Virginia Lt. Governor Tim Kaine is making good on his promise to visit all 134 of the state’s school divisions and he stopped by George Mason High School Tuesday to discuss educational issues in Falls Church. Mr. Kaine met with superintendent of schools Mary Ellen Shaw, Mason principal Bob Snee, school board chair Ruth Brock, and City Council member Lindy Hockenberry. 

Their discussions ranged from the crowding in the school system and the plans to build a new middle school, to the IB program and Mason’s status as the number two most challenging school in the nation according to the Challenge Index. They also discussed the system’s SOL scores, the ESL program and students on IEPs.
 

Virginia Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine and teacher Sra. Fernandez share a laugh during Mr. Kaine’s visit to her Spanish 3 class. The Lt. Gov. stopped by George Mason Tuesday on his way to visit all 100 of Virginia’s public school systems. (Photo by Michael Miller)	Science teacher David Applegate discusses the lab his IB Physics students were engaged in with Virginia Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine. (Photo by Michael Miller)

Following his discussions with school and city officials, Mr. Kaine toured the school and visited classrooms. A fluent Spanish speaker, he heard students in Sra. Fernandez’s Spanish 3 class and he caught the end of an IB Physics lab in Mr. David Applegate’s class. (compiled from reports by Michael Miller)