Ahead of the new school year starting next week, Fairfax County Public Schools debuted a new partnership with an app that will help parents track when the school bus will arrive.
After a pilot program, the FCPS Office of Transportation Services announced FCPS will offer the “Here Comes the Bus” app for the 2019-2020 school year yesterday (Monday).
“[The app] uses HTTPS like a bank or online store, making all communications between a device and the site are encrypted and secure,” according to FCPS, adding that the app uses GPS to track the locations of the buses.
Started in 2001 by a pair of graduates, the app has nearly 1.5 million registered users and is used in school districts across the country, spanning Orlando to San Antonio.
Since the app tracks the bus routes instead of individuals students, FCPS wants people to remember that bus substitutions can affect the accuracy of the app and that app shouldn’t replace communication with students about their whereabouts.
The app is free for parents and guardians and provides real-time bus locations through text or email alerts, according to FCPS. The app will be available to use starting next Monday (Aug. 26) for FCPS families.
Tonight (Monday), the Fairfax County School Board is set to discuss a proposal that would change how local school boundaries are adjusted.
The draft policy on the table would look at a new set of criteria for establishing school boundaries. They include:
- “socioeconomic and/or racial composition of students in affected schools”
- “the safety of walking and busing routes”
- “operational efficiency”
“When boundary changes are being considered by the School Board, the changes shall not be restricted by the boundaries of individual schools, administrative areas, zip codes, or magisterial district,” according to the draft.
Some critics of the proposal pointed to the removal of criteria — such as “instructional effectiveness”– for boundary change considerations as a possible threat to property owners.
The meeting is set to start at 5 p.m. tonight at 8115 Gatehouse Road, Room 1600 with the redistricting proposal slated for 6 p.m. on the agenda.
The board is then slated to approve the draft in September ahead of its incorporation in the Capital Improvement Program draft in December.
Image via Google Maps
Fairfax County Voters Receive Mass Political Texts — “An unknown number of Northern Virginia residents have received anonymous, unsolicited text messages linking to WAMU’s coverage of an ethics complaint filed against a top candidate for chair of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors… The texts were not sent by WAMU.” [WAMU]
New Bike Trail Needs a Name — The Fairfax County Department of Transportation wants the public’s help with naming a new bike and pedestrian trail along the I-66 corridor. The online survey is open until June 30. [FCDOT]
Man Struck and Killed on I-495 Near Tysons — “Around 12:33 a.m. [on Saturday, June 8], a sedan traveling north on I-495 near Route 7 in Fairfax County when the car ran off the right side of the interstate and struck a concrete barrier and then the guard rail. The sedan’s driver, an adult male, exited his vehicle and was attempting to cross the northbound lanes of I-495 when he crossed in front of a northbound tractor-trailer.” [Inside NoVa]
Fires Erupted Around Vienna — Firefighters got a two-story house fire in the 9000 block of Edgepark Road under control yesterday (June 9). On Saturday, firefighters extinguished a deck fire in 8500 block of Pepperdine Drive. [Twitter, Twitter]
Local Students Win National Merit Scholarships — Students from James Madison and McLean high schools were among the 26 Fairfax County Public Schools students who won 2019 Merit Scholarship awards by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. [FCPS]
A Vienna high school student is hosting a fashion show in Tysons Corner Center tomorrow (Friday) night to fundraise for a local nonprofit.
Kaela G., a freshman at James Madison High School, is the event coordinator for the fashion show at Lord and Taylor (7950 Tyson’s Corner Center).
Here is the fashion show’s event description:
Wondering what the hot summer vacation trends are? Can’t decide what to wear for that perfect date? Come see the Madison HS basketball players model the latest fashions and hear what a local nonprofit, Second Story, is doing in our community for at-risk teens.
The night will include models, DJ Squirrel, Raffles, Refreshments, and a private shopping event. All purchases made the night of the event will receive 15% off Cosmetics, and 30% off all other merchandise.
General admission is $20 and VIP admission, which includes preferred seating and automatic entry into a raffle for a skincare and cosmetic gift basket worth $200, is $40.
All ticket sales will get donated to the Second Story, a local nonprofit that provides safe havens for kids and their families.
People who can’t attend the event but still want to donate can purchase a donation ticket.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The fashion show runs from 7-9 p.m.
Every Fairfax County high school student will soon have a school-issued laptop for the 2019-2020 school year.
The upcoming rollout is part of the plan by Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) to issue computers to every student by 2023 with an initiative called FCPSOn.
FCPSOn aims to help students access a digital device for learning at school and possibly at home depending on the school and grade level.
“This 1-to-1 computing initiative will better prepare students for college and careers,” according to an FCPS press release, adding that the computers won’t replace teachers.
Last week, the Fairfax County School Board adopted the FCPS FY 2020 Approved Budget, which includes $16.1 million for instructional programs — where the FCPSOn initiative falls under.
The budget includes a little more than $4 million to implement FCPSOn for the high schools and a new technology fee of $50 per high school student per year, FCPS said will cover repairs or replacements for equipment.
FCPSOn started as a pilot program in the Chantilly High School pyramid and eLearning Backpack high schools in the 2016-2017 school year. Phase 1 was funded through a combination of FCPS and the VDOE e-Learning Backpack grant funding.
The remaining timeline — pending approval — is:
- school year 2020-21: middle schools
- school year 2021-22 elementary grades 5-6
- school year 2022-23: elementary grades 3-4
McLean High School is looking for volunteers to help with distribution from August 12-15 from 12-7:30 p.m.
