anti-bullying and cyberbullying organization for kids and teens in the United States.

Students from the Fauquier High School automotive technology program took first place and fourth place in the SkillsUSA Auto Services Contest held Sept. 26 at the Virginia State Fair. In a 10-school field, the team of Justin Bean and Waddel Bourgeouis took first, and the team of Luis Bendek and Cody Heyl took fourth.

SAT results released Sept. 27 by The College Board reveal that high school graduates in Fauquier County Public Schools in 2016 exceeded the division’s previous highest level since the writing component was added in 2005-2006. Average SAT scores for FCPS seniors in 2015-2016 were 531 in reading (up 9 points over last year), 528 in math (up 5 points over last year) and 510 in writing (up 9 points over last year) for a total average score of 1569 (a 23-point increase over last year and a 20-point increase over 2013-2014, the year of the school division’s highest previous score).

Applications for 2017 Summer Residential Governor’s School are now being accepted. These programs provide enrichment in the areas of agriculture, humanities, mathematics, science and technology, and the arts (dance, theatre, instrumental and vocal music and visual arts). Students, who should be nominated by a teacher, must be in 10th or 11th grade and enrolled during the 2016-2017 school year.

For planning purposes for friends and family, Fauquier County Public Schools is announcing a tentative schedule of graduation dates for the Class of 2017. The school division anticipates that high school graduation dates will be as follows: • Friday, May 19 – Southeastern Alternative School • Wednesday, May 24 – Fauquier High School • Thursday, May 25 – Liberty High School • Friday, May 26 – Kettle Run High School Times will be determined at a later date. Please note that these dates may be subject to change due to facility availability and/or weather-related issues. Even with this caveat, it is hoped that the tentative dates will be of help to families for planning purposes since the dates are not expected to vary significantly.

Fauquier County Public Schools’ on-time graduation rate increased to a record-high 95.1 percent, according to data released Sept. 28 by the Virginia Department of Education, ranking FCPS 22nd out of 132 school divisions in the Commonwealth. The on-time rate refers to first-time ninth graders who entered high school in the fall of 2012 and graduated on time in 2016.

Kettle Run High School senior Nicholas Seyler has been designated a Semifinalist in the 62nd annual National Merit Scholarship Program, giving him the opportunity to continue in competition for 7,400 National Merit Scholarships worth around $33 million to be offered next spring. He is one of 16,000 of the 50,000 highest scorers designated as a Semifinalist on a state representational basis; semifinalists represent less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors.

Auburn Middle School held its first-ever Math Boot Camp shortly before the school-year started as a group of rising sixth-graders assembled over four days to review math concepts and prepare for middle school.

The Fauquier County School Board (FCSB) met September 26, 2016, and took the following official actions. For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the September 26, 2016, School Board agenda on the school division web page www.fcps1.org.

Matt Yonkey, director of bands at Kettle Run High School, has been appointed assistant principal at Brumfield Elementary School effective Oct. 3. He will fill the position vacated by Jessica Polak, who left FCPS to become a special education supervisor in Prince William County Public Schools. The Fauquier County School Board approved Mr. Yonkey’s appointment at its Sept. 26 meeting.

Even for a math enthusiast (is that an oxymoron?), finding a square root can be as enjoyable as a root canal. (In the interest of full disclosure, I admit I’m an English major.) Square roots? Painfully dull. Tiresome. Boring. Ho-hum. Yet, somehow, things didn’t look all that uninteresting on a recent morning at Southeastern Alternative School when middle school students in teacher Matt Anzivino’s class gathered to spray paint the grass in the interest of square roots. In fact, it looked pretty enjoyable.

Students across Fauquier County Public Schools celebrated Constitution Day on Friday, Sept. 16 in ways as varied as the 40 signatures on the historic document signed on Sept. 17, 1787, by delegates to the Constitutional Convention. Here are a few examples of the many activities occurring across the school division.

The Fauquier County Public Schools Division Spelling Bee will be held Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017, at 10 a.m. at Taylor Middle School. In the event of inclement weather, the event will be rescheduled for Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017, at Taylor. The winner of this competition will advance to the 12th annual Free Lance-Star Regional Spelling Bee. The regional winner will be eligible to participate in the 90th Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee May 28 through June 3, 2017, in National Harbor, MD.

