Monday, February 16, 2026
Repost: Dr. Hatrick's Salvation South Interview
Hi, hello there! I haven't posted here in a while, and am currently working on some things/thinking about working on some things. In the meantime, I would like to share a recent interview former LCPS Superintendent Dr. Ed Hatrick did with Salvation South. Enjoy!
Monday, February 3, 2025
Recent Reads: "The Battle for Loudoun County: Inside the Culture War Between a "Woke" School Board and the Radical Right in America's Wealthiest Suburb"
This blog mostly focuses on the history of the school buildings, rather than the bureaucracy, attendance zone fights, and other antics that goes on daily in Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS). This is probably for the best. However, it's not every day a book comes out to discuss an insider perspective on the school system's operation. Enter Wayde B. Byard in The Battle for Loudoun County: Inside the Culture War Between a "Woke" School Board and the Radical Right in America's Wealthiest Suburb.
Byard served as LCPS' Public Information Officer for over 20 years. During his tenure, he became a mini-celebrity known for his deadpan recorded messages sent out when school was cancelled/delayed due to snow. The book covers his last few years in that role, 2021-2023. After progressive policies pushes the school system into the politicized national spotlight, two sexual assaults at different schools with the same perpetrator launches a right-wing special grand jury investigation. Their findings lead to Byard indicted for an alleged cover-up, placing him on leave without pay. In his memoir, Byard takes you moment-by-moment, from school board meetings at the Administration Building to the defense table at his trial.
Byard serves as an opinionated narrator, giving the facts of what happened, but also all the tidbits and his opinions about everyone involved. There are some hot takes, and sometimes I wish he shared a little less. But can I blame him? He is a man who (spoiler alert) is acquitted, has retired, and has nothing professionally to lose anymore. But between his over-honesty and a situation that goes from bad to worse, it's an intoxicating read.
While mainly a story covering terrible circumstances, it's also a story of how Byard rallies his spirits in his hardest moments, like spending time with his young grandson, and cherishing the friends and family that stuck with him through it. After the last few years we have all collectively had, I definitely related to him finding those little things that made him happy/at peace when surrounded by so much uncertainty and worry.
Do I believe his side of the story? Yes. He presents his case very factually and logically. He has his opinions, yes, but he also goes over a lot of concrete material and sources, and it's clear what is fact and what is opinion. And in the end, he was proven not guilty by a jury! I may have some confirmation bias, but his innocence in this matter felt well-supported and secure.
The Battle for Loudoun County is an entertaining read, a fable for how today's political climate can upend anyone's life. It's unfortunately an ever-increasing common occurrence. Check it out! It can be found in bookstores and online.
Monday, October 21, 2024
Recent Reads: "Dirt Don't Burn: A Black Community's Struggle for Educational Equality Under Segregation"
I read a new-to-me book, Dirt Don't Burn: A Black Community's Struggle for Educational Equality Under Segregation, by Barry Harrelson and Larry Roeder. It came out last year, and it's all about education in Loudoun County, so it is the perfect thing to talk about here!
Dirt Don't Burn chronicles Black education in Loudoun County from the Civil War to the late 1960's, when the school system was forced to desegregate. It doesn't just cover education itself, but also the many facets that need to be met in order to have a thriving learning environment: health/sanitation, heating, nutrition, transportation, administration, funding, and teacher education. It also sheds light on the many sung and unsung heroes who championed the fight for better Black education, as well as the work, petitions, letters, and organizing those individuals accomplished.
This book was created by the Edwin Washington Project, a non-profit dedicated to documenting the impact of segregated education in Loudoun. They've done some fantastic work uncovering and preserving stories, data, and history that really hasn't been public knowledge. And this book demonstrates that. The Edwin Washington Project is a subsidiary of the Edwin Washington Society, which was created to foster non-partisan conversations about the value of diversity in modern society, usually with a history/preservation focus.
Back to the book. The book's emphasis is on Black education, but in order to truly explain the dichotomy between the separate education systems in Loudoun, white education also has to be defined, so it really is an overview of both. There is lots to glean from its pages, especially in the early years of public education in the county. This is a thorough book of information that explains the intricacies of Loudoun's early public education system and how it grew. I understand their scope was just covering segregation, but I wish their coverage of events continued beyond that point. While de jure segregation was put to an end, there are still areas of de facto segregation.
The Edwin Washington Society has said they have more books planned, so I look forward to seeing what they publish next. In the meantime, add Dirt Don't Burn to your reading list!
Dirt Don't Burn can be bought online in multiple places. It also is available at select bookstores around Loudoun County. I happened to find one at the Very Virginia Shop in Downtown Leesburg, and it turned out to be an autographed copy! Just goes to show, it never hurts to shop local!
Monday, August 19, 2024
Arcola School - 2024 Update
Where we last left the 1939 Arcola School in 2022, Loudoun's Board of Supervisors had voted to transfer the building and site over to Capretti Land Inc. contingent on a couple factors. Since then, the Board of Supervisors reviewed Capretti's rezoning application for the land in October 2023 and voted to approve it! Huzzah! As of now, the building is still owned by the County, so there are probably some other processes everyone is working through, but this is a great step towards the building's adaptive reuse.
Out of the board room, the school's condition is ... perhaps slightly better? Things I've noted here in previous posts have been addressed around the property. We love signs of continued maintenance! Let's take a look around...
Most of the spots where there were paint flaking have been repainted white, including the trim and front doors. It makes the façade look really sharp and less abandoned!
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| Grass is mown, and other plants have been cut down around the building |
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| Above the main entrance |
Places where I had seen wood rot have been addressed. I'm not sure if the wood was replaced or covered over. Is this a band-aid fix until major renovation can occur? Either way, it looks so much better than it did two years ago.
