Interesting Odds and Ends

"Horace Mann" greets me every morning to work!

 
 Over the past two summers, I've managed to find a lot of notable gems throughout old files, boxes, and right in front of me. Here are some of my favorites:

• "Horace Mann," painted by Elaine Nunnally in 2005 for the Horsing Around Loudoun public art project, is probably the most public of the odds-and-ends here. It featured all the schools in the county at the time (68 schools in 2005. Seven years later, there are now 82!). Schools were grouped by their 2005 school clusters. There's a couple of dirt patches on the top saying "Under Construction." I believe the space is only an allusion to the fact of LCPS's continuing fast growth, not a space to update the horse in the future. Horsing Around Loudoun was a similar project to the Cow Parade.

• The Office of Support Services gets copies of facility use forms for their files. It was quite exciting to see the "Obama for America" LCHS rally one.

• In construction files, there were some blueprints for an Islamic Saudi Academy campus. It was dated late 90's. This was not being planned by LCPS but a group that had two campuses in Fairfax County. A quick google search led me to this article from 2004. Apparently, the Academy decided not to use the land, and it was sold to the county with schools in mind. According to this Washington Post article preview, the site would have been in Ashburn on Farmwell Road. Currently, there are only warehouses near/on the property. Broad Run HS is unrelatedly close by the site.

• I've collected many hats working here:
  
  
  

  
  

     The hat on the left is a regular hat. The hat on the right is almost a regular hat, except it also has a built-in flashlight under the bill of the hat! The center hat is a marching band hat from Park View HS. They recently got new uniforms, so the old ones were auctioned away. I was the only person there who knew what the different uniform pieces were (I have four years of high school marching band under my belt), so I really helped them out. We found 119 hats and plumes the first time, but after the auction, they found an extra hat, and you can't really sell one hat by itself, so it was given to me.

• While going through possible auction items, a CD Player had a CD in it. Testing the CD Player out with it, I realized this CD had all the songs that were played during my Elementary School P.E. class. What a blast to the past!

• This mug:
  

• There was a report on Round Hill Elementary School (Now the Round Hill Center/Support Facility) and the reasons why they decided to get tear down the original 1911 wing of the building. I don't remember exactly what it said, but it made sense and I appreciated the justification.

• High School Prototype Poster:
  

  

  In my cubicle from last year

  
  This was hanging in the old Douglass Support Facility. Between when the Fire and Rescue Squad practiced on the building (breaking holes through walls and ceilings) and the start of demolition, I saved this. Good thing too, because the next day it rained. The paper was very frail, so I had it laminated. It has proudly hung in my cubicle for two summers now. As you can see, it's a very wide poster. It doesn't match any school in particular, but I've been told it was printed before Stone Bridge HS.

• And, probably my favorite find, Stage Curtain Samples for the 1939 Arcola School.
  
  

  

  Regrettably the only picture I have is of the folder it was in.
  I was too in awe to remember to take any pictures of the samples.

   These were small curtain sample squares sent to Superintendent O.L. Emerick to pick out the curtain color. Now that duty would fall to the construction department; it just shows you how small the school system was. There were many different colors to choose from and at least three companies sent samples. I don't know which curtain sample was chosen. I didn't find this in any other school file, so for it to last as long as it had was quite impressive.

   As a final of final favorites, I have been lucky to have the opportunity to work with many wonderful gems of coworkers these last two years. They all work hard and do their jobs pretty well (as far as I know). But it wasn't all stiff and serious, I have many fine memories of small pranks and jokes. As much as some of them might not believe it, I enjoy all the unique personalities and will miss them.

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   This is my last week on the job. I do have a couple more posts I will be working on, so they will come out for the next few weeks (hopefully). This week will be more me-personal history stuff.

A Year Ago Today... Douglass Demo

   Today marks the anniversary of the start of demolition on Douglass Support Facility, the former 1958 elementary school. It took less than three weeks demolishing the walls, sorting metals, and ripping out the foundations of the old building. Thanks to LCPS's commitment to the environment, about 90% of the school was able to be recycled.

Now, a year later, the new Frederick Douglass Elementary is on its way toward its August opening date. It's amazing how drastically this property has changed so quickly. It used to be full of thick vegetation, almost hiding the small school building from the road. Now, it's all been cleared away, and the new building is very visible. Most of the the old school's footprint is now under the new school. A year ago, a little creek ran through the property. Now, the creek funnels through an underground tunnel until it reaches the end of the property. Hills have been bulldozed and stone walls have been built for extra space on the property. Space is tight, so every square foot is being used to its highest potential.


Last night, I made a quick stop outside the school to get some photos. It's almost ready!

A peek inside the front doors

Looking from the entrance. Past the parking lot is the sports field

I hope this new school will be worthy of its predecessor's name. It's been an exciting project to watch.

Frederick Douglass Elementary School Update

As promised, I came home for Thanksgiving and did a walk-around of the Douglass ES property. Here's what it looks like now:

WOAH! There's a whole new building!

Half picture of school, half ad for Porta Potties!

This is where the sports field will go

The view from Plaza Street

Above, they are moving the stream underground. This was the stream from this summer:

Now back to the present:

I even found a little bit of the old Douglass!

LCPS Construction Dept. has a powerpoint online to view the monthly progress of all of their current build projects. Here is the one for FDES.


Other Douglass ES articles from this site:
Frederick Douglass Elementary School
Douglass Demo Mid-July Update

The History of Administrative Spaces

They are not schools, but they are just as necessary. Administrative Offices are key to keep everything in the school system running smoothly.

So, here's my admin timeline. Tell me if I forgot anything.

