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News & Notes
PAGE 8 | JANUARY 28 – FEBRUARY 3, 2021
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NEWS BRIEFS
2nd Vaccine Doses for F.C. Teachers Due Feb. 15
Falls Church City Public Schools (FCCPS) Superintendent Peter Noonan announced Tuesday that Fairfax County Health Department has confirmed FCCPS staff are due to receive their second dose of the Covid vaccine on Feb. 15, President’s Day, setting up the division to be the first in Northern Virginia to fully reopen in hybrid in a little over four weeks. Dr. Noonan noted the news came on the same day the Virginia Department of Health revised the Falls Church Schools Percent Positive metrics back into the “Higher Risk” category, as the number of cases in Falls Church continues to rise. “If we had reopened this week we would likely be looking and moving back to virtual next week,” Noonan said. The Mustang high school students who selected “in-person hybrid” for their Arlington Career Center (ACC) courses will begin on Tuesday, Feb. 2. On Thursday and Friday, Feb. 4 and 5, there will be asynchronous learning for students as teachers have professional days. The virtual learning continues on Monday the 8th, with teachers holding office hours. The courses include auto tech, auto collision repair, barbering, cosmetology, culinary arts, electricity, and EMT.
F.C. School Board Hopefuls Make Introductions
At Tuesday’s Falls Church School Board virtual work session, the 12 citizens who’ve submitted requests for appointment to the one open seat on the board made three-minute introductions. The seat was vacated by the departure of Lawrence Webb last month and an appointment will fill it through November, when an election to a four year term will be held. Ilya Shapiro, a nonpartisan think tank attorney, Jennifer Halvaksz, a physical therapist, Heather Preffler with a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins, David Calabrese, chair of the F.C. BZA, Deborah Smyth, a lifelong area teacher, Kyle Erickson, critic of the school renaming, Jerrod Anderson, an economist, Caroline Lian, a board member of a D.C. charter school, Amanda Alderson, who wants students back in classrooms, Emily Jenkins, who supports the schools’ current plan, Sonia Ruiz-Bolanos, on the F.C. Education Foundation board of directors, and Toni Lewis, focused on equity and inclusion. The School Board will vote on its decision on Feb. 9.
Entire F.C. Public Works Department in Quarantine
City of Falls Church’s City Manager Wyatt Shields reported to the City Council Monday night that due to Covid-19 infections and contact concerns, all 28 members of the City’s Department of Public Works have been placed on quarantine to work from their homes this week. Shields did not identify how many of the staff actually reported positive for the virus. He said that necessary tasks of the department, such as road clearing following snow or ice accumulation on roads, will be handled by contractors, which occurred Monday night. He did not indicate when or how exactly the quarantine would be lifted.
Early Area LGBT Champion Jim Ball Dies
The News-Press has learned that Jim Ball, an early leader of the LGBT movement in Northern Virginia, including as a leader of the region’s first open organization founded in the early 1990s, Virginia Partisans, has died in Connecticut from Covid-19. He moved to Connecticut to care for his mother, who recently died, and he was preparing to return to this region when he contracted Covid, according to sources.
Virginia Covid Workplace Safety Rules Now in Effect
Virginia’s permanent Covid19 workplace safety and health rules took effect Wednesday, after Gov. Ralph Northam approved the standard adopted by the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry’s Safety and Health Codes Board last week. The standards mandate appropriate personal protective equipment, sanitation, social distancing, infectious disease preparedness and response plans, record keeping, training, and hazard communications in workplaces across the Commonwealth.
“While the end of this pandemic is finally in sight, the virus is still spreading, including several highly contagious variants, and now is not the time to let up on preventative measures,” said Northam.
Warner, Kaine Push D.C. Statehood Bill
U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine yesterday joined Senator Tom Carper in re-introducing legislation to make Washington, D.C. the 51st state of the United States. The “Washington, D.C. Admission Act” would establish congressional boundaries for the 51st state and grant D.C. residents full congressional representation. The bill would also ensure that the citizens and elected leaders of the District of Columbia have full authority over local affairs, including crucial safety and security matters. Additionally, the legislation would designate the areas surrounding the White House, the Capitol, the Supreme Court, and the National Mall as the seat of the federal government. That area would inherit the name “The Capital” and remain under the control of Congress, as mandated by the Constitution.
