|
English | Español | አማርኛ | 中文 | 한국어 | Tiếng Việt | العربية | فارسی | اردو
 Every day, Key Center staff work hard to support students, build inclusion, and create positive learning experiences for all. Now is your chance to help recognize someone who truly goes above and beyond.
Fairfax County Public Schools is accepting nominations for the First-Class Awards. These awards honor individuals and teams who support, design, or lead inclusive practices that benefit students with disabilities and their peers.
We encourage families to nominate a Key Center staff member who:
-
Shows excellence in their role
-
Has a positive impact on both disabled and non-disabled students
-
Helps create a welcoming, inclusive school community
There are many award categories, including teachers, administrators, instructional assistants, therapists, support staff, teams, and specialty program staff. This means many different Key Center staff members are eligible to be nominated.
If there is someone at Key Center who has made a difference for your child or family, please consider submitting a nomination. Your voice matters, and this is a meaningful way to say thank you.
Nominations are due by February 20, 2026.
Please use the nomination form to share how an administrator, staff member, or team has made an exceptional contribution to inclusive practices in FCPS.
Thank you for helping us celebrate the incredible people who make Key Center such a special place for our students.
 We are excited that the Key Center Rockets team will be participating in the Mosaic Polar Plunge on Saturday, January 24th, 2026! This event benefits Virginia Special Olympics, an organization that provides sports training and athletic competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Key Center PTA receives 50% of the total funds raised by the Key Center Rockets team! This exceptional percentage means your support directly translates into resources for our students.
We still have a lot of ground to cover in order to meet our fundraising goal for the year, but we can do it!
Here are a few ways you can help:
❄️ Share our team fundraising page with friends and family or post it on social media and ask for donations.
❄️ Recruit a new team member to join our team.
- From the fundraising page, they should click “Join Team.”
- On the registration page, they must select “School Team Registration” (not Mosaic Polar Plunge Registration) so they are added to our school team.
Thank you so much for supporting our students and our PTA. Every share, donation, and team member truly makes a difference!
Note: All donations are tax-deductible, another great reason to make this a part of your donations in 2026!
 Fairfax County is seeing very high levels of influenza (flu) illness. Visits to emergency departments and urgent care centers for flu-like illness have increased, especially among children, and multiple flu outbreaks have occurred in our community and school settings.
Consider these tips from the Fairfax County Health Department to help reduce the spread of flu and other germs.
 The Lewis Museum of Service is being hosted in the Key Middle School Library for the first two weeks of January. This student-created, traveling museum highlights powerful stories of service and community impact.
Librarian Monisha Blair has ensured that this museum experience is accessible for Key Center students by including adaptations such as picture symbols and visual supports.Students from the Key Center 17–22 program (Sontag and Stewart classes) contributed a special exhibit honoring disability rights advocate Judy Heumann which became a valuable addition to the museum.
Read the full story and see how our students engaged with the exhibit in this feature on the Key Center website.
 This workshop is intended for family members of students with Autism and/or Intellectual Disabilities. Topics covered will include:
- Understanding why challenging behaviors happen
- How to prevent challenging behaviors from happening
- How to respond and stay safe when challenging behaviors do happen
January 21st, 2026
Choose one virtual session:
10:00am - 11:30am or 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Join using this meeting link
All family members and caregivers are welcome to attend ABA Family Training. No registration is needed.
To request an interpreter, contact Stephanie Watkins at (571) 423-4110 or by email at sawatkins@fcps.edu and provide your name and contact information (phone number and/or email).
For additional questions, contact Tina Wilkerson by email at twilkerson@fcps.edu.
 Get ready to show your Key Center pride! We’re excited to announce that the Key Center Spirit Wear online store will be opening soon. Families will be able to shop a variety of spirit wear items—perfect for students, staff, and supporters.
| 