D.C. and Prince George’s County schools opened to an earthquake; one week later, Montgomery County schools contended with a hurricane. So perhaps it was fitting that as summer died down with the last school start of the Washington area, Northern Virginia students were met with drizzle.
Fairfax County School Board Chairwoman Jane Strauss greeted students early Tuesday morning under the gray, dreary sky at Langley High School in McLean.
“It’s very exciting. Our teachers are ready, our students are ready,” Strauss said. “You never do know what you’re going to get.”
Superintendent Jack Dale agreed that his school system “dodged a bullet” with its late start, although no Fairfax schools were seriously damaged.
Arlington County Public Schools spokesman Frank Bellavia said that on Tuesday, “Everything went great, aside from the weather not cooperating. Kids arrived on time,” with textbooks in their classrooms and teachers ready to teach.
The new year marked a number of changes to Fairfax County Public Schools, as well as their counterparts in Arlington and Alexandria. While Fairfax mixed things up by expanding full-day kindergarten and introducing a new strategy for advanced math, Alexandria refocused on reading and Arlington moved toward a more integrated “whole child” curriculum.
In addition to academic strategizing, all three districts welcomed thousands more students — none more so than Fairfax, which grew by about 2,300 students to 177,000.
“We’re out of budget cuts, but at the same time we can’t accelerate, so we’re trying to be mindful of the programs the community wants in place,” Dale said.
But all the budget negotiations and weather hoopla couldn’t distract Langley students from more typical teenage concerns: friends, and sleep.
“There’s mixed feelings,” said junior Calvin Li, 16, who was a “little scared” of his Advanced Placement course load. “I want to see my friends, but I’m not looking forward to the work.”
Sophomore Artemis Jannesari, 14, had summer-end blues but said she was looking forward to socializing and had a week’s worth of outfits picked out. “I’m wondering how all these freshmen will be and how they’ll cooperate with the rest of us,” Jannesari said.
High school, indeed.
