
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Added to Fairfax County Student Handbook
School Board members debate whether students should be held accountable.
Students in Fairfax County Public Schools started the 2015-2016 school year without the words “sexual orientation” or “gender identity” as part of the nondiscrimination guide within their student handbook.

Fairfax County: High School Senior Addresses School Board on LGBT Issues
Board conducting community review of Family Life Education curriculum recommendations.
Bennett Shoop remembers first being bullied in second grade. He liked to dress all in black, wear weird shirts, be alternative in his outward expression.
Fairfax County: Kaine Requests Funding for School Drinking Water Testing
FCPS developing testing plan; last test was 2004.
In response to the lead contamination of drinking water of Flint, Michigan, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine joined 24 other senators asking Congress for funding to have school drinking water tested for lead and other toxins.

Golf Tournament to Benefit Great Falls Schools
On June 6, Celebrate Great Falls Foundation will hold the 10th Annual Charity Golf Tournament to benefit three local elementary schools.

Fairfax County: 15th Day Prom held for students with disabilities
Students’ bodies bounced, swayed and spun on the dance floor while the Black-Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling” blared from towering speakers. In another room, glamorous girls and boutonniered boys waited in line to pose for a professional photographer. It was a prom.

Fairfax County School Board members respond to Obama transgender bathroom guidance
When a student in Fairfax County Public Schools identifies as transgender and they bring it to the attention of their school staff, the school brings in the student’s parents and together they work out a tailored bathroom plan: where to use single-stall facilities on campus that will make the student feel most comfortable.

Fairfax County 2017-2018 School Year to Begin Before Labor Day
Fairfax County Public Schools delaying their start date until after Labor Day will be a thing of the past. Beginning with the 2017-2018 school year, the School Board decided classes will begin one week before Labor Day, rather than immediately following it, as has been the tradition.

Great Falls: Making Connections with Words
Winners named in Writing Contest
Participation in a local writing contest is the confidence catalyst some sixth-graders needed to push their creativity and consider writing for their futures.
Summer STEM Camps at Three Area Schools
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) is partnering with SySTEMic Solutions, Northern Virginia Community College's regional K-16 STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) outreach initiative, to host STEM camps at three schools this summer.

Great Falls: Spring Fashion Show for Scholarships
Event is fundraiser for Great Falls Friends and Neighbors Club.
More than 200 people attended the 2016 Spring Fashion Show on Sunday, April 24 at Bloomingdale's Tysons Corner Center in McLean as a fundraiser for the Great Falls Friends and Neighbors Scholarship Fund.

Fairfax County: Supervisors Approve 4-Cent Tax Rate Increase
The gap between the Fairfax County School Board and total county budgets is a formality away from being the smallest since before Jan. 7 when FCPS Superintendent Dr. Karen Garza announced she wouldn’t be making any additional cuts in her $2.67 billion Fiscal Year 2017 budget.

Great Falls: Students Honored at Poetry Luncheon
GFFN recognizes Great Falls Elementary students in 34th annual contest.
The 2016 Poetry Luncheon honoring the winners of the 34th annual Great Falls Elementary School Poetry Contest was held Thursday, April 14 at River Bend Golf and Country Club in Great Falls.

Great Falls: Women Juggle Work, Families, Education
Great Falls Friends and Neighbors committed to assisting working women pursuing higher education.
George Mason’s Libby Dissauer understands students who juggle raising a family while pursuing an education, who have to decide whether to pay rent, buy food, get gas or pay tuition.

McLean and Great Falls: Langley to Present ‘Chicago’
McLean’s Jamie Goodson has performed on a lot of stages.