Every five years, the FCPS school board creates a new strategic plan that defines “the role of all FCPS staff members in living the commitment to our staff, students, and community.” The purpose of the 2015-20 plan is to “ignite the hearts and minds of the community to ensure that every student receives the best possible education, preparing them for their best possible futures.” This strategic plan is aptly titled “Ignite.”

2015-2020’s strategic plan is divided into four main goals that are supported by reasoning and statistics, and are outlined and titled in the executive summary of the plan: Student Success, Caring Culture, Premier Workforce and Resource Stewardship, all of which deeply coincide with the goals of the new One Fairfax policies.

These four goals are all focused on improving the quality of education received in FCPS and making Fairfax County a better place to live. The goals, Student Success, Caring Culture, Premier Workforce, and Resource Stewardship, cover four major topics of concern: programs for disadvantaged students; mental health; retaining high quality teachers; changes in budget – respectively.

The strategic plan also includes other goals that are not included in the executive summary, but are equally as important. There are two other major parts to the plan, which are Closing the Achievement Gap and Reporting and Monitoring. The first goal was created to level the gap in scores between students of different races by providing more opportunities and resources for minorities within FCPS. The ladder goal was created to provide updates to the school board on the progress and results of the implementation of the strategic plan.