Fairfax Stops Information Sharing With ICE
At its meeting Wednesday, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted 9-1 to prohibit county employees from providing any person’s immigration or citizenship status with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities unless they are required to do so by a court order. This new policy is part of the county’s Public Trust and Confidentiality Policy as sponsored by Board Chair Jeff McKay and Supervisors John Foust and Dalia Palchik. By this, what had been a guideline now becomes a formal policy for all Fairfax County employees to follow.
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JANUARY 28 – FEBRUARY 3, 2021 | PAGE 9
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MAURA ORBAN watches Kamala Harris take her oath of of�ice to become the �irst female Vice President of the U.S. In the words of her grandmother, “Maura will never remember a time when a woman has never been Vice President of the country.” (P����:
C������� D���� O����) F.C. Resident Given Award For College Contributions
Lisseth Chavez Cruz of Falls Church, majoring in Spanish, has earned a national award for contributions to the College of the Holy Cross’ Chapter of National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society Sigma Delta Pi.
Omicron Epsilon has been named an “Honor Chapter” for its outstanding activities in 2019-20, an award that was bestowed to only 11 out of 627 chapters nationwide in 2019. This is the fourth time since 1997 that Holy Cross has received this distinction.
Co-Chapter Advisers Bridget Franco, Daniel Frost and Rodrigo Fuentes were instrumental in earning this year’s recognition.
Founded at the University of California, Berkeley in 1919, Sigma Delta Pi is the largest foreign-language honor society in existence, honoring exceptional academic achievement in the Spanish major.
Women Voters Host Virtual Program on Climate Solutions
The League of Women Voters of Falls Church invites the community to a virtual program featuring guest speaker Sarah Karush from the Citizens’ Climate Lobby. Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) is a volunteer-driven organization focused on bipartisan climate solutions.
It has been advocating for passage of the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, a national carbon pricing bill that CCL believes is the best first step to address the climate challenge.
Sarah Karush, co-leader of CCL’s Fairfax County Chapter, will explain how the legislation works and how CCL volunteers are building support for it among people of all political stripes. This event will take place on Sunday, Jan. 31 at 2 p.m. via Zoom.
The Zoom link is posted on the website of the Falls Church League of Women Voters at my.lwv.org/ virginia/falls-church.
For additional information, contact Barbara Lipsky at blipsky@ cox.net.
Local Fairfax Co. Students Selected for Scholars Program
Fifty-five seniors in Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) are among a group of more than 4,500 candidates in the 2021 U.S. Presidential Scholars Program. The candidates were selected from nearly 3.6 million students expected to graduate from U.S. high schools in 2021.
The following students from local Fairfax County schools who were nominated are:
Falls Church High School — Maxwell J. Miracle, John T. Child and Tryn Dunne.
Marshall High School — Rishav
Shreeram
McLean High School — Jungmin Kang.
Blood Drive at Vienna Fire House Thursday & Saturday
The Vienna Volunteer Fire Department Hall (400 Center St. S, Vienna) will be holding blood drives on Thursday and Saturday from 1 – 7 p.m. To sign up for this blood drive, visit inovabloodsaves. org, click on the “Donate Blood” tab at the top and enter your zip code. At the next page, you can scroll down and see the “Vienna Volunteer Fire Department Hall” event for Jan. 28 & 30, and can register there.
Inova Blood Donor Services is taking all precautions as it relates to Covid-19.
There will be space to spread out and social distance.
For more information, visit inovabloodsaves.org.
Send Us Your News & Notes! The News-Press is always on the lookout for photos & items for Community News & Notes, School News & Notes and other sections of the paper. If you graduate, get married, get engaged, get an award, start a club, eat a club, tie your shoes, have a birthday, have a party, host an event or anything else you think is worth being mentioned in the News-Press, write it up and send it to us! If you have a photo, even better! Because of the amount of submissions we receive, we cannot guarantee all submissions will be published, but we’ll try our best! Community News & Notes: newsandnotes@fcnp.com | School News & Notes: schoolnews@fcnp.com Mail: News & Notes, Falls Church News-Press, 105 N. Virginia Ave #310, Falls Church, VA 22046
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PAGE 10 | JANUARY 28 – FEBRUARY 3, 2021 FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
CITY OF FALLS CHURCH RECREATION AND PARKS
After a long school year of virtual learning at the dining room table and WiFi buffering messages, you and the kids deserve a break this summer. The City of Falls Church Recreation and Parks Department can help make that happen. We’re offering dozens of summer camps for ages 4-18 in both indoor and outdoor environments, with an array of athletic, artistic, musical, STEM-based, and classic camp programs to choose from.
