
Village Green Hosts Fall Festival
Students spend day on moon bounces, magic show.
The Village Green Day School in Great Falls hosted their annual Fall Festival Wednesday, Oct. 3. For student Grady Robbins, this meant a special surprise when he got to school.

Colvin Run Students Honored
Students take first, second place in annual Friends of the Great Falls Freedom Memorial essay contest.
The Friends of the Great Falls Freedom Memorial named the winners of their second annual essay contest Saturday, Oct. 6, hosting several participants at the Great Falls Library. Two Colvin Run Elementary School students, Maren Kranking and Sherwin Momenian were named first and second place winners, respectively.

Friends and Newcomers Award Scholarships
Four local students awarded funds for college education.
The Great Falls Friends and Neighbors Club awarded scholarships to four local students Tuesday, Sept. 18, as part of their annual community outreach.

Langley High Band to Hold Tag Day Fundraiser, Welcomes New Band Director
On Saturday, Sept. 22, band members from Langley High School will participate in “Tag Day” throughout neighborhoods in McLean and Great Falls.

Time for School
Advice on how to transition from a laid-back summer to a hectic academic year.
When Ellen Feldman’s 5-year-old son started school for last fall, one of the biggest adjustments for the single mother of two was having to adhere to a schedule. “All of a sudden we went from being able to do things on our own time frame to having to wake up and be at a certain place at a certain time,” said Feldman. “Sending my son off to school for the first time was exciting, but also difficult.”
Editorial: Starting School Prepared
First day of school is Sept. 4; local nonprofits provide school supplies and weekend food.
With school beginning in a few weeks, area charitable organizations have been collecting contributions of new backpacks, calculators, other school supplies, money and gift cards and winter coats to help the tens of thousands of truly needy Northern Virginia students.
Letter: No Enemies on TJ Admissions Front
To the Editor:
FCPS is not being honest, straightforward or holding itself accountable for the fact that too few of these disadvantaged kids are achieving as well as others relative to their populations and too few are fostered appropriately so they can be identified for and take advantage of advanced curricula, including advanced academic programs (AAP) and thence TJ and high school honors, AP and IB programs. The leaders in this system have had years to figure out how to make serious improvements, but they have hidden and spun or not even bothered to gather data and have excluded individuals and groups that could be partners in resolving this situation. Thus, we have a segregated system, as the data show.

Supporting Local Schools
Celebrate Great Falls raises more than $18,000 for local elementary schools.
Members of Celebrate Great Falls presented a check for $18,125 to members of the Forestville, Colvin Run and Great Falls Elementary Schools. The money, which was raised at the annual golf tournament Monday, June 4, puts the total donated to local schools from the golf tournament at more than $98,000 in the last five years.

Langley Class of 2012 Graduates
School graduates 486 seniors.
Almost 500 seniors graduated from Langley High School Thursday, June 14 at DAR Constitution Hall. The Class of 2012 sent 486 seniors across the platform, with most looking ready and eager to take on the next phase of their lives.

Welcoming the Dragon
Great Falls Elementary School hosts annual performance of "The Enormous Turnip."
The students in the Japanese Immersion Program at Great Falls Elementary School held their annual performance of "The Enormous Turnip" Friday, June 8. Based on a Russian fairy tale, the story is about a farmer who recruits an assortment of characters to help him remove an enormous turnip from the ground.

Local Art Supports Local Charity
Langley senior organization charity art sale.
Langley High School senior Gabriella Jacobsen has always been interested in art. Art runs in her family, through her grandmother and mother, and while Jacobsen enjoys creating art as well, she’s also interested in the practical side. She used this side Saturday, June 9 to hold a charity art sale at Langley to benefit the Gandhi Brigade, a Maryland-based nonprofit.

Connecting to Their Community
Langley High School Community Service Club celebrates first year.
The Langley High School Community Service Club celebrated their first year of existence Friday, June 8 at The Old Brogue. Club members volunteered at 11 different events for a total of more than 300 hours around the area during the year, from helping pack meals for the homeless to spending time with the residents of Vinson Hall, a nursing home.
Displaying Artwork of the Year
On June 6 Cooper Middle School had their art show put on by Nadene Wright's Art Extensions class. Each student created and wore a t-shirt inspired by the artist that most inspires them and displayed their top works of the year.
Local Girl Scout Troop Celebrates 100 years in Girl Scouts at Madame Tussauds
On May 9, Great Falls’ Cadette Girl Scout Troop 1111 was honored to join the president and the CEO of the Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital (GSCNC) to unveil a lifelike wax figure of the pioneering woman who founded the Girl Scouts 100 years ago, Juliette "Daisy" Gordon Low.

The Father Factor
Fairfax County’s "Fathers In Touch" program teaches men how to be fathers.
Calvin Robertson slams his fist down on the table and barks instructions to the 11 fathers seated around the table at the South Gate Community Center in Reston.