Race relations are at the center of political discussions these days and that is no less true than in our little city of Falls Church, Virginia.  Signs stating  “Black Lives Matter”, “Love is Love”, and “Diversity is Caring”  have cropped up all over the city as people make visual statements about their views on these stirring issues of the day.  Divisions run deep as the community debates and considers a proposal, in public meetings and comments to the school board, to strip our high school of its name.  Community members feel strongly that it is inappropriate to have George Mason, a slave owner himself beRead More →

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On Sunday October 21, 2018, City Manager Wyatt Shields and Superintendent Peter Noonan hosted a town hall to update the community about the development of the George Mason High School site. If you watch the video, at timestamp 5:40, Superintendent Peter Noonan describes where we are in the timeline and talks about the phases of the project.   The Schematic Design Phase is an extremely critical phase for the community stakeholders as it is in this phase that the program specifications of each department or space are defined, finalized and ultimately contractually incorporated into the design plans.  The timeline below shows that this phase is nowRead More →

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In an event held at the National Press Club in Washington, DC today, Educators for Excellence (E4E), a teacher-led organization, released results from their ground-breaking national survey of our country’s public school educators. Entitled Voices from the Classroom: A Survey of America’s Educators. “Designed by teachers, for teachers, the scientific, nationally representative survey captures crucial insight on the views of public school educators across the country on a wide variety of issues impacting students and the profession, including: economic security, teacher leadership, teacher voice beyond the classroom, school safety and discipline, accountability and school choice” states a press release issued by Educators for Excellent. ThisRead More →

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Citizens gathered this past Sunday in the GMHS auditorium for another Q&A session on the referendum.  The session began with a pitch for a new school from Peter Noonan, Superintendent of Schools, citing research that indicates better outcomes for students with high ceilings and better ventilation. This was followed by financing details by City Manager Wyatt Shields.  School Board candidates Greg Anderson,  Alison Kutchma, Richard Crispin, Shannon Litton and Shawna Russell were in attendance.  Good questions were posed and more back up and tax implication information was requested.  FACTS will post the information requested when it becomes available. The session was videotaped. Click here forRead More →

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Falls Church FACTS is co-sponsoring the Community Issues Forum (CIF) for City Council and School Board candidtates:  7:30 PM, Wed, September 27th – City Council Candidates: Marybeth Connelly, Ross Litkenhous, Spencer Parsons, Dan Maller, David Snyder, & Dan Sze 7:30 PM, Wed, October 25th – School Board Candidates: Greg Anderson, Richard Crespin, Alison Kutchma, Shannon Litton, Shawna Russell, and Lawrence Webb Both events will be held at the American Legion Hall Post 130, 400 North Oak Street, Falls Church, VA 22046 For question please contact Sally Ekfelt at Ekfelt@gmail.com        Read More →

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George Mason High School offers many types of advanced coursework for the students:  Dual Enrollment, IB and AP. This is a reprint from the Washington Post on one parent’s experience with the rigor of AP.  The comments from other parents are interesting also.  Is offering all these programs providing a better educational outcome?  Is this the best use of our students time and providing them critical thinking and other important life skills?  Are colleges accepting these credits if the students pass the exam?  What are your thoughts? URL: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2016/09/21/why-i-regret-letting-my-teen-sign-up-for-an-ap-course/?wpisrc=nl_most-draw5&wpmm=1Read More →

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