The Recreation and Parks Department is committed to providing a safe camp environment. Mask wearing, social distancing, and other COVID-19 preventative measures will be required for all campers and staff.
Our summer camp brochure will be mailed soon and viewable at www.fallschurchva. gov/camps. Registration opens in March at www.fallschurchva.gov/register.
City of Falls Church Recreation and Parks 223 Little Falls St, Falls Church, VA 22046 (703) 248-5077 fallschurchva.gov/461/Camps
BASIS INDEPENDENT MCLEAN
mclean.basisindependent.com
CLAY CAFE STUDIOS
claywire.com
COMMUNIKIDS
communikids.com
CONGRESSIONAL CAMP
Welcome to Congressional Camp! Whether you’re joining us for the first time or are a family who has spent countless summers with us, we’re excited to have you with us. Founded in 1940, Congressional Camp is an ACA accredited coed day camp designed for ages 3-14!
We are located on a beautiful, 40-acre campus in Falls Church, Virginia at Congressional School. Our diverse programs include day camp, travel camps, and specialty camps which offer summers of new challenges, old traditions, friends and boundless FUN!
Congressional Camp 3229 Sleepy Hollow Rd, Falls Church, VA 22042 (703) 533-0931 congocamp.org
COMMUNITY OF SCHOLARS AMERICAN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL SERVICE
202.885.2442
american.edu/sis/communityofscholars
ENCORE STAGE AND STUDIO
4000 Lorcom Lane Arlington, VA 22207 703.548.1154
encorestage.org
ENSHIN KARATE
2190 Pimmit Drive, Unit K&L Falls Church, VA 22043 703.734.KICK
virginiakarate.com
CREATIVE CAULDRON
Creative Cauldron is a non-profit professional theater and educational arts space in Falls Church that brings quality, affordable arts experiences to the Washington, DC area community. While Creative Cauldron’s popular Arts Adventure Camps will be offered online this spring, this summer camps return in-person with covid19 precautions in place. Campers will enjoy the engaging and imagination-fueled summer experience they’ve loved for 19 years! Each camp day, children will have the opportunity to work with Creative Cauldron’s seasoned and creative teaching artists in the areas of drama, music, movement, and art. Campers, grouped by age, will explore science, myth, folklore, music, and art and create a final performance to share with family and friends.
Creative Cauldron 410 S Maple Ave, Falls Church, VA 22046 (703) 436-9948 creativecauldron.org
www.fallschurchva.gov/camps
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
MASON GAME AND TECHNOLOGY ACADEMY
THE LITTLE THEATRE OF ALEXANDRIA
gmu.edu
MCLEAN COMMUNITY CENTER
mcleancenter.org thelittletheatre.com
WASHINGTON SAILING MARINA CAMP 1 MARINA DRIVE
Alexandria, VA 22314 703.548.9027
washingtonsailingmarina.com
MEDSTAR CAPITALS ICEPLEX
medstarcapitalsiceplex.com WESTMINSTER SCHOOL
westminsterschool.com
MERCERSBURG ACADEMY
100 Academy Drive Mercersburg, PA 17236 717.328.6225
mercersburg.edu
MULFORD RIDING SCHOOL
mulfordridingschool.com
OAKCREST SCHOOL
1619 Crowell Road Vienna, VA 22182 703.790.5450
oakcrest.org
SYNETIC THEATER
Synetic Theater’s signature Summer Camps are BACK! With in-person and virtual classes available, we have summer options for any grade! Synetic Summer Camps are designed with movement at its heart. Students will stay active all day long while they work with industry professionals to create an original theater performance. With acting classes, music, dance, stage combat, mime and more students will learn and achieve the confidence they need to be a strong independent performer. We offer summer sessions for 10 weeks out of the summer (June 21 - August 27th)! NEW THIS SUMMER: Synetic’s High School Acting and Technical Theater Conservatory - open to all high school students (no audition required). For more information about our summer adventures go to: Synetictheater. org/Camps. Come move with us, all summer long!
Synetic Theater 1800 S Bell St, Arlington, VA 22202 (703) 824-8060 synetictheater.org JANUARY 28 – FEBRUARY 3, 2021 | PAGE 11
