RSSSchool notes
Follow FCPS on Twitter
The Fairfax County Public School system can now be followed on Twitter at FCPSnews. Postings on Twitter will include news, emergency messages and information about current issues. The county school system also has a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/fcpsva. For more information about these two information streams, visit www.FCPS.edu.
Upcoming meetings
-Community dialogues on the 2010-2011 public schools budget will be held Dec. 2 at Hayfield Secondary School, Herndon High School and Lake Braddock Secondary School beginning at 7 p.m. A presentation of the budget by county schools staff will be followed by group discussion. For more information about these meetings, visit www.FCPS.edu.
-The county School Board will meet at 7 p.m. Dec. 3 at Jackson Middle School, 3020 Gallows Road, Falls Church. The meeting will be preceded by a work session beginning at 5:30 p.m. The board is scheduled to discuss student achievement goals and the 2010-2011 school-year calendar. For more information on these meetings, visit www.fcps.edu/schlbd and click on the "Upcoming Meeting Agenda(s)" icon.
Lynbrook Elementary Receives NAESP grant
Lynbrook Elementary School in Springfield has received a $3,000 grant from the National Association of Elementary School Principals and the Met Life Foundation as part of the Sharing the Dream grant program, which helps principals create cultures of engagement and involvement in their schools.
The grant will fund phase three of an existing Lynbrook project centered around the school's Family Center, which promotes family involvement in learning. Phase one of the program included an early literacy program that took place during the 2008-2009 school year. Phase two consisted of leadership training for school staff members, a school involvement component and kindergarten readiness for students.
Phase three, to be funded by the NAESP grant, will offer parents hands-on opportunities to explore their leadership capabilities by guiding class discussions and planning activities for students with support. Parents will meet once each month to learn how to help their children get ready for school and what expectations the school has for them in terms of involvement at home, in the school setting and in the community. The school plans to collect data to document the number of families participating in the program and hopes to measure success by an increase in the number of classroom and PTA family volunteers as well as the number of families involved in family leadership roles at the school.
For more information on this program, contact Lynbrook Principal Mary McNamee at 703-866-2940 or memcnamee@fcps.edu.
-The Southwest Regional Planning Panel will meet at 7 p.m. Dec. 3 in the Liberty Middle School cafeteria, 6801 Union Mill Road, Clifton. The panel was formed to discuss issues of overcrowding and boundary adjustments in this area. Panelists consist of parents from schools in southwestern Fairfax County. For more information on this panel, visit www.fcps.edu/news/swcounty
schls.htm.