Congratulations to Principal April Cage on her recognition as the FCPS 2023 Outstanding Principal at this year's FCPS Honors event, held at George Mason University Center for the Arts on June 14th.

April is a champion for all students and takes pride in advocating for the needs of her school. Transitioning to Garfield a few months into the pandemic, she quickly became a voice of strength and support for the community. She collaborated with staff to assess their needs and developed a plan to strengthen collaborative learning teams. This established a high level of trust while increasing teacher efficacy and growing teacher leaders. By investing in the staff, teacher retention is almost 100%, directly impacting student/teacher relationships and student performance. Teachers believe they can do the work, and families trust them to do so. Because her passion is about serving others, she will always be on the right side of this work.

• View Principal Cage's recognition on the FCPS website.

Congratulations to the following Garfield Elementary School staff members who were also recognized at this year's FCPS Honors Ceremony!

Outstanding School-Based Professional Employee School-Level Recipient

• Brandon Tomnay, School Based Technology Specialist

Outstanding Elementary School Teacher School-Level Recipient

• Holly Kosatka, Multiple Disabilities Teacher

Thank you to Michele Neville for all of their hard work with the nomination process by serving as this year's awards liaison.