Fairfax County Public Schools

History

19th century

The public school system in Fairfax County, Virginia, was created after the American Civil War, following Virginia's adoption of its Reconstruction-era state constitution in 1870; this made free public education a constitutional right for the first time. The first superintendent of schools for Fairfax County was Thomas M. Moore, who was sworn in on September 26, 1870. At the time of its creation, the Fairfax County Public Schools system consisted of 41 schools—28 serving White students and 13 serving Black students.

In 1886, Milton D. Hall was appointed superintendent, and he served for 44 years until his retirement in 1929.

20th century

Fairfax County Public Schools, like most school systems in the American South, practiced de jure segregation. The county had local elementary schools for Black students, but no high schools for Black students. Although Fairfax County was densely populated, it had proportionately few Black high school students. Fairfax, Prince William, Loudoun, Arlington, and Fauquier counties all shared a high school for Black students. This school was centrally located among the counties in Manassas. Other students attended high schools in Washington, D.C., where many had relatives. Those schools included Armstrong High School, Cardozo High School, Dunbar High School, and Phelps Vocational Center. In 1951, Fairfax County began construction of Luther Jackson High School after residents requested a high school for Black students. In 1954, FCPS had 42 elementary schools and six high schools; Luther Jackson High School opened in Falls Church as the first high school for Black students in the county.

In 1954, the Supreme Court's decision in the case of Brown v. Board of Education ordered an end to racial segregation in public schools. In response, Virginia enacted legislation to prevent desegregation, took control of school placement decisions, and closed some school systems that attempted to desegregate. When Arlington County announced an early desegregation plan, its school board was dismissed by the State Board of Education.

In 1955, the Fairfax County School Board renamed its "Committee on Desegregation" the "Committee on Segregation", after a petition and the threat of litigation from a civic group called the Virginia Citizens' Committee for Better Schools.

After the Brown v. Board of Education decision, Daniel L. Duke—author of Education Empire: The Evolution of an Excellent Suburban School System—wrote: "Whether local school systems such as Fairfax County, left to their own, would have moved forward to implement desegregation in the late fifties will never be known. Richmond removed any possibility of local option...".

Court decisions later noted that the state, rather than the county, controlled student placement during this period. A 1964 decision stated:

Prior to the Brown decision Fairfax County maintained a dual school system: one for Negro students; one for all other races. Shortly thereafter the placement of all children in the Fairfax County schools was taken from the local school board and vested in the state Pupil Placement Board. The assignment of students remained with the state Board until the 1961–62 school year, at which time placement responsibilities were reinvested in the local School Board.

Special education

FCPS took over the education of students with mental disabilities from a parent-organized cooperative in 1953. The parents had started the program in 1950, using whatever space could be found to educate their children, but they eventually asked FCPS to take control of the program.

In 1955, special education classes for mentally disabled students were expanded to include four classes for "educable" children, described as those with a mental age above 7, at Groveton, Lincolnia, Oakton, and Luther Jackson schools. A separate class for "trainable" children, defined as those with a mental age of less than 6+1⁄2, was offered at Groveton.

In recent years, parents of students with individualized education programs (IEPs) and Section 504 plans have filed lawsuits against FCPS. These lawsuits alleged that the district failed to provide required services and resources under students' special education plans. The lawsuits also alleged violations of federal disability-rights laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Complaints and lawsuits about FCPS's services for students with disabilities led to an investigation by the United States Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights. In 2022, this office found that FCPS had failed (or been unable) to provide a free appropriate public education to thousands of students with disabilities during remote learning. The findings included failures to provide services identified in students' IEPs and Section 504 plans.

21st century

Until 2006, the Fairfax County school system was headquartered at 10700 Page Avenue, in an unincorporated area of the county surrounded by the City of Fairfax. In 2006, FCPS moved all of its operations from the Burkholder Center, as well as several other school-owned and leased offices, to the office building on Gatehouse Road.

As of March 2026, Virginia School Quality Profiles (from the Virginia Department of Education) listed FCPS as having 195 schools, including 25 high schools, three secondary schools, 24 middle schools, 141 elementary schools, and two centers for special education. FCPS operates more than 1,600 school buses, including 31 electric buses, and it transports 131,000 students daily. Its approved operating budget for fiscal year 2026 was $3.9 billion, and the system had 41,298 employees, including 25,625 full-time equivalent positions.

As of 2026, FCPS was the largest school system in Virginia and the ninth-largest in the United States. For the class of 2025, FCPS reported an on-time graduation rate of 93.3% and an average SAT score of 1,183.

FCPS uses an electronic visitor-management system to control visitor access at its schools.

2025 House committee investigation

On November 24, 2025, the U.S. House Committee on Education and Workforce announced an investigation into antisemitism in several kindergarten-to-12th-grade (K–12) school districts, including Fairfax County Public Schools. In a letter to Superintendent Michelle Reid, committee chairman Tim Walberg said that the committee was investigating whether FCPS had a hostile environment for Jewish students, and whether FCPS was fulfilling its obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to address harassment and prevent its recurrence.

Academic programs and courses

FCPS offers several academic programs and course options at select schools:

Advanced Placement (AP) program: The AP program provides college-preparatory coursework in various subject areas for high school students. FCPS offers 39 AP courses at schools having AP programs.

International Baccalaureate (IB) programs: FCPS offers the IB Middle Years Program (MYP) for grades 6-10 and the IB Diploma Program (DP) for grades 11 and 12.

FCPS Online Campus: Students can take online courses for high school credit through the FCPS Online Campus. These courses are identical to those taught in traditional classrooms.

Academy elective courses: FCPS high school Academies offer advanced technical and specialized elective courses that combine career and academic preparation. Students enrolled in Academy electives may participate in career experiences such as shadowing, mentoring, and internships with local businesses.

