Posts Tagged ‘public schools’
Posted by Lindsey Leake / Friday, January 6th, 2012
Friday, January 6, 2012
Fairfax woman sentenced to 35 years in prison for murdering 2-year-old granddaughter at Tysons Corner Center
Inova Health System may create major cancer center
Controversial testing benchmarks a factor in number of public schools receiving Virginia Index of Performance awards
Prince William County Police identify officers involved in last month’s fatal shooting of armed burglary suspect
Chantilly middle school students caught drinking at school
(Compiled by Lindsey Leake)
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Wednesday, September 28th, 2011
This week, September 26-30, the FundsOn organization is partnering up with participating restaurants Foster’s Grille, Pizza Go Round, and Red Hot & Blue in their charity campaign GIVE 50. The campaign will give 50 percent of the participating restaurant’s purchases to local schools and non-profits.
As government budget cuts continue to affect the amount of funds available for public schools, school programs such as athletics, fine arts, and other extracurricular activities are becoming more threatened.
To help support the campaign to keep public school programs up and running, you can purchase vouchers from the three restaurants at fundson.com and also receive a 10 percent discount from each purchase as you dine.
Within two months of their Grand Opening, Pizza Go Round has helped 12 area schools and non-profit organizations raise money! Thanks PGR Team!
Foster’s Grille (2004 Eisenhower Ave., Alexandria; 703-519-0055; and 5007-E Westone Plaza Drive, Chantilly; 703-378-3797)
Pizza Go Round (44640 Waxpool Road, Ashburn; 703-858-1818)
Red Hot & Blue (Locations in Arlington, Fairfax and Herndon; www.redhotandblue.com)
What’s better than that? Enjoy your food while feeling good about supporting a great organization!
-Julia Harbo
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Thursday, August 20th, 2009
We see you through one of the most important decisions of your student’s fledgling academic career: public or private?
College is only one stretch of a long and winding road through a student’s academic journey. First we must decide on a preschool. Then we ensure we are living in a school district that’s the best fit for our families. We opened our college savings accounts while our kids were still inutero, and may have already stacked the applications for when the time comes to decide. But what about high school? We have a choice there, too, and in this region, the choices are abundant. Lucky for you, you have us to map you through this long and arduous journey.
By Maria Scinto
- Alexandria City
- Arlington County
- Fairfax County
- Loudoun County
- Prince William County
- Stafford County
How We Got Our Info
In addition to delving heavily into state government education resources and individual school websites, as well as other academic resources containing information available to the public (www.greatschools.net, www.publicschoolreview.com, www.privateschoolreview.com, www.collegeboard.com), we also spoke with school administrators to confirm the most accurate and current information available. All figures refer to the 2008-09 school year, unless otherwise noted.
Key To Chart
Enrollment: Total school population enrollment, not just enrollment at the high school level.
Student/Teacher Ratio: Figure reflects the total number of students—of all grade levels—enrolled divided by the number of full-time equivalent teachers (i.e., two half-time teachers equals one FTE).
Ethnic Diversity: Refers to the percentage of non-Caucasian students enrolled in the entire school.
AYP: In Virginia, Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) means that at least 77 percent of students have demonstrated proficiency in reading, and 75 percent overall have demonstrated proficiency in mathematics.
AP Courses: Advanced Placement (AP) courses are college-level classes offered to eligible high school students. Many smaller private schools do not offer AP classes as a part of the curriculum, instead offering them at the student’s request.
Accreditation-Adjusted SOL Pass Rates: Overall achievement on Standards of Learning (SOL) tests in English, history/social science, math and science, adjusted to facilitate transfer students and those with limited English proficiency.
Reduced/Free Lunch Eligible: Percentage of students whose households are at or below 1.3x the 2007 federal income poverty guidelines, which qualifies a student for free lunch; at or below 1.85x for reduced-price lunch eligibility.
On-Time Graduation Rate: Percentage of students who earned their diplomas within four years of having entered high school for the first time. Magnet School: A public school offering a special curriculum capable of attracting substantial numbers of students of different racial backgrounds. IB Program: International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program, recognized by many colleges and universities worldwide.
Number of School Safety Offenses: Reflecting the total of all safety offenses reported to the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE); the individual categories as defined by the Safe Schools Information Resource (SSIR) include weapons offenses, offenses against student, offenses against staff, other offenses against persons, alcohol, tobacco and other drug offenses, property offenses, disorderly or disruptive behavior offenses, technology offenses and all other offenses.
Median SAT Scores: These are maintained by the College Board and released to the individual schools. In some cases, schools—marked “Not Available”—were unable to report the scores due to a contractual agreement with the Association of Independent Schools of Greater Washington, and in other cases schools—marked “Will Not Disclose”—elected not to report them to us at all. A reported range in each test section indicates the school has a policy to report only the median 50 percent in concordance with The College Board reports.
Financial Aid: This data varies widely from year to year as it is dependent on a school’s budget. The information provided on the chart is for the 2008-09 school year, and is subject to change for subsequent school years. As such, some schools preferred not to share this information. Uniforms: Some schools mandate a dress code instead of uniforms. These differ from uniform policies in that they are more likely to prohibit certain garments (i.e., too-tight clothing) than to require specific ones.
