From saving on school supplies to the impact of federal cuts, the WTOP team is studying up on hot-button topics in education across the D.C. region. Follow on air and online in our series, “WTOP Goes Back to School” this August and September.
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On the first day of the 2025-26 school year, Loudoun County Public Schools, Virginia’s third-largest school system, says it’s focused on making sure students feel a true sense of belonging as they begin the fall semester.
With 100 schools, a student enrollment of just under 82,000 and an on-time graduation rate of 97.2%, the school system says a feeling of connection is needed to ensure a child can thrive, “and become their best and most engaged self in the classroom,” the school system said.
LCPS hired 626 new licensed teachers and counselors for the school year, of which 59.7% hold master’s degrees and 2.1% hold doctoral degrees. Of the 626 staff members, 237 are brand new teachers to the profession, according to the school system.
As of Aug. 13, almost 99% of the licensed positions were filled.
As of Aug. 15, LCPS had 20 bus driver vacancies, 17 bus driver trainees currently in training, seven trainees scheduled for future training in September, and 25 bus driver candidates in the preboarding process. Until the staffing is at 100%, the school system said other transportation staff will fill-in where needed.
New programs this year include the Loudoun Recovery Academy, designed for students who are in early recovery from substance-use disorders. According to LCPS, as they work toward their diploma, students will “receive the academic, emotional, and social support necessary to complete high school and have the flexibility to participate in internships, work, or fulfill other commitments.”
In readying LCPS students for careers, the Accelerated College and Employability Skills program, or Access Academy begins this year, in collaboration with George Mason University and Northern Virginia Community College.
Focus on kindness, respect, empathy
Several schools in the district have initiatives that go beyond reading, writing, math and science.
Evergreen Mill Elementary School in Leesburg has a “Kindness Club.” Principal Jennifer Thiessen says fifth graders can volunteer to visit and help their youngest schoolmates, preschoolers, with varying needs.
“It creates opportunity for relationships between students that might not normally interact with each other during the school day,” Thiessen said. “It’s an opportunity for teaching compassion, empathy and understanding, and some of those soft skills that we find to be just extremely important at the elementary level.”
Thiessen said preschool teachers will visit fifth grade classrooms early in the year, to tell them about some of the younger students, and the needs they might have, including communication delays.
“It’s really a teachable moment for our older students, cultivating that sense of leadership,” she said. “It’s just a lovely opportunity, and the kids are really excited about it on both ends of the spectrum.”
“We’re in an academic setting. But we also want our fifth graders to leave elementary school with a sense of empathy and this idea of how to be kind to one another, and really to seek first to understand,” Thiessen said.
While the older students benefit from accepting responsibility, Thiessen said the preschoolers love the interaction with fifth graders.
“It’s really cute. They’ve got really big smiles on their faces when they see them. It’s definitely a different dynamic than with their teacher — they kind of see them as like the ‘cool person in the building,'” she said.
Discovery Elementary School has a C.A.R.E. Team, which stands for Council for Active Respect and Empathy, for fourth and fifth graders. J.L. Simpson Middle School’s Empowered Girls Club offers seventh and eighth grade girls of color opportunities to create an additional support system for encouragement and empowerment.
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