I'm going to start at Superintendent Emerick’s original office (1917): his home (corner of Orchard and Main St) in Purcellville. (Before this, admin was probably somewhere else. I don't know of anything before 1917 at this time.)

(Picture from Emerick Elementary School site)

1918: the offices move to a space above N.G. Miller’s Purcellville Pharmacy

1935: offices move into an office behind the Loudoun County Courthouse (2^nd floor in former Leesburg Academy building). It is basically two rooms and a walk-in closet.

Former Leesburg Academy Building

1962: The Union Street Admin Facility opens. It is the first facility built to be used as a school admin space. It is called the School Board Office/Main Office Admin Building. (Presently, it is the Child Find and Parent Resource Center)

Union Street is the brick building on the right.
(I'll talk about the building on the left later.)

1969 – 1971: Between holding Broad Run HS overflow/middle school students, Douglass HS is used for administrative offices. It is called the "School Board Annex." [This was a large jump in office square footage, while also continuing to own and use the one-story Union Street building. It is very possible other buildings were used/rented prior to Douglass' admin use, but I have not found any records]

Douglass School / Community Center

1971: Leesburg ES closes and becomes admin space. Its official name now is the School Board Annex Building, but eventually, it is called "North Street" after the road it is on.

North Street (picture from spring 2011)

1982: Douglass ES closes and is used as a support facility/admin space.

Douglass Support Facility

1988: A new central Admin Building is proposed by School Board to the Board of Supervisors. Construction funds for the building are excluded from following CIPs due to fiscal constraints, and the building is not built. 

1992: There is a structural analysis of the Union Street admin facility for feasibility of a second floor.

Another view of the Union St. Admin Building. It's tiny!

1998: 51 Plaza Street appears in the school directory. They are trailers on the Douglass Support Facility property. Along with this, Douglass Support's address changes from 3 Sycolyn Road to 55 Plaza Street.

51 Plaza Street trailer facility

1999: Round Hill School closes, and is reused as a support facility. The Staff Training Center (former Ashburn ES and BRHS Annex) appears in the school directory under admin facilities.

Round Hill Center

Staff Training Center
(We've gone over this)

2005: the Admin Building on Education Court in Ashburn opens. Everyone rejoices! Administration is now in one centralized location and space is plentiful. Its official name is the "Loudoun County Public Schools Administrative Building." (Homework to everyone: help give it a good nickname). North Street is vacated.

LCPS Administration Building

2006: 51 Plaza is vacated, and the trailers are sent down the road to be used by the Douglass School (the number "51" can still be found on the trailers).

2010-2011: North Street converts into a Senior Center (it opens this fall! Check it out!)

2011: Douglass Support is closed and demolished for a new F. Douglass ES.

Douglass Support Facility in the middle of demolition

(There are also spaces that aren't necessarily admin spaces, but they are support facilities. The Warehouse (1989), The Valley Service Center (2002), the Maintenance Facility (2002), and the Bus/Transportation Facility (1991) are all current support buildings. The Annex building at Loudoun County HS (1954) used to be a bus warehouse, but has since been given over to be used by the school.)

Despite many a move, LCPS administration has been supporting Loudoun schools for many a year. Thank you for all that you do.

 Sources:

Leesburg Magazine

CIPs

Construction Dept files

School Directories

"A Brief History of Loudoun Schools"

Douglass Demo Update

There it is. Or, I should say, there it isn't. Douglass Elementary is no more. The foundations and the garage are still in the back, but it is officially gone. Now the race can start for the new Douglass, opening in one year. Site work has already started in the property surrounding the old school. Get ready for an exciting year!

Frederick Douglass Elementary School

   In Loudoun County, it's more likely to see a school go up than go down. For the last few weeks, construction crews have been demolishing the Douglass Support Facility, formally known as Douglass Elementary School. It was a small school. Basically, the layout was one long bending hallway with a Multi-purpose room jutting out.

   Douglass Elementary opened in 1958 as a segregated black school, four years after Brown vs. Board of Education. The previous Leesburg black elementary school was built in the 1880's and wasn't in the best condition nor up to then-contemporary standards (It's still on Union Street, but I'll get back to that in another post soon). Douglass desegregated the 1968-1969 school year, along with the rest of the county schools, and operated until 1982. Since then, it's been a support facility used by LCPS.

   Loudoun County's school population continues to grow, averaging about 2,800 more students each year. One of the growing areas, Leesburg, needed a new elementary school. With most support offices now located in other buildings, Douglass's prime location made it a viable option to build a new school on the property. Another factor is the property is already owned by LCPS, so they could save money not buying land parcels.

  As LCPS tradition, the new school will be named after its predecessor as Frederick Douglass Elementary School. It will be the second 2-story prototype elementary school in the county. It opens Fall 2012. Get ready for a new school in one year!


   The previous picture was taken on June 30th, on Day 2 of demolition. Below, the next three were taken on July 6, Day 5 (They don't work weekends/holidays). It would usually take a shorter time to demo a building of that size, but they're sorting out the different materials in order to make the demolition process as green as possible.

Here's two from a visit today, almost gone

And here's some pictures I took last summer of the building.

   On February 8th, the Loudoun County Government website sent out on LCPS's behalf a news release "calling upon Loudoun’s citizens for any historical documents, pictures, or memorabilia that could be used to preserve the legacy of the Frederick Douglass Elementary School. "  Now, the deadline has passed, but the school system is still accepting items!! Please send stuff in if you have anything (I have).

Sources:

Desegregation in Loudoun County Public Schools, 1954-1970

LCPS CIPs

New Elementary School is Set to Be Built on Historic Site

(Here is an extra. I'm not going to post any interior demo shots, but that person has posted one. If you're curious, enjoy!)