To simplify an ever-growing list of school rankings, Virginia
lawmakers have approved a new way to rate the state’s schools, and it’s
borrowed straight from teachers’ grade books:
Kevin Hickerson has taught in Fairfax County Public Schools for a
decade, but this year is the first he's realized he may need to change
careers if he wants to continue to live here and make en
Saying they felt they had not yet had a "full, robust" discussion on the
makeup of a committee charged with reviewing the system's discipline
policies, Fairfax County School Board members delay
FALLS CHURCH, Va. - Fairfax County school board members voted 10 to 2 Thursday night in favor of a resolution that would explore starting high school classes later.
Many on the board seemed to be swayed by arguments made by some parents, educators, health professionals and students that forcing teenagers to wake up early goes against their natural clocks and leads to poor school performance.
Many like Caroline Hemenway, who has a daughter in her senior year, says it has been proven scientifically.
“Adolescents have brain chemistry that doesn't let them get to sleep until after 11 o'clock or so at night, so in order to get the full amount of sleep that they need, they have to be able to sleep later on in the morning,” says Hemenway.
Parents across Fairfax County are asking school officials to put more
honors classes back into the course offerings at area high schools. FAIRGRADE,
a parent advocacy group that successfully convinced Fairfax County to
change its grading policies two years ago, has passed a resolution
asking for the county to implement a more robust honors program in high
schools.
Trailers are a reality at nearly 70 percent of public schools in Fairfax County. Of about 135 schools with trailers, 14 have trailers numbering in the double digits.
