Friday, May 18, 2012
Fairfax County Public Schools staff is looking into possibility of deferring budget approval
The Fairfax County School Board continued to debate how to implement changes to the Virginia Retirement System into the fiscal 2013 budget during a work session Thursday, with most of the members leaning toward phasing in the required shift to 5 percent employee contributions. Susan Quinn, chief financial officer for Fairfax County Public Schools, presented six of the hundreds of options for how to adjust VRS and Educational Employees' Supplementary Retirement System of Fairfax County (ERFC) contributions, market-scale adjustments and STEP increases. [See the options in a PDF included with this article.] Option A showed Superintendent Jack Dale's proposal, which would have FCPS complete the 5 percent shift in fiscal year 2013 and eliminate…
The Robinson Secondary School coach and alumni was remembered Thursday.
To those who did not know Barry Gorodnick, Robinson Secondary School would seem like an odd place for a memorial service. But Gorodnick, or “Coach G.” as students knew him, lived for the school where he had attended since the seventh grade. He was 47 years old when he died on Saturday, and it seemed like he had never left the place. “He loved it so much he graduated and came back here for another 24 years,” said Robinson principal Dan Meier, who gave an opening statement at the memorial service held in the school’s gymnasium on Thursday afternoon. “Barry was Robinson.” The memorial service brought out hundreds of people — Gorodnick’s family, his extended family, the Robinson community. The service welcomed comments from the school …
Thursday, May 17, 2012
The students won first place in their category.
Robinson Secondary School students recently won first place at a statewide Technology Student Association State Leadership Conference. Andy Artze, Exxus Altimus, and Michael Sherburne won first place in their category, system control technology. The TSA conference judges middle school and high school students on innovation, design, and engineering. The category asks students to develop a computer-controlled model-solution to a problem. Teams analyze the problem, build a computer-controlled mechanical model, program the model, explain the program and mechanical features of the model-solution, according to the national TSA website. At the middle school level, Fairfax County Public School students won 10 first-place awards. High school …
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Barry Gorodnick lost his battle with cancer over the weekend.
Beloved husband, father, and Robinson Secondary School coach Barry Gorodnick passed away Saturday after a two-year-long struggle with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. He leaves behind his wife, Jen Gorodnick and three children Kaitlyn, 11, Taylor, 10 and Ryan, 7. Gorodnick’s family and friends had set up a fundraising page to help pay for treatments. On Sunday, the page was updated to inform supporters of his passing. “Thanks everyone for your support throughout Barry's illness. Jen and the kids really need us now more than ever. We will continue this fundraiser to honor him and help the Gorodnicks,” read a comment from Cathy Velis, who helped start the fundraising efforts. As of Tuesday, supporters had raised $55,000 for the family. Robinson …
The money has been raised, and artificial turf will be installed.
The fundraising efforts of several groups have joined forces to provide Robinson Secondary School with artificial turf for two athletic fields. Robinson’s Athletic Boosters raised $500,000 for the project, and the Braddock Road Youth Club contributed $400,000, according to Tom Lizardo of the Booster Club. "The total cost of the project including lights will be about $1.5 million," said Lizardo. Additional funding is being provided as follows: The final $150,000 was secured as part of the Board of Supervisor's third quarter review process. "Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust identified some additional monies that could be spent to help turf projects at schools throughout the county, and Supervisor Cook ensured Robinson was one of …
38.81609
-77.308679
Robinson Secondary School
5035 Sideburn Rd, Fairfax, VA
/articles/it-s-official-turf-coming-to-robinson
1788051
/locations/7028733
School board will hold a work session on the budget Thursday
A week before the Fairfax County School Board is scheduled to approve a fiscal year 2013 budget, community members advocated Tuesday for closing achievement gaps, increasing funding for employee compensation and providing benefits to parent liaisons at a public hearing for next year's spending plan. Superintendant Jack Dale presented his adjustments to the $2.4 billion budget during a markup session Monday, which removes step increases for eligible employees and calls for a 2 percent compensation market rate adjustment (MRA). The payment changes come in light of this year's General Assembly legislation requiring public school employees who participate in the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) to pay a 5 percent employee contribution, which …
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Superintendent Jack Dale proposes eliminating compensation adjustments in favor of meeting five-year state requirement within the next year
Though Superintendent Jack Dale presented his recommendation for adjustments to Fairfax County Public Schools' $2.4 billion advertised budget at a work session Monday, some school board members said they weren't satisfied his proposed changes fully met their priorities or produced a budget that best met the needs of the system. Dale returned to the board after the system's $1.68 billion transfer from the county Board of Supervisors, an amount 4.5 percent higher than what schools received last year but still short of the 8.4 percent increase board members asked for when they moved forward the approved advertised budget. Despite the school board's approval of the advertised budget in February, Dale and School Board Chairwoman Janie Strauss…
The deadline is June 1.
The application deadline for admission to the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology for the class of 2016 is June 1. All applicants have to also take the TJHSST admissions test on June 6 to be admitted. Students who moved into a participating school district (Fairfax, Fauquier, Arlington, Loudoun, or Prince William or the City of Falls Church) after Sept. 11, 2011 can apply. Additional information regarding eligibility and residency requirements for applicants can be found at www.TJAdmissions.org. Applications are also available at the Thomas Jefferson Admissions Office, 8115 Gatehouse Road, Suite 2600, Falls Church. The office is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Questions should be directed to the TJHSST Admissions Office at …
The future looks bright for these South County Stallions
South County’s Oren and Whitney Burks no longer have space on their calendar - literally. They used to keep track of their schedules in a calendar that their parents bought for them, but as the pair grew, more events meant less space. And eventually, the family ditched the physical calendar all together for a more streamlined method. “We used to have a calendar that we entered all of their information into so that we could know where everyone was going to be,” said Orlanda Burks, the children's father. “That got a little difficult because things wouldn’t fit and ink started to bleed on the other pages and we wouldn’t be able see it.” Whitney, a sophomore, was recently named the Patriot District Softball Player of the Year. She’s already …
38.718496
-77.236823
South County Secondary School
8501 Silverbrook Rd, Lorton, VA
/articles/it-s-a-family-thing
422362
/locations/7032867
Saturday, May 12, 2012
The annual 'Patriot Pack Up' collects unwanted items.
George Mason University is hosting its annual Patriot Pack Clean Out as students leave their dorms for the end of the academic year. Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to drop off unwanted clothes, nonperishable food, and small working appliances so they can be sent to area charities Food for Others and the Clock Tower Thrift Shop. In 2011, the university collected 9,540 pounds of materials. From this collection, 1,219 pounds of food were donated to Food for Others while another 8,323 pounds of clothing and small appliances were donated to the Clock Tower Thrift Shop in Falls Church, which benefits Northern Virginia Family Services. Faculty and staff are encouraged to donate their items through Monday, May 21 at the drive-up/drop-…
38.83503
-77.31124
George Mason University
4400 University Dr, Fairfax, VA
/articles/mason-holds-food-drive-for-charities
1975219
/locations/6993989
Bob
6:46 am on Friday, May 18, 2012
What's this? Moon is actually doing some work on the School Board for a change? He's actually consulting with colleagues? Wow - that's IS a change! more ›