(August 2009)
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Thursday, August 20th, 2009
With major Budget cuts and a growing student population Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Jack Dale says the county is making progress and moving toward a more beneficial strategy for educating area students
By Forrest Glenn Spencer
Photography by Seth Freeman
Jack Dale has now entered his sixth year as superintendent of the Fairfax County Public Schools. With more than 170,000 students, nearly 200 schools and an operating budget of more than $2 billion, the system is the 13th largest in the nation and one of the highest rated in terms of student performance. This year, Dale faces some of his greatest challenges from budgets to enrollments. How is he going to continue to meet the quality standards in education?
Describe the budgetary problems you have had this year.
We will face a shortfall. We had to cut $150 million out of our budget, and that includes cost avoidance, such as not giving people a salary increase and freezing salaries; not giving a cost of living increase, but not even giving an increment or steps that’s on salaries’ schedules. Those two together probably saved $70 million, and the rest were in cuts.
I understand class sizes are increasing.
We’re increasing—on average—half a student in regular education, special education, English as a Second Language education, career and technology courses. Everywhere we have a group of kids.
What caused the Budget shortfall?
We have a projected increase of 4,000 to 5,000 students, and we have property values in Virginia that have dropped dramatically, so the tax revenue drops. And the state of Virginia itself is short on revenue from all of its sources, which means they allocate less money to us. I end up with less state revenue, less county revenue, and I have increased enrollment. It’s the perfect wrong storm.
Last year, we spoke to Jackie Harris, Fairfax’s Registrar. she described how this county is a transitory county. Is that reflected in students and families?
We have a normal churn. To quantify that, out of our 170,000 kids, we have 8,000 that will change.
In six years, how has the school system changed?
We are seeing greater diversity with some students from over 200 different countries, speaking 40 different languages. Forty percent of our students go home each day where English is not the primary language. We have an increased percentage of children who are eligible for free and reduced meals, an increase from 15 to 17 percent.
Describe programs you implemented.
Fairfax has always been very good [about] being ahead of the curve. What I have done, especially in the budget crisis, is eliminate some programs or [allocate] staffing where they are needing it. There is one program that I have been focusing on with great results. I call it Teacher Leadership. Teachers work with other colleagues analyzing instruction, analyzing student performance, analyzing needs of the schools, talking across grade levels so when your sixth-grade teacher tells the student what’s necessary in middle school about science, they do so with some knowledge because they’ve talked to the middle school science teacher. What I’ve been shifting toward is running a pilot in over 24 schools with more than 600 teachers, working full-time, and seeing what impact we have on student learning and working conditions to increase our teacher retention.
What’s the parental consensus on needs for children?
We want children to reach their full potential … which means you’re going to try and provide advanced-level courses, programs or offerings in a whole variety from the arts to the sciences to math and foreign languages.
Describe the changes in grading.
The big changes have been our Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate courses from half a grade point to a full grade point to be more aligned with the rest of the nation. We did this last January and made it retroactive for all courses. We have also begun implementing a half-a-grade-point boost for honors courses, and these are for high school-level courses.
Why the grading change?
It gives the kids a boost in their [grade point averages] if they are going to engage in tougher courses. For example, if you’re in an Advanced Placement class, and you got a B, that would be like getting an A in a regular class. It doesn’t penalize the student for trying.
Where are we with NCLB? Will it survive in its current form? Will it be revised?
NCLB wasn’t reauthorized this last January; basically, it was put on hold at the time. It will be revised, and it’s just an issue of time. The Obama administration has been focused on economic recovery, which included stimulus money for public schools. I think the president and Secretary [of Education Arne] Duncan will be revising NCLB laws over time into something that is more commonsensical.
Have you talked to Secretary Duncan?
We have talked on the phone. He wants the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to work and not have all the turmoil that was built around the negative sanctions. I think they’re going to look at more high aspirations and more world-class standards and world-class assessments as a nation. I think we’ll see a shift [from] 50 states doing their own things to a nation being more cohesive in its approach in education and looking forward in [aspiring] standards instead of minimum competencies with penalties.
What’s the background on changing dismissal times?
It was trying to identify a different transportation and bell schedules so that the high school students could start later in the day and end later in the day to accommodate their natural sleep cycle. There’s been a quite a bit of debate on the shift, such as having middle school children being the last group that ends the day. We have an extensive after-school program for them. Another concern from parents was if older students come home after younger students, then there’s nobody home to take care of them, because many parents are working, or there are single-parent households, and those households rely on their high school students to be home first.
What’s the focus of this school year?
The major shift we are engaging is [from] one program for all kids to one where we are focusing on individual kids and what their individual needs are, then trying to deliver those services on a personalized or customized basis. Huge shift.
Is there a point when the county will max out on taking on more students?
I suppose there is, because we’re running out of land in Fairfax, and that can be a challenge. What we’re seeing with the student increases is people leaving private schools because they cannot afford tuition and people moving in from the suburbs because for a while there, their gas was getting too expensive. People found it cheaper to live in closer, even if the housing was more expensive.
What’s the average class size?
Primary level, low 20s; middle school, mid-20s; and high school, upper-20s. That will go up this new school year.
What changes in education have most impressed you?
One is, school systems. They have become much more intentional about measuring and being held accountable for results. Before it was more about making the course work and opportunities available, but whether students avail themselves were the students’ decisions. Another: parents. They are becoming more focused on how their children are doing, their safety, performance in school, getting access to the right programs and services, and if they’re on track for college. There’s technology, which has allowed greater access to current information. It’s also overloaded all of us. It causes us … to teach kids on critical thinking, to look at information and see whether it’s accurate or not.
(August 2009)