Fairfax County Public Schools: Six Schools Receive FCPS 2021 Best Of The Web Awards

Press release from Fairfax County Public Schools:

March 11, 2022

Activities scheduled in FCPS schools and grounds for Saturday, March 12 are canceled.

All activities scheduled in Fairfax County public schools or on school grounds for Saturday are canceled, including:  

Information on make-up dates for the SAT can be found on the College Board website.

ACE students should check their email for communications from ACE staff and instructors.

Fairfax County Public Schools presented six schools with 2021 Best of the Web Awards for excellence in website content and use of web-based tools.  Winners were recognized at a virtual meeting on March 11. 

The annual awards, organized by the FCPS Office of Communication and Community Relations, celebrate schools that create excellent websites to inform and engage readers. The winners remind us of the substantial talent that exists among the community of FCPS school web curators.

Educate Fairfax(link is external) sponsored the awards, providing six $100 gift cards for the winners, who also received trophies and framed certificates.  

Best of the Web award winners for 2021 are:

Columbia Elementary School(link is external)

Shannon Hoff, school-based technology specialist, and Michael Astudillo, principal

Shannon Hoff and Michael Astudillo collaborate at weekly meetings to plan innovative content for the website. New webpages in 2021 include “What Makes Us Special(link is external),” which includes a slideshow and a listing of highlighted school programs, and “Why Work at Columbia(link is external),” which outlines why a prospective teacher or staffer would want to join the Columbia ES team. An improved Specials Section(link is external) brings to life subjects such as art, music, physical education, STEAM Lab (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts Integration, and Math), and the Spanish language program. In addition, each staff person is featured in a short biography. (link is external)

View the recognition with additional photos on the school website.(link is external)

Hayfield Elementary School(link is external)

Melinda Snyder, school-based technology specialist; Lisa Warden, student information assistant; and Jessica Lewis, principal

Melinda Snyder and Lisa Warden work as a powerful team. Together they produced 30 exciting features(link is external) this school year, including photo stories about school spirit days and Read Across America week. They created a school events page(link is external) with unique filters for spirit days, PTA meetings, and testing dates, offering parents an opportunity to subscribe and receive notifications to their mobile devices. In-depth grade-level teams(link is external) information is presented. For example, the sixth grade team webpage(link is external), includes a team photo, a welcome video, contact information for each teacher, and links to the school supplies list and FCPS curriculum resources.

View the recognition with additional photos on the school website.(link is external)

Graham Road Elementary School(link is external)

Lisa David, first-grade teacher, and Lauren Badini, principal

While Lisa David has been teaching for several years at Graham Road Elementary, this is her first year managing the website. Early in the school year, she began profiling staff members in a Staff Spotlight(link is external) feature; she’s published 12 to date. In addition, each school staffer is represented on grade level team pages. For example, the first-grade team page(link is external) visually portrays each teacher in an instructional environment while linking to a staff spotlight(link is external), if available, and a teacher's school Twitter feed. Monthly photo galleries(link is external) offer a roundup of fun activities throughout the school. 

View the recognition with additional photos on the school website.(link is external)

Chantilly Academy(link is external)

Bonnie Wannett, career experience specialist, Scott Settar, Chantilly Academy administrator

Current and prospective students (and their parents) appreciate the detailed information Bonnie Wannett includes on webpages featuring the Academy’s 29 skills-based courses(link is external). For example, the Academy's Dental Careers(link is external) course webpage welcomes readers with a video from the instructor, a course description, a list of certifications offered, examples of student career pathways, and a list of industry connections and program partnerships. In addition, a registration page(link is external) offers a 5-minutes virtual open house, as well as  videos from both staff and current students, who speak of the benefits of taking Academy courses.

View the recognition with additional photos on the school website.(link is external)

Rocky Run Middle School(link is external)

Pam Galietta, school-based technology specialist, and Amy Goodloe, principal

Pam Galietta posts lots of events on the website to keep the Rocky Run community engaged in school activities. Feature stories highlight the school’s unique offerings, such as Makerspace(link is external) and the Global Classroom(link is external) program. An academic advising section(link is external) provides valuable resources to both current and rising sixth-grade students and links to the educational advising pages of its pyramid high schools (Chantilly, Centreville, and Westfield). A Department of Student Services page(link is external) provides each staff member's name, along with details about both the team and feeder schools that each school counselor represents.

View the recognition with additional photos on the school website.(link is external)

Falls Church High School(link is external)

Angel Mason, business & information technology teacher, and Ben Nowak, principal

For this school year, Angel Mason created 100+ events on the website, and they are filterable by athletics, performing arts, Student Services, testing, and PTA meetings. School features(link is external) call attention to the many awards and honors received by staff and students. An inviting and consistent school administration(link is external) page that identifies each team member with a photo and brief description about their responsibilities and areas of supervision within the school. The Student Services Staff(link is external) page identifies each staff member with an image, multiple ways to contact each person, and links to other pages within the Department of Student Services(link is external).

View the recognition with additional photos on the school website.(link is external)

This press release was produced by Fairfax County Public Schools. The views expressed here are the author’s own.