Electives

• Our 5^th and 6^th grade students have electives classes on Friday afternoons. Elective classes are taught by specialists, fifth and sixth grade teachers based on staff’s areas of passion. Examples of electives are Musical Theater, Team Sports, Coding, Gardening, Ultimate Frisbee, Jewelry Making, etc.

Equity

• WFES has a fabulous equity team that provides professional development and leadership in planning activities to enhance our school community. This committee focuses on improving the experience for students and staff. This committee has focused on Inclusive Schools Week, Celebrating our Military Families, Planning for Monthly Recognition

Innovation Hour

• Kindergarten – fourth grade students engage in Innovation Hour on Friday afternoons. Innovation is a non-academic time for students to explore areas of interest. Innovation Hour has been featured on Fox5 News and WTOP.

Mentoring

• FCPS has a Great Beginnings Program for all new staff. WFES has an on-site mentor lead who provides support to our new staff. Each new staff member to our school is matched with a mentor teacher (new teacher) or buddy mentor (experienced staff). WFES offers all new staff a substitute day to shadow an experienced on-site teacher.

Mindfulness

• WFES is a mindfulness school. All staff have access to InnerExplorer. Additionally, through grant funding and the PTA WFES has a mindfulness instructor who instructs students and staff with this research-based coping and wellness work.

Positivity Project

• WFES is a Positivity Project school. The Positivity Project is a character education program focused on building well-rounded students by teaching them about twenty-four established character traits. We have been a positivity project school since 2018.

Professional Development Opportunities

• FCPS boasts a large catalog of professional development opportunities available for staff throughout the year. As a school, grade level teams are provided at least two planning days per school year to work on team specific professional development, planning, and data analysis. Our principal and school PTA support professional development opportunities outside the classroom as well, such as Responsive Classroom, Positivity Project, Phonics First, AVMR, and mindfulness. 

Parent Teacher Association (PTA)

• WFES has a very active PTA. The PTA is active in supporting staff by providing funding to set up classrooms at the start of each school year. The PTA also offers after-school classes for students, and evening family events like BINGO Night, Ice Cream Social, Family Culture Night, and the STEAM Fair.

Renovation

• We are in year two of building our addition and renovating our school. We are building the WFES of the future right now. Our classrooms boast the most current technology, and are bright and beautiful.  

STEAM Lab

• WFES has a school-case STEAM Lab program. All students K-6 have STEAM as a special once per week. Students are taught Portrait of a Graduate skills through this great program! Our amazing STEAM teachers have won several grants to enhance of program with hydroponics, robotics, etc.

Social Emotional Learning (SEL)

• WFES is committed to SEL learning. Our school invests in additional counseling support for our school. Counselors provide tier 1 instruction in all grade level classrooms. Full research-based programming, such as SuperFlex or We Thinkers!, is provided in kindergarten and first grade.

Teacher Excellence

• Our teachers are amazing role models and exceptional teachers. We are fully staffed with qualified instructors and consistently have a high staff retention. We’re looking for great people to join our school team!

Teamwork

• Our teachers are committed to working in collaborative teams to plan, analyze data, and create opportunities for students. Our teams meet as a CLT once per week. Our teachers get 360 minutes of planning each week.