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Traditional snow days or virtual learning: What will FCPS do this year?

Kids, get the sleds ready. The first five inclement weather days for Fairfax County Public Schools this school year will be traditional snow days. Virginia’s largest school system said weather procedures will stay the same as last year.



After the district uses those five days, future snow days may be unscheduled virtual learning days with live instruction. Fairfax County spans 400 square miles, and the school system tries to make decisions the night before a possible snow day, but that can’t always happen when conditions change. If conditions change overnight, the school superintendent usually makes a decision by 4:30 a.m. Watch the video to see how FCPS decides whether to close schools:

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School bus emergency? Fairfax County students have a plan to handle it

This story is part of WTOP’s 2026 Back to School coverage. The wheels on the bus will soon be going round and round again in Fairfax County, Virginia, and some of its young riders are learning what to do if there’s an emergency on the way to school. The annual Safety Patrol Training Camp, hosted by Fairfax County Public Schools' Office of Transportation Services, combined hands-on exercises with classroom lessons to teach students how to keep calm during emergencies on buses. The training can feel remarkably realistic, with overturned school buses on their side or completely upside down in the middle of the county bus depot. Other buses, right side up, fill with smoke that is water-based but mimics the intensity of a bus overheating.
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