Fauquier County Public Schools will participate in a tornado drill on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2016, at 1:30 p.m. All schools and departments in the school division will participate. Tornadoes can occur any time of the year with little or no warning; knowing what to do when seconds count can save lives. The drill will provide an opportunity for Fauquier County Public Schools to practice the tornado emergency plan in order to promote readiness in the event of an actual emergency.

The Fauquier County Public Schools world language department is seeking FCPS families to host students from Germany from Oct. 12-27, 2016. During their stay the German guests will participate in many school-sponsored excursions in addition to spending time with the host family. The American host family’s own high school student will also be eligible to go to Germany for a similar experience in June 2017.

The Virginia Department of Education announced Sept. 14 that 16 of 19* Fauquier County Public Schools are fully accredited and three are partially accredited for the 2016-2017 school year. For a school to earn full accreditation, students must achieve adjusted pass rates of at least 75 percent on English reading and writing SOL tests and at least 70 percent on assessments in mathematics, science and history. High schools must also meet a benchmark for graduation and completion. Accreditation ratings may also reflect an average of achievement over several years.

During school year 2015-2016, eight seniors from Fauquier County Public Schools – Niles Ribeiro and Tadeusz Wojcik from Fauquier High School, Clair Huffine and Julianna Schwindt from Liberty High School, and Zander Ackerman, Kristen Kelly, Madeline McCombe, and Nicholas Seyler from Kettle Run High School – scored well enough on Advanced Placement (AP) exams to be named National AP Scholars.

Fauquier County Public Schools is currently conducting a School Quality Survey, canvassing employees, parents and students (grades 5, 8, 10 and 11) for their general opinions on the quality of public education in Fauquier County. The on-line survey will be available for four weeks, beginning today, September 12, and concluding Friday, October 7.

A survey opened today regarding middle school modernization in Fauquier County, specifically how to renovate and/or replace Taylor and Warrenton Middle Schools. The survey on the school division’s website will remain open through Wednesday, Sept. 14, and may be accessed at this link: http://www.snapsurveys.com/wh/s.asp?k=147318367097.

Dr. Sandra Mitchell, associate superintendent for instruction for Fauquier County Public Schools, has announced her intent to retire effective Jan. 1, 2017. She will leave FCPS to become a part-time educational leadership instructor and the program administrator for the leadership preparation program for the University of Virginia, Falls Church campus.

The Fauquier Excellence in Education Foundation (FEIEF) welcomed 99 new teachers and administrators to Fauquier County and recognized 11 recipients of Fellowship Awards during the 33rd annual New Teacher Recognition Dinner held Aug. 11 at Stoneridge Event Center. The event provided an opportunity for the Foundation to offer support and express appreciation to teachers for the critical role they play in preparing students for responsible citizenship and the world of work.

Dr. David Jeck, superintendent of Fauquier County Public Schools, will once again answer tough questions about the school division from students, parents and community members in a video feature on the school division website at www.fcps1.org. The “One Hard Question” feature is one way for stakeholders to ask hard questions to which they would like honest answers. Questions should be emailed to ohq@fcps1.org.

Fauquier County Public Schools and the Department of Social Services will offer a series of free parenting workshops on Thursday evenings beginning Sept. 15. The Active Parenting Workshops, which will offer strategies for parenting children of all ages, will be held at Brumfield Elementary School from 7 to 8:15 p.m. on four consecutive Thursday evenings. Free pizza and child care will be available at each workshop beginning at 6:45 p.m.

Fauquier County Public Schools, in partnership with the Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office, has implemented the COPsync911 threat-alert system, enabling school personnel – including teachers in their classrooms – to communicate immediately with law enforcement during an intruder or other emergency incident. On Aug. 16 in front of Fauquier High School, Fauquier County Sheriff Robert Mosier and FCPS Superintendent Dr. David Jeck held a press conference to announce implementation of the new system.

In late spring 2016, as a precaution, Fauquier County Public Schools conducted water testing within its older schools to determine levels of lead. The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), originally passed by Congress in 1974, protects public health by regulating the nation’s public drinking water supply.

The new school year began on Wednesday, August 17, 2016.

A Special Fauquier County School Board Meeting and Work Session will be held on Monday, Sept. 26 at 6 p.m. in the school administration conference room. The board’s regularly scheduled Sept. 12 meeting has been canceled.

The public is invited to participate in a Community Dialogue on public middle school facilities in Fauquier County with a special focus on Taylor and Warrenton Middle Schools. The Community Dialogue will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 7, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Fauquier High School cafeteria.

