Friday, May 17, 2013
Fairfax County School Board will hold listening sessions next week to help develop a strategic plan for digital learning.
Teachers, students and parents in Fairfax County didn't have the smoothest experience with digital learning in 2012-2013. As Fairfax County Public Schools rolled out a new online math program in Fall 2012, students and teachers complained they had difficulty navigating the books, saying there were publisher errors and inconsistencies, technology roadblocks and student difficulty in accessing the information, among other complaints, like a lack of teacher buy-in to the program. They said the program, instead of advancing learning and achievement, was pushing it back, calling the $10.4 million initiative "a big disaster" with no clear solution. The short-term solution was to re-negotiate contracts to get some hard copy books back in the …
Monday, May 13, 2013
Superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools had surgery for an aortic aneurysm May 7.
Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Jack Dale was released from the hospital Sunday after emergency heart surgery May 7. FCPS spokesman John Torre told Patch in an email Monday that Dale had been released from the hospital to recover from surgery at home. Dale was taken to INOVA Fairfax Hospital on May 7 after telling coworkers he hadn’t been feeling well that day. He had surgery after suffering an aortic aneurysm that night. Torre said Dale was expected to return to work sometime in early June. “He is making progress and is not expected to return to work until early June on a part time basis,” he wrote in his email. Dale is planning to retire this summer. Deputy Superintendent Richard Moniuszko is managing superintendent duties …
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Dale underwent surgery for an aortic aneurism Tuesday evening.
Jack Dale, the outgoing Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent, underwent emergency heart surgery Tuesday evening after suffering an aortic aneurism. The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Dale, 64, was conscious and resting at the intensive care unit of Fairfax Inova Hospital in Falls Church. He was taken to the hospital in an ambulance Tuesday evening after telling coworkers he was feeling unwell, the Post reported. As of Wednesday afternoon, he was in stable condition. Hospital officials were unable to comment further on Dale’s condition Thursday afternoon. Dale is planning to retire this summer but it’s unclear whether he will return to his post after recovering from surgery. FCPS spokesman John Torre told Patch on …
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
After medical emergency, Fairfax County Public Schools leader in stable condition at a local hospital.
Update 1:18 pm: "We are optimistic Dr. Dale will return to work before his scheduled retirement," Schools spokesman John Torre said. Original: Just more than a month before he is set to retire, Fairfax County Public Schools superintendent Jack Dale has been hospitalized after a medical emergency. Fairfax County School Board Chairman Ilryong Moon said Dale had a medical emergency late Tuesday afternoon. He is in stable condition at a local hospital, Moon wrote. Deputy Superintendent Richard Moniuszko will step in to manage superintendent duties, Moon said. "On behalf of the entire FCPS community, our thoughts and prayers are with Dr. Dale and his family and we look forward to his return," Moon wrote. Schools spokesman John Torre said no …
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Superintendent from Lubbock, Texas will step in as leader of Fairfax County Public Schools on July 1.
Karen Garza was officially appointed Thursday as the next superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools. Garza, currently the superintendent of the Lubbock Independent School District in Texas, will start July 1. The school board approved Thursday a four-year contract for Garza, through June 30, 2017. Read: New Fairfax Superintendent: 'I Am A Constant Learner' In remarks after the unanimous vote, Garza said her primary focus will be on teaching and learning, "for that is our core work." "To our stakeholders, our employees, our parents and our business and community partners, I pledge to be responsive and accountable to all Fairfax County schools stakeholders," she said. Garza also said she planned to be "very visible," noting the best …
Fairfax County Public Schools new leader says she'll focus on teaching and learning as she succeeds Superintendent Jack Dale, who retires June 30.
In her first public appearance in Fairfax County, incoming superintendent Karen Garza said her focus would be on teaching and learning and responding to students and their needs — a philosophy she intends to continue if she begins work here this summer. At a press briefing late Thursday afternoon, she said she'd seek input from a wide range of stakeholders when approaching difficult situations. "I think every decision you make and every challenge that you face, having various voices included in those solutions ... makes for a much better decision," she said. Garza, currently the superintendent of the Lubbock Independent School District in Texas, was officially appointed the next leader of Fairfax County Public Schools at the school board's…
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Chantilly Academy to offer it for second year in a row in August for students who will be in grades 9-12.
Was your teen a big fan of the movies Agent Cody Banks or Spy Kids and its sequels? Love technology and computers? There may be a summer camp coming up just made for him or her. You may want to steer them toward checking out a CyberSecurity camp being offered this summer for students entering grades 9-12, for one week in August in Chantilly. Chantilly Academy—a Governor’s STEM Academy—will host a CyberSecurity summer camp in partnership with Northrop Grumman Information Systems and the Air Force Association’s CyberPatriot-National High School Cyber Defense Competition. Registration for the camp is now open. Chantilly Academy is one of six high school academies in Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS). The 2013 CyberSecurity Camp will be …
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Fairfax County School Board, community members, share hopes for Karen Garza, likely the system's next superintendent.
Hours after Fairfax County Public Schools announced Karen Garza would likely become its next superintendent, school board leaders and other stakeholders spoke to the number of "unique qualities" they looked forward to seeing at the head of the system — chief among them, her ability to work collaboratively to find solutions. In a county that's home to a "highly demanding community and high expectations and different groups with strong voices who are not shy about expressing their opinions," that's an incredibly coveted trait, school board chair Ilryong Moon told Patch. "It's good to have a superintendent who believes in collaborating with a wide number of groups and does it well," Moon said, noting the former elementary school teacher was …
Karen Garza, currently a superintendent in Texas, will likely become the next leader of Fairfax County Public Schools.
A "strategic planner, a systems thinker, a stellar manager, and a highly effective communicator" is how the Fairfax County School Board described Karen Garza, the Texas superintendent leaders announced as their preferred candidate for superintendent Wednesday. Garza, who for the past four years has led the 30,000-student district of Lubbock, Texas, will assume the role pending final negotiations and a board site visit to the Lubbock Independent School District (ISD). She will become the system's first female superintendent as she takes the place of current Superintendent Jack Dale, who retires June 30. Garza was selected from 47 applicants for the position, and came out ahead of the 18 other candidates who were interviewed largely because…
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Debate heats up as school board weighs community and staff recommendations before coming school year.
Two weeks after a community committee detailed 52 recommendations to overhaul discipline practices systemwide, Fairfax County Public Schools staff has presented its own proposal for policy changes. But the plan leaves out two programs some see as key to a years-long push for reform — sparking a debate Monday on what role both groups would play in how the system moves forward. Staff leaders backed many of the ideas put forward by the 40-member Ad Hoc Community Committee on Student Rights and Responsibilities, including initiatives to make the discipline handbook easier to understand, keep students in school as they appeal a suspension and give principals tiered, age-specific approaches to a range of offenses. But staff members said they …
Sandra
3:44 pm on Friday, May 17, 2013
The online programs they support should be tailored to what teachers and students can use. The online math books were nothing more than regular texts that were scanned and put online. They were hard to use (especially if you needed to page back and forth to find topics), and they were not downloadable and pages could not be printed. That meant that students could only access their texts in … more ›