Controversies

Debate over grading policies

Before May 2009, FCPS used a six-point grading scale on which 94–100% was an A, 90–93% was a B+, 84–89% was a B, and so on. In 2008, a group of parents raised concerns about whether FCPS's method of weighting and computing grades for advanced courses adversely affected FCPS students applying for college admissions, honors programs, and merit-based scholarship awards.

On January 2, 2009, Superintendent Jack D. Dale announced his recommendation to change the weighting of advanced courses while retaining the six-point grading scale. Dale stated that there was no conclusive evidence that the six-point grading scale disadvantaged FCPS students.

FCPS worked with the parent group to jointly review the issue. On January 22, 2009, the Fairfax County School Board directed Dale to report back with a new version of the grading scale by March 2009. The board also approved changing the weighting for Honors courses to 0.5 effective with the 2009–2010 school year, and for AP and IB courses to 1.0 retroactively.

After the review, the Fairfax County School Board approved a modified ten-point scale with pluses and minuses. The new scale took effect at the beginning of the 2009–10 school year. On the new scale, 93–100% is an A, 90–92% is an A−, 87–89% is a B+, and so on.

Controversy over disciplinary policies

In 2009 and 2011, Fairfax County Public Schools' disciplinary policies for drug-related offenses came under community scrutiny after two students died by suicide following school disciplinary proceedings. Both students—17-year-old Josh Anderson of South Lakes High School, who died in 2009, and 15-year-old Nick Stuban of Woodson High School, who died in 2011—had been suspended from their schools for marijuana-related offenses. The school district also suspended at least one student for possession of her prescription medication.

Although then-Superintendent Jack D. Dale maintained that FCPS's disciplinary policy did not constitute "zero tolerance", the suicides nevertheless prompted the school board and the state legislature to revisit school disciplinary policies. After a year-long study, the school board voted to relax punishments for marijuana possession and add requirements for parental notification when students face serious disciplinary sanctions.

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology

In late 2022 and early 2023, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology was investigated by Jason Miyares, the Attorney General of Virginia, for withholding notification from parents that their children had received a National Merit Scholarship award; this made national headlines. The high school was also sued for a change made to their admissions policy, shifting from a standardized test to a written exam.

Organization

FCPS is led by a superintendent and is overseen by a school board. The current superintendent is Dr. Michelle C. Reid, who began her term on July 1, 2022.

For FCPS administrative and governance purposes, Fairfax County is organized into six geographically based regions (numbered 1 through 6). Each region is led by an assistant superintendent, who oversees operations at schools within their region.

FCPS's headquarters is located in the Gatehouse Administration Center in Merrifield, an unincorporated section of the county near the city of Falls Church; the headquarters has a Falls Church address but is not within city limits.

School board

Virginia statutes and the Virginia Board of Education charge the Fairfax County School Board with setting general school policy, as well as establishing guidelines that ensure proper administration and operation of FCPS.

The Fairfax County School Board comprises 12 elected members and one student representative. Nine elected members are chosen, one from each of the following magisterial districts: Braddock, Dranesville, Franconia, Hunter Mill, Mason, Mount Vernon, Providence, Springfield, and Sully. Three additional elected members are chosen "at-large". Members are elected for four-year terms. A student representative, selected for a one-year term by the Student Advisory Council, sits with the board at all public meetings and participates in discussions but does not vote. The board chair is elected to serve for a one-year term; the current chair, Robyn Lady (Dranesville), has been serving since July 9, 2026.

The current members of the school board are Tom Dannan (Braddock), Robyn A. Lady (Dranesville), Marcia C. St. John-Cunning (Franconia), Melanie K. Meren (Hunter Mill), Ricardy J. Anderson (Mason), Mateo Dunne (Mount Vernon), Karl V. Frisch (Providence), Sandy B. Anderson (Springfield), and Seema Dixit (Sully). The other three members, R. Kyle McDaniel, Ryan L. McElveen, and Ilryong Moon, serve as "at-large" members. Newt Shosteck from Hayfield Secondary School serves as the non-voting student representative.

Union

FCPS teachers and support staff are unionized under Fairfax Education Unions (FEU). The bargaining agent certified in 2024 following an election covering around 27,500 workers, with around 14,000 teachers and 13,000 support staff. Administrators and supervisors are represented by the Fairfax County Federation of Principals, Supervisors, and Administrators. The first collective bargaining agreements between FEU and FCPS were ratified by the Fairfax County School Board in January 2025.

Schools

Secondary schools

Hayfield Secondary School (Hawks) – Alexandria

Lake Braddock Secondary School (Bruins) – Burke

Robinson Secondary School (Rams) – Fairfax

Alternative high schools

Bryant Alternative High School (Bears) – Alexandria

Fairfax County Adult High School – Springfield

Mountain View Alternative High School (Timberwolves) – Centreville

Elementary schools

There are 141 elementary schools in Fairfax County:

Former schools

Cedar Lane Elementary School

Clifton High School

Clifton Elementary School

Crouch School House

Dunn Loring Elementary School

Edsall Park Elementary School (now the Plum Center for Lifelong Learning)

Green Acres Elementary School (now owned by the City of Fairfax Parks & Recreation)

James Lee Elementary School (now the James Lee Community Center)

Lewinsville Elementary School

Pimmit Hills Elementary School (now the Pimmit Hills Center for Adult Education)

Pine Ridge Elementary School

Walnut Hill Elementary School (now the Leis Center)

Westmore Elementary School

Schools for Black children:

Laurel Grove Colored School

Luther Jackson High School

Cub Run Colored School

Eleven Oaks Colored School (torn down, now the site of the Eleven Oaks housing development)

Fort Hunt High School