D.C., Fairfax County schools welcome students

Schools reopened Monday in the District and Fairfax County, with officials greeting parents and students after a long hot summer vacation.

“As we welcome our students back to DCPS, I am proud of the new programming, state-of-the-art learning environments and intensive supports that we have to offer them,” D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Lewis D. Ferebee said. “This school year, I look forward to working alongside our amazing educators to ensure that DCPS provides a great school in every neighborhood at every grade level, and that our students are set up for post-secondary success.”

Emily Allshouse, an administrator at Brightwood Education Campus in Northwest, said the first day of school was going “really smooth.”

The students “are starting with some social and emotional learning work, routines and procedures,” Ms. Allshouse said. “I hope our parents are happy and our kids are where they need to be, which is the ultimate goal.”

She said a priority for this year is making sure that parents are informed. To achieve this goal, the school is making sure that everything is online and in a variety of languages.

A part of Brightwood’s information campaign is to ensure that all students are vaccinated and share their medical records with the school.

“Often it’s not that the kids aren’t vaccinated but that we don’t have the information,” Ms. Allshouse said.

Brightwood’s nurse also is working with local clinics to have personnel administer vaccinations at the school.

Jose Gonzales, whose 9-year-old daughter attends Brightwood, said the school is making sure her medical records are up to date and on file. He said he likes the after-care activity options that are available for his daughter, from soccer to learning another subject.

To address bullying, the school puts a focus on social and emotional learning, Ms. Allshouse said.

Mr. Gonzales said his daughter had a problem with bullying once, but the principal was helpful in resolving the issue.

Amanda Nuñez, who attended Brightwood when she was a child, said she likes the security precautions the school takes with her 8-year-old.

“They’re overprotective, and I like that because I am overprotective,” Ms. Nuñez said.

Rita Soni has three children enrolled at Brightwood — ages 12, 7 and 9 — and says the teachers are “nice.” But she said he wishes the school would be more on-time with opening its doors in the morning.

Meanwhile, about 30 community activists and Bowser administration officials stood with signs at the intersection of Pennsylvania and Minnesota avenues SE on Monday to remind drivers to slow down as a part of the Safe Passage and Slow Down campaign. The campaign aims to incentivize kids to get to school by making it safer to travel to school.

Wendell Felder, who is participating in the campaign, said a lot of incidents have occurred at the intersection.

“We are out here to show that every day counts to get kids safely to school,” Mr. Felder said.

Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter High School in Southeast is one of 10 schools that is participating in the pilot program of the Carpool to School app, which gives students a platform to facilitate walking, biking or carpooling to and from schools.

“The truth of the matter is, that people when you see groups of kids on the Metro, black and brown kids on the Metro, people have apprehension about it,” said Raymond Weeden, executive director of the Thurgood Marshall Academy.

Mr. Weeden said “kids are just being kids” on Metro and it’s important to make them feel safe when traveling to school.

Fairfax County Public School Superintendent Scott Brabrand said Monday was an excellent first day.

“I had the opportunity to visit five of our schools to greet staff and students,” Mr. Brabrand said. “We are all looking forward to another great year with our students and their families.”

The county’s Office of Transportation Services launched a new app called Here Comes the Bus, which lets parents know where the school bus is when picking up and dropping off their children. The app already had 10,000 downloads in the first couple of days after its launch.

For this academic year, the Fairfax County School Board made “major revisions” to the Student Rights and Responsibilities code to “reduce the amount of time students spend away from school while also ensuring a safe learning environment for all students.”

The board has added a tiered guidance for how to respond to certain discipline worthy behaviors, changed practice for students with disabilities and altered the policy for first-time drug possession and use.