
Herndon High Students Recognized in Art and Writing Competition
The following Herndon High School’s students had winning artwork in 2015 Scholastic Art and Writing Competition Award.

Herndon High School Robotics Team Earns High Marks
erndon High School’s sister robotics team, Epsilon Delta Too, was one of the top finishers at the FIRST Tech Challenge Virginia Championship held in Richmond on Saturday, Feb. 28. Coach Robert Simmons, who has been with the team for three years, said that junior Kenneth Lin, the team’s leader, wanted the team to be a model team in the area.
Fairfax County School Board Discusses New AAP Center at Poplar Tree
Board seeks more community feedback before taking action.
Greenbriar West Elementary School is far from the only Fairfax County Public School with an overcrowding problem.

Competing for ‘We the People’ Title in Herndon
Rachel Carson Middle School takes aim at national title.
Rachel Carson Middle School in Herndon has every reason to be proud. For the second year in a row, History and Social Studies teacher Cynthia Burgett’s special Civics class took home first place in the “We The People Competition” (WTP) at the state level and have their eyes on the big prize at the WTP National Invitationals Title round to be held on the campus of George Mason University between April 17-20.

Busy February at Herndon High
Students stay active at Herndon HS with extracurricular activities.
In addition to sports teams and athletics, Herndon High students have had the opportunity in February to be involved in various school activities. These have ranged from the February science fair to performing arts related groups.

Herndon Advances at National Dance Team Competition
The Herndon High School Varsity Dance Team recently returned from Orlando, Fla., where they competed in the Pom and Jazz categories at the 2015 National Dance Team Championship on Jan. 31 - Feb. 1. With over 350 high schools competing, Herndon advanced, for the first time ever, to the final round in the pom category and they are ranked 17th in the Nation.

Schools to Expand by $856 Million
Capital Improvement Plan approved, rising enrollment causes concerns about classroom space.
Five more school buildings and renovations for several existing ones may be approved by 2020. The Fairfax County School Board approved the $856 million Capital Improvement Program (CIP) at the Jan. 22 meeting to set priority on the projects the school system wants done in the next five years.

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bulova Releases 2015 State of the County Address
Despite a projected shortfall of nearly $100 million facing Fairfax County going into the FY 2016 budget, Board of Supervisors chairman Sharon Bulova remains encouraged by a 2014 that she said was full of accomplishments.

Founding Fathers Visit Reston and Herndon Schools
Reston couple funds further education in American history.
School children in eight Fairfax County Public elementary schools had the opportunity to hear and speak with Founding Fathers Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry in January. Historical re-enactors Bill Barker and Richard Schumann, respectively, assisted with the experience.

The $2.4 Billion Question
FCPS Superintendent presents next year’s budget.
Fairfax County Public Schools’ Superintendent Dr. Karen Garza is proposing a $2.4 billion budget for the 2015-16 school year. The proposed Fairfax County Public Schools’ budget includes funds for full-day Mondays, teacher compensation and later high school start times while still finding room for $55.4 million in cuts.
Nysmith Students Meet Cyber Defense Challenge
Two teams of middle school students from The Nysmith School of Herndon recently finished second and 12th out of 200 U.S. and Canadian teams participating in the seventh Annual CyberPatriot National Youth Cyber Defense Competition.

New Shoes for Children at Hutchison Elementary
The Council for the Arts of Herndon joins with the Dranesville supervisor’s office every holiday season to gather new shoes for children at Hutchison Elementary School in Herndon. Hutchison is a Title I school serving many students with challenging social and economic issues.

‘Peter Pan’ Recreated
Herndon High produces “Peter Pan,” or the “Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up.”
What do fairy dust, a vengeful pirate, and a flying boy have in common? The answer would be Herndon High School’s production of “Peter Pan,” or the “Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up.” The show, debuting in London in 1904, was J.M. Barrie’s most famous work, along with his 1911 novel version of the same story.

Irresistible? How Karen Garza Creates Change in Fairfax County Schools
Karen Garza is a good listener. And once she’s listened, she is, admittedly, not very patient. “If there's a real issue, I don't think it has to be debated for 10 or 15 years,” Garza said in an interview. “Either we're going to do something about it or not.”

FCPS Chief Karen Garza and Her Previous Life in Texas
“When I hired Karen in 2005,” former Superintendent of Houston Independent School District (HISD) Dr. Abelardo Saavedra said, “the position of chief academic officer had been open several months. I went looking for her. I’d never met her but I’d heard about her. There is a big difference between a mid-sized district and a larger one; the dynamics are completely different. I was taking a risk because she came from a mid-sized one of about 40,000 in Corpus Christi, and ours was much bigger. She adjusted very quickly.”