Idioma. Langue. Sprache. Luga. Yu. No matter how you say the word “language,” Saralyn Aylor loves it. Aylor is the new instructional supervisor for English as a Second Language (ESL) and World Languages for Fauquier County Public Schools, filling the position vacated by Laura Hoover, new assistant principal for Pierce Elementary School. The Fauquier County School Board approved Aylor’s appointment at its Aug. 8 meeting.

Fauquier County Public Schools’ Standards of Learning (SOL) test scores find the school division in the top tier among 15 Northern Virginia school divisions,* based on 2015-2016 results released by the Virginia Department of Education on Aug. 16.

The four-member FFA Quiz Bowl Team from Cedar Lee Middle School took top honors in state-level competition at the 90th Virginia State FFA Convention in Blacksburg on the campus of Virginia Tech June 20-22. Members were Cathryn Wolfe, Megan Day, Riley Hines and Dylan Frederick.

Sixty-seven students from Fauquier County Public Schools attended a residential summer camp July 25-29 at the 400-acre Camp Moss Hollow in Markham, VA, where they received an extra academic “boost” through a camp experience.

The Fauquier County School Board (FCSB) met August 8, 2016, and took the following official actions. (For further information on these items, see supporting documents with the August 8, 2016, School Board agenda on the school division web page www.fcps1.org.)

Just shy of 100 Coleman Elementary School students, along with their parents and siblings, took advantage of a once-weekly opening of the school’s library throughout the month of July. Librarian Judy Sperka explained, “We wanted to give students access to books and the online resources at our school."

Parents and guardians are reminded that, by law, all kindergartners must have at least one dose of required immunizations, and all sixth-grade students are required to have a tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis booster vaccination (TDaP).

Fauquier County Public Schools announces its policy for providing free or reduced-price meals for children served under the National School Lunch and/or School Breakfast Programs. Each school and/or central school nutrition office has a copy of the policy, which may be reviewed by any interested party.

Three Fauquier County Public Schools have received Make it Happen grants from the PATH Foundation over the last three months.

Student fees for school year 2016-2017 in Fauquier County Public Schools will be as follows:

Later this month in Richmond, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) will recognize Fauquier County Public Schools – five schools in particular – as a Virginia Tiered System of Supports (VTSS) Trailblazer. VDOE will honor Bradley and Brumfield Elementary Schools, Marshall and Cedar Lee Middle Schools, and Liberty High School – as the original five schools from FCPS to begin participating in VTSS two years ago.

The Fauquier County School Board (FCSB) met July 11, 2016, and took the following official actions.

Five students from Fauquier County Public Schools attended American Legion (AL) Boys State and American Legion Auxiliary (ALA) Girls State from June 19-26. AL Boys State of Virginia, held at Radford University, and the ALA Virginia Girls State, held at Longwood University, is a non-partisan program which teaches rising seniors about the responsibility of citizenship and the importance of leadership skills.

FCPS will offer a variety of summer programs for students beginning in early June.

More than 200 elementary school students attended a performance of A Mini Summer’s Night Dream

More than 2,000 students from 14 Fauquier County Public Schools participated in the Fauquier County Recycling Committee’s artwork contest.

Competition was both fun and fierce during Fauquier County Public Schools’ 7th Annual 24 Game Tournament held March 16 and 17 at Cedar Lee Middle School.

Fauquier High School Agriculture Department Seeks to Update Equipment

101 students registered to participate in the Third Annual Fauquier County Regional Science & Engineering Fair Saturday, March 12, at Fauquier High School

In recognition of Black History Month, three guests from the area shared their stories and experiences during a school-wide assembly at Pearson Elementary School on March 4.

Thirty students representing all five Fauquier County middle schools traveled to Richmond on March 2 for a day of fun in the state capital.

Students from the FBLA chapters at Fauquier, Kettle Run and Liberty High Schools are advancing to state competition at the Virginia FBLA State Leadership Conference April 8-10 in Reston.

Six of the 17 teams representing Fauquier County Public Schools at the Destination Imagination Regional Tournament at John Handley High School in Winchester on Saturday, March 5, placed high enough to move on to the state tournament April 9 in Mechanicsville.

A month into her new position, Charlee King is enjoying her new role as interim assistant principal at Walter Elementary School.