Image via FCPS
Code Ninjas, a franchise aimed at teaching kids to code, recently arrived in downtown Falls Church.
A grand opening on Saturday (May 18) welcomed Code Ninjas into 510 S. Washington Street, Suite F.
Code Ninjas teaches kids ages 7-14 to code with a game-based curriculum, advancing from the white belt for beginners to the black belt — the most advanced status, according to its website.
Spanning more than three dozen states, Code Ninjas’ opening in Falls Church marks its 13th franchise location in Virginia.
The Falls Church location offers classes on Javascript, coding video games, creating websites, building Minecraft worlds and programming drones.
Students from a high school in the Town of Vienna plan to walk 50 miles to Baltimore as part of a humanitarian fundraising effort.
Students from the James Madison High School will walk to help Team World Vision, a fundraising program for the humanitarian organization World Vision, provide clean water to communities in Africa.
The students and their supporters are set to start the trek tomorrow (Saturday) at 4 a.m. Google Maps estimates that the walk could take between 17-19 hours.
The group already hit its initial fundraising goal of $5,000 and now wants to see how much more money it can raise. Donations can be made to the team or to an individual.
Map via Google Maps
Several public high schools in the Tysons-area, including Langley and McLean high schools, made the cut for U.S. News and World Report’s annual roundup of best high schools on the state and national levels.
“Schools are ranked on their performance on state-required tests, graduation and how well they prepare students for college,” according to U.S. News and World Report.
Fairfax County Public Schools dominated U.S. News and World Report’s “Best High Schools in Virginia,” and five out of the eight Fairfax County schools included two in McLean, two in Vienna and one in Falls Church:
- Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology: Alexandria
- Langley High School: McLean
- McLean High School: McLean
- Oakton High School: Vienna
- Open High School: Richmond
- Marshall High: Falls Church
- Madison High: Vienna
- West Springfield High School: Springfield
- W.T. Woodson High School: Fairfax
- Deep Run High School: Glen Allen
The Tysons-area high schools bumped up a few spots for this year’s list. Last year, Langley ranked #3, McLean was #5, Oakton was #6 and Marshall was #8.
Their rankings on the national level hit the top 200 and 300 categories:
- Langley: #123
- McLean: #127
- Oakton: #173
- Marshall: #251
- Madison: #261
Image via Google Maps
Free Bike Rides on Earth Day — In celebration of Earth Day today (April 22), Capital Bikeshare wants to encourage more carbon-free transportation by offering a free 24 Hour Pass, which gives cyclists a full day of unlimited 30-minute rides. [Capital Bikeshare]
Restaurant Site Faces Redevelopment — “D.C.-based Northfield Investment and Development has acquired the former Marco Polo restaurant site in Vienna with plans to develop 44 condominium townhouses and 8,200 square feet of retail. The former Marco Polo restaurant at 245 Maple Ave. had already closed when it was heavily damaged by fire in October and later demolished.” [Washingtom Business Journal]
Virginia Tops Distracted Driving List — “April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month and this year, a new study ranked Virginia as the worst state for texting and driving… In 2019, Zendrive found that Virginia drivers use their phone an average of 9 percent of the time, which is a 3 percent increase from last year.” [Inside NoVa]
Pop-Up Fitness Class at Caboose Commons — People can lift, tone and drink brews at a free pop-up class by Falls Church Pure Barre at Caboose Commons tonight at 4 p.m. Happy hour will take place from 3:30-6 p.m. [Caboose Brewing]
Vienna Students Win National Merit Scholarships — “The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the first 1,000 corporate-sponsored scholarships Wednesday, April 17… Chloe E. Martin of Paul VI Catholic High School received a scholarship from the PwC Charitable Foundation. Martin plans to study business in college. The other winner, Richard H. Wang of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, got a scholarship from Northrop Grumman. Wang will likely study engineering.” [Vienna Patch]
FCPS Isolation Practices Questioned — “For years, Fairfax County Public Schools reported to the federal government that not a single student was physically restrained or trapped in an isolating space. But documents obtained by WAMU reveal hundreds of cases where children, some as young as 6 years old, were restrained or put in seclusion multiple times. In some cases, a single child was confined to a room almost 100 times in a school year.” [WAMU]
Falls Church Budget Proposal — “Falls Church City Manager Wyatt Shields proposed a Fiscal Year 2020 (FY2020) budget of $99.3 million, which provides for a 2.4 percent ($958,408) increase in general government operating expenditures and a 2.5 percent ($1,044,231) increase in local funding for public schools, as requested by the School Board.” [City of Falls Church]
Local Students Emerge As State Chess Champs — “Students from four Fairfax County public schools won team championships in all four K-12 divisions at the Virginia Scholastic Chess Championships held recently in Charlottesville… The K-3 team from Spring Hill Elementary School won the team title in its age group.” [Fairfax County Public Schools]
McLean Teacher’s Wedding Gets NYT Write-up — Sara Rhodin, a history teacher at the private, all-girls Madeira School in McLean, had her recent nuptials to former Obama speechwriter Tyler Lechtenberg written up in the New York Times’ wedding section. [New York Times]
Tysons Reporter Event Calendar — Tysons Reporter has launched its Tysons, McLean, Vienna and Falls Church event calendar. The calendar has been pre-populated with events from around the region to start, but expect to see more local events being added every week. You can submit events to the calendar here.