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| Short end of the building |
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| Old school bell |
The backside of the building continues to be main target for vandalism and possible break-ins.
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| Recent window vandalism |
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| Stairs to the basement |
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| Deteriorating wood under an overhang into the auditorium |
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| The shed I looked at two years ago is now gone |
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| Light bulb |
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| Some names scrawled into the concrete |
The grounds' amenities continue to be limited, but in most cases, that's probably for the best while the site prepares for its future.
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| Baseball field with a grassy diamond |
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| The playground's play structures have all been removed now. |
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| All the basketball hoops are gone |
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| The tennis courts are cracked and weedy |
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| The field pavilion is in pretty good shape |
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| The field |
Well! After my last couple check-ins at the Sterling Annex building, it's nice to see maintenance and upkeep happening in a positive direction. Arcola's future looks bright, and hopefully its hardest struggle is behind it.
SOURCES:
Email Correspondence with Capretti Land, Inc - June 2024
Thursday, July 11, 2024
After Sterling Annex - 2024
In 2023, I thought I would only have one more Sterling Annex entry to write after its demolition, a nice little epilogue on the pocket park to memorialize the school. That prediction ended up being incorrect. I was in the area recently and decided to swing by, thinking maybe there would have been changes by now. But no, things look fairly similar to how I left them.
Since the Sterling School building's demolition, there really hasn't been any other activity on the site. It continues to be used primarily for extra car parking for the Lindsay Automotive fleet. I reached out to my contact with Lindsay, who told me there's been a few delays with the county in the process of building their detail facility and adjoining pocket park on the site. They're hoping to start construction by the end of the year.
So in this interim period between destruction and creation, I'm going to look around, see what looks interesting architecturally.
What remains on the site? Pretty much everything except the school building. As evidenced in the first photo, the front path that led up to the main entrance is still in place. It now leads to dirt and spindly grass. There are three piles of brick, most likely saved to be reused in the pocket park.
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| School's out forever |
There's some fun finds in the brick piles. One that warmed my heart was seeing a surviving section of a brick arch that used be above one of the side doors. No idea if it was over my favorite or its duplicate on the opposite side of the building.
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| Part of one of the brick arches!! |
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| Also found in a pile was a rusty school bell |
This light pole that used to be in the middle of the parking lot is still there.
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| 2024 light pole |
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| 2023 pre-demo photo with the same light pole (left) |
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| Baseball backstop and parked cars |
Near the site's corner, the brush has been cut back so utility lines can be identified. This has also uncovered some of the wooden rail fence.
Finally, by the former playground, the forest continues to grow. The fence that surrounds that little area is still in place, but slowly disappearing behind the foliage.
So, that's what you can find at Sterling this year. Not what I expected, but still interesting. I'll see you back here one last time (knock on brick?) next year.
Saturday, March 16, 2024
LCHS 70th Celebration Events!
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| Logo courtesy of LCHS |
If you have read many/any of the posts here, you can probably guess I have a huge love for my alma mater Loudoun County High School. Well, this year is the 70th anniversary of school's opening, and the school administration is throwing a year-long party!!
Here is the full lineup of events:
February 3rd - 70th Anniversary Winter Fest [open to students only]
Week of April 8th - Decades Spirit Week [open to staff and students only]
April 12th, 6pm - Concert on the Lawn: This is the main kick-off event of the 70th Anniversary Celebration, taking place on the picturesque front lawn. The concert will include the staff band Staff Infection, current student Sela Campbell, and LCHS 2013 alumna Emma Rowley. Food trucks will also be on-site.
April 13th, 12pm - Afternoon Tea and Tours: Like the late Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee for her 70th year on the thrown, this is the 70th year of LCHS's reign as the crown jewel of LCPS. In that grand tradition, the school is hosting a Jubilee tea, accompanied by historical tours open to alumni and former staff. Archival photographs, artifacts, and stories from the past 70 years will be on display.
April 19th - Prom [open to students only]
May 4th - LCHS Marching Band performs in the Apple Blossom Festival's Grand Feature Parade: The annual festival and parade is located in Winchester, Virginia. Come to support the marching band, stay for all the additional festival fun (and apple blossoms)!
June 18th - 70th Graduation Ceremony (the hands-down best high school graduation venue in Loudoun County) (unless it rains *knock on wood*)
Week of September 16th - Homecoming Spirit Week [open to staff and students only]
September 19th, 6:30pm - Homecoming Parade and Food Trucks: Bringing back a classic tradition, the Homecoming Parade! The parade route will be from the Safeway (437 S King Street) to the LCHS bus loop
September 19th-20th - Additional School Tours!
September 20th - Homecoming Football Game and Tailgate [Tailgate only open to students and staff; football game open to all] Go Captains!
September 21st - Homecoming Dance [open to students only]
There are other ways to get involved. The school's literary magazine The Crow's Nest typically only allows submissions from current students/staff. This year for the 70th, they are also accepting submissions from future and former students/staff!! This is a really exciting opportunity to share art from multiple generations! Learn how you can submit HERE. Last day to submit is March 18th!
Then, there is sponsorship! If you are able to give back to your alma mater, consider doing so! This will honor your time and memories, as well as positively impact future generations of learners! Funds raised will go towards school improvement projects, including (but not limited to) new professional hallway murals, and an update to popular seating areas on the school grounds. For more detailed information on sponsorship, please check out LCHS's 70th Anniversary Sponsorship Page.
Can't wait to see you all at County this year, it'll be a blast!
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