Georgetown Law Professor Alicia Plerhoples, of McLean, announced her candidacy for the Fairfax County School Board, Dranesville District currently held by retiring School Board Member Janie Strauss. Plerhoples has been a vocal community advocate, serving as the PTA president of her local elementary school, on the McLean Community Center Governing Board, on the FCPS School Board’s Human Resources Advisory Committee, and on the Board of the Franklin Area Citizens Association.
“I am proud to announce my candidacy for the Fairfax County School Board (Dranesville District) and I would like to thank Ms. Strauss for her 25 years of service to Fairfax County Public Schools,” said Plerhoples. “My lifelong commitment to public education began during the many afternoons I spent reading to preschoolers at my local Head Start and helping my mother, a special education teacher, in her elementary school classroom after my school day had ended. In her classroom and as a Head Start volunteer, I learned that every child should be supported to meet his or her full potential, whether in special education, general education, career and technical education, or advanced academics and honors classes. Now, as a professor, I see the products of K-12 education. I know what successful, lifelong learners look like. They are adults who can solve problems, learn independently, and bring essential knowledge and skills to whatever path they choose. We must continue to provide individualized interventions by name and by need, as well as specialized enrichment, but also strengthen our commitment to our general education students who are too often the forgotten middle. As the daughter of a public school teacher, I also know the financial sacrifice that many teachers’ families make to teach our children. I am committed to hiring, training, and retaining high quality teachers. I seek to bring my perspective—as a professor and mother of two Fairfax County public school students—to the School Board.”
Along with her candidacy, Plerhoples announced the endorsement of elected officials across the Dranesville district, including: FCPS School Board Member Janie Strauss, Dranesville Supervisor John Foust, State Senator Barbara Favola, Delegates Kathleen Murphy, Rip Sullivan and Marcus Simon.
Alicia Plerhoples is Professor of Law at Georgetown Law where she writes and teachers about nonprofit law and corporate governance. She has served on the law school’s faculty hiring committee and as the Chair of the law school’s Diversity Committee, which is tasked with enhancing the law school’s inclusion climate and enhancing cultural competency inside and outside the classroom. Plerhoples is a graduate of Yale Law School, Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and Harvard College. As a Harvard alum, Plerhoples serves on the Harvard Schools Committee and interviews area high school students who apply to Harvard. Plerhoples also serves on the McLean Community Center Governing Board, which provides oversight to the Community Center staff and presents its annual budget to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for review and approval. Plerhoples lives in McLean with her husband, a surgeon who practices in northern Virginia, and their two daughters.
Friends of Alicia Plerhoples, PO Box 158, McLean VA 22101 www.aliciaforschoolboard.com; aplerhoples@gmail.com