In 1966, three schools opened up, all with different designs. One was Guilford, which from the air was a square with a courtyard in the middle
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| Guilford ES. The gym at the top was added in 2000. Map imagery from Google Earth. |
The other two are arguably the most unique-looking schools in Loudoun County. They were Catoctin and Hillsboro. These schools were built with the round school design concept.
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| Hillsboro ES. Map imagery from Google Earth. |
On August 13th, 1964, the Loudoun Times Mirror reported that both schools were "tentatively approved" by the School board and would be decided upon on the 18th.
"Both schools, of the new round-wing idea in educational construction, were designed by the architectural firm of MacIlroy and Parris of Richmond; both partners, Kenneth G. MacIlroy and Fred P. Parris discussed the slightly controversial and provocative plans with the Board. ...The architects termed the two schools as the "most economic buildings possible for the educational space required." " - Loudoun Times Mirror
And the schools were approved. There was a significant population growth in the 60's and 70's, thanks to Dulles Airport and planned neighborhoods coming to Loudoun. It was a period where a lot of schools needed to be built. I feel like this really gave the school system an ability to experiment, to try some new ideas.
Out of the three designs tested out in 1966, only one went on to be used again. Guilford's design was reused by Sully in 1968.
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| Sully ES |
Perhaps round schools weren't really Loudoun's thing. Maybe its novelty had already worn off by then. Maybe the economical gains were minimal. Maybe Sully needed a larger capacity than the round school designs used could provide. In any case, round schools were now a thing of the past. The round school design was not completely useless, as both schools are still a part of LCPS today.
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Now, for a little about the schools themselves.
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| Hillsboro ES |
Hillsboro is one circle. That's literally the whole school. It is the second smallest school in the county (Middleburg is #1). It is also the oldest operating school in the county that has never been expanded to. Many circular designed schools have never been expanded to because it is very challenging. Where do you go from a circle? A classroom "cottage" (fancy word for a permanent trailer) has been added a few steps away from the school to add more capacity.
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| Hillsboro ES |
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| Hillsboro ES |
Hillsboro is not a perfect circle. To accommodate more administrative space, 3/10's of the school juts out, but it still curves, like a piece of pie was pulled out and then the crack was filled in. There is one hallway from the entrance that leads to the core, a circular multi-purpose room with a stage. The six classrooms' doors are off of the core (originally 7, but that classroom is now a computer lab/specialty teacher offices). And the core has "a skylight covered by an electrically-controlled shade" (LTM).
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| Catoctin ES. Map imagery from Google Earth. |
Catoctin was originally what I've written in my notes as "Two Hillsboros plus an office and multipurpose room." These circles, unlike Hillsboro's, are perfect circles. They are connected to the front office section by enclosed breezeways. Each circle has ten classrooms.
Like Hillsboro, the center of the the circles in Catoctin have a skylight.
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| And a smaller stage area. |
Catoctin had a "future expansion" area for a third circle to be attached to the office section. When it came time for expanding the school, the future expansion replaced curves with corners.
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| Backside view of the '83 (center) and '99 (far right) additions |
It looks like at one time, there used to be a window (like at Hillsboro) where all the yellow-walled pieces are. It is very common for older schools to cover/get rid of excess windows. Windows don't keep the heat in as well.
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| Catoctin ES |
Loudoun County HS also has covered some parts of its windows
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| Loudoun County High School, Lord Loudoun 1962 (The windows also don't open up like that anymore) |
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| Loudoun County High School (2012) |
Back to Catoctin, here's a picture of the office section of the original 1966 school, which holds the Library, office, and the multipurpose room.
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| Office section of Catoctin ES |
Interestingly, there is not a lot of information online about round schools that I could find.
Here is an article and newstory I managed to find if you're interested:
Salem seeks a new angle for round elementary school (Original link provided whole article but has since died. Updated link provides a sampling. Apologies)
[Map imagery updated in 2020 due to deleting an email that held the data for all my old posts' photos.]
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