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NewsIt’s vital to plan carefully for your financial future. But, as in climbing amountain, you also need an effective strategy to get back down safely.Members ofSLEEP, or StartLater for Excellencein EducationProposal,celebrate afterlater high schoolstart times wereapproved byFairfax CountyPublic Schools'School Board.Attend one of our unique workshops to learnhow to ensure that your savings will last as long as you do.• Saturday, November 8 at 10 am• Tuesday, November 18 at 7 pm• Saturday, December 6 at 10 amClass space is limited. FREE REFRESHMENTS SERVED.Reservations Required.$50 tuition WAIVED for Connection readers: Use code CP1411.Call1·800-560-0218www.my-wealth-summit.comUSA Financial Planning Partners10640 Main Street, Suite 203Fairfax, VA 22030(703) 821-7676• Thursday, November 13 at 7 pm• Thursday, December 4 at 7 pm• Tuesday, December 9 at 7 pmSPECIAL CONNECTIONS CALENDARAdvertising Deadlines are the previous Thursday unless noted.OCTOBERPublishingA+ Camps & Schools....................................................10/15/14Election Preview I .........................................................10/22/14Election Preview II........................................................10/29/14NOVEMBERElection Day is Tuesday, November 4.Wellbeing..........................................................................11/5/14HomeLifeStyle................................................................11/12/14Holiday Entertainment & Gift Guide I........................11/19/14A+...................................................................................11/25/14Thanksgiving is November 27.DECEMBERWellbeing..........................................................................12/3/14HomeLifeStyle: Home for the Holidays.......................12/10/14Hanukkah begins December 16.Holiday Entertainment & Gift Guide II......................12/16/14A+ Camps & Schools....................................................12/16/14CHILDREN’S CONNECTION.............................................12/24/14E-mail sales@connectionnewspapers.com for more information.Award-WinningReaching Suburban Washington’s Leading Households• Alexandria Gazette Packet• Arlington Connection• Burke Connection• Centre View• Chantilly ConnectionNewspapers & Online703-778-9431www.ConnectionNewspapers.com• Fairfax Connection• Fairfax Station/Clifton/Lorton Connection• Great Falls Connection• McLean Connection• Mount Vernon Gazette• Oak Hill/Herndon Connection• Potomac Almanac• Reston Connection• Springfield Connection• Vienna/Oakton ConnectionHigh Schools to Start Later Next YearSchool Board approveslater start times.By Reena SinghThe ConnectionPhyllis Payne has been fighting for moresleep for a decade. On Oct. 23, it all paidoff.The co-founder of Start Later for Excellencein Education Proposal - or SLEEP - saw theFairfax County Public School Board approve to movehigh school start times ahead by 30 minutes, 11-1.“This means the school system is getting a policyon what is best for the kids,” she said after the vote.“It’s been a labor of love.”She said she was proud of Superintendent KarenGarza and the board members for approving themotion. The change means that high school starttimes will be between 8 and 8:10 a.m. next schoolyear, about a 30 minute push forward. Middle Schoolstart times will be 7:30 and elementary start timeswill remain unchanged.The only board member to not vote yes on the proposalwas Sully District board member Kathy Smith.“I was really hoping when this process started thatI could be in a place where I could vote yes,” Smithsaid.She said many of her constituents did not wantschool start times to change, and she wanted to bethe one voice for them.“I have once been a lone no vote on the board,and it’s not easy,” said Hunter Mill District boardmember Pat Hynes. “I want to mention it, becausewe are models for our students always.”SEVERAL BOARD MEMBERS became emotionalas they talked about the reasons they supported it -whether they supported it along with Payne for thepast decade or decided more recently to approve theproposal.Mason District board member Sandra Evans, whois also a co-founder of SLEEP and made the motionfor the proposal, said some students are picked upas early as 5:45 a.m.“Sleep deprivation is a public health crisis,” shesaid.With more sleep, she said, students would be atless of a risk for depression, attendance loss, low testscore and car accidents.During the public comment period, mother of threeKaren Keys-Gamarra spoke about pulling her threeboys out of bed to wake them up every day of theirschool years.Photos by Beth TudanLater school start times advocates PhyllisPayne, former Executive Director of SLEEPTerry Tuley and Oakton Elementary sixthgrade student Thomas Tudan, who will beable to benefit from later high school starttimes in the future.