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"

Musing on 100 years

Round Hill School, 1940

Round Hill Center, Today

1911, Round Hill and Middleburg open. Now, 2011, they are turning 100. Middleburg is receiving a centennial celebration (Check it out). Round Hill has retired, now being used as a support building, so it's getting the shorter end of the stick with no celebration. To honor Round Hill, I would like to pose a question, how ever ridiculous or rhetorical it ends up to be.

After 1911, Round Hill recieved two additions, 1931, an auditorium, and 1963, a one story wing. In 1968, the 1911 original two story building was demolished for a new wing. Now, the oldest part of the school is the 1931 auditorium. Does this mean the school's still 100 years old?

There have been schools demolished (or burned down) and in the same space another school will spring up, but people say "The school's 1 year old," not "The school's 29 years old."

There seems to be a technicality. The Round Hill building was (probably) continuously opened. Schools that have burned down (I guess) are considered to be "closed," even though school might continue in a temporary location while they rebuild.

Another twist (I just found this out/put this together). In 1885, The Stove Pipe Academy opened in Middleburg in 1885. In 1911, on the same property, the four-room brick Middleburg School (at the time, it served all grades) was built. In 1927, the Stove Pipe Academy building was demolished for Middleburg's Auditorium expansion. The Academy and Middleburg were not touching, but they were very close. It is possible Middleburg used the Academy building when Middleburg was overcrowded (I don't have a confirmation on this). Yet Middleburg's first year is said to be as 1911. How does this fit in?

Just a musing.

Sources:
Blueprints
"Middleburg Elementary School Centenary Milestones"
CIPs
Round Hill School Yearbook 1940