“As I jostled my sons repeatedly during those predawnhours, pulling off their covers while rushingto prepare breakfast, I instinctively knew somethingwas wrong,” she said. “I knew that these brutallyearly start times could not be healthy.”Two of her sons have already graduated, but thethird one is a sophomore at Madison High Schooland will benefit from the later start times next year.“It’s not about taking away teens’ electronics, forbiddingcaffeinated drinks or forcing them to go tobed early,” she said. “It’s about hormones, body clocksand circadian rhythms. Trust me, my husband and Icould and would make our boys go to bed early. Butwe could not make them sleep.”The impact will be even bigger for disadvantagedand students with disabilities, according to ShereeBrown Kaplan with Fairfax Alliance for AppropriateSchool Education.“This has been a long time coming,” she said afterthe motion was approved. “This isn’t about savingmoney. It’s about the kids.”During her speech in the public comment portionof the meeting, she said disadvantaged students feelthe effects of sleep deprivation more than other studentsdo.“An insufficient sleep can exacerbate certain mentalillnesses like bipolar disorders and anxiety disorSee School Board, Page 134 ❖ Vienna/Oakton Connection ❖ October 29 - November 4, 2014 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
NewsFollin Lane Project QuestionedFrom Page 3right.Mashie Drive resident Steve Skjei saidVienna shouldn’t approve any Follin Lanechanges “until the right-turn lane is reducedto something reasonable or [someone] producesa valid reason for it being 600 feet.”He also related his own traffic survey, donethe previous three work days, Oct. 16-17and Oct. 20.On Oct. 16, he said, 47 percent of peopleturning right onto Maple from Follin did iton a red signal. The numbers the other twodays, said Skjei, were 60 percent and 54percent, respectively.“So why are we destroying trees tolengthen the right-turn lane?” he asked.“The existing [one] is very effective. At onetime, I saw four cars and a bus make thatright turn on red.”ALSO WORRIED about the constructionimpacts, he said, “There are huge volumes[of vehicles] turning left onto Maple, andit’ll greatly affect the people living to thewest.”McClorey said Johnson and Gallagherseem “dead set” on having this long turnlane that is, in effect, a “dedicated lane.”But Councilwoman Carey Sienicki told herthe project is also “for the town in total.Extending the traffic lane would give somerelief to people living in the area.” She saidthe engineering team “already changed thecorners to make it better for pedestrians andaddress your concerns. I think they do a tremendousjob.”Hine Street resident Frank Johnson saidhis problem with Follin is the crisscross andT-bone accidents there. “To me, the issue issafety – people racing down Follin or cuttingacross an intersection,” he said. “Thesight lines are horrendous.”DiRocco said removing some of the brushthere will improve that situation and “theintersection issue is going before the TransportationSafety Commission.”Nearby resident Doug Noble said he’drather have traffic on Follin than on theother area streets because “children areriding their bikes to school on them.” Furthermore,told the Council, “A traffic studyis usually prepared by a developer in theirbest interests. But we all have an interestin what’s going on Follin Lane, and youshould think about that as we move forwardon this project.”And the Council members took the residents’words seriously. “I’m concerned aboutthe different interpretations of this study,”said Vice-Mayor Edythe Kelleher. “I’d likesomeone from Wells to come to [Town] staffand address and clarify them for us.”ADMISSION OPEN HOUSEAllow us to introduce youto Madeira’s academic programsand school community at one ofour fall open house events.Meet teachers, take a campus tour,and experience the magic of Madeira.Sunday, October 5 • 1:00 pmSunday, November 9 • 1:00 pmor by appointment throughout the yearFor more information call703-556-8273or begin your journeyonline atwww.madeira.org.Now offering transportation from D.C.,Alexandria, and Tysons Metro.The Madeira School • 8328 Georgetown Pike • McLean, VA 22102www.ConnectionNewspapers.comVienna/Oakton Connection ❖ October 29 - November 4, 2014 ❖ 5
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