Leesburg High School / North Street

   This story starts with the Leesburg Academy. The Leesburg Academy was an all-boy's private school that started in 1779. When they gave their Academy building to the Loudoun County (still standing, now part of the Court building complex), they built a new 3 story school building in 1873. Due to public education (started in Virginia in 1870) being offered, the Academy did not do very well, so in 1879, they allowed their building to be used for public schools. (It was finally deeded to LCPS in 1914).

   In 1893, the academy building burned down. The exterior walls were left standing, so it was rebuilt, but its height was reduced to two stories. The school soon became overcrowded, so it later expanded. In 1909, along with the Waterford and Lincoln schools, Leesburg became a four-year state accredited high school, the first three in Loudoun County.

   The school building became even more crowded, having to house its ninth teacher in another building. A campaign was created to push for a new school. In 1923, the old school building was demolished to build a brand new, two-story building (not including the basement). Unfortunately, two years later, the school was destroyed by a fire on February 2, 1925. It was believed to have started from the furnace area. School continued in temporary locations until the present building opened January 25, 1926. It was built with only one story (not including the basement level) to make it "practically fireproof." As a testament to that, it has not burned down since.
 

Historic main entrance to the building

   Leesburg's high school was finally living a much more peaceful life. As with all of Loudoun's regional high schools, it served children of all grades. In 1941, it received its first expansion. The wing behind the Auditorium was added, changing the school's shape from a lower case "h" to a capital "H".

  Leesburg lost its high school status with the opening of Loudoun County High School in 1954. It then became a elementary school, serving grades Kindergarten through 7th grade. A 1962 expansion built a new kitchen, but otherwise, Leesburg had a relatively uneventful 17 years.
 

   In 1971, the building ceased being used as a school altogether. It became the School Board Annex Building. Starting in the 90's it received the nickname "North Street," after the road in which the building was located on. The original front doors (only accessible by stairs) were sealed shut, and became a decorative feature. The superintendent's office was located in the room where the 1962 kitchen was previously.

Plaque honoring the building's school history

   As the school system grew, North Street did not. The building became very cramped for its tenants. School Administration was also scattered among three other main facilities: Douglass Support Facility, Union Street Admin Facility, and the Round Hill Center.

   In 2005, the Admin Building on Education Court in Ashburn opened up. Administration vacated the building for their new, roomier premises. That same year, voters approved a bond to convert Leesburg into a Senior Center.

Far side of the building.
Auditorium is in the taller section on the right.

This brings us up to the present. The building's interior was gutted mostly throughout 2010, and now the Center is getting ready for to open up this fall. (I always get a chuckle, thinking the same people who graduated there as seniors are now coming back to use it as seniors again!)

Auditorium (July 30, 2010)

   I've watched what they have been doing for the past year, and they have been doing a great job, both overall and history-wise. While they're getting rid of the old stage for more room, they are incorporating the proscenium arch. They also got rid of the windows that were there and are now going with windows that look like the original windows!

Before (July 22, 2010)

After (June 17, 2011)

   They are doing a wonderful job. I could not be happier with what they are doing. They are rejuvenating the building while keeping its history. It is the renovation any old school should get. It really means something to history-lovers and the people who went there. My college (Christopher Newport University) has demolished so much of its 1960's buildings for new ones that most people consider the school to be a newly-formed one. I truly wonder how the college's alumni feels.

   When Leesburg Senior Center opens this fall, please swing by North Street and visit. It's going to be wonderful...

   For more information on the building's recent transformation, check out the Talk Loudoun: School Spirit article on the renovation.

Update: In 2012, I was able to look around the newly opened Senior Center of Leesburg -- check it out for the continuation of this story!


Sources:

LHS 1927 yearbook
LES 1965 yearbook
Talk Loudoun: School Spirit
CIPs
Blueprints
"New School Building Destroyed By Fire" The Blue Ridge Herald, February 5, 1925
"School Advisory Committee Meetings" Loudoun Times-Mirror, February 19, 1925
Town of Leesburg: Antebellum Leesburg
"100 Years of Loudoun" Washington Post, December 26, 1999

Monday Memories - Leesburg High School 1950

 This week, we're tackling "The Ketoctin," Leesburg High School's 1950 yearbook. Leesburg High School is also known as Leesburg Elementary School and the North Street Admin Building.

On the front steps. The steps are still there, now just for historical reasons.

Tomorrow I will give you a full run-down on this facility.

Friday Trip of Adventure: Tuscarora HS and Balch Library

   I take Friday's off at work (I love three day weekends). I had read an article about the completion of an outdoor classroom at Tuscarora, so I decided to check it out.

   From far away, it seemed pretty small. When I finally got to it, it was bigger, but I still felt it was small. I don't think I knew what to expect.

   Other than the teacher's rock, there were 15 rocks. If two students were on each rock, there would be enough for a 30 student-sized classroom. There were some rocks where you could negotiate getting two people on them, then there was one or two where it was only good for one person. But then I thought there is space on the patio section, so it should work out.

   Standing out in the hot summer sun, it seems like an uncomfortable place to be. But it should be alright in the spring and fall. It is supposed to fit with the environment, and I think they accomplished that. It sits very nicely in the hill it was placed in.

   Overall, it was a nice place. I never had an outdoor class when I was in high school (The Latin class at County had an outdoor classroom/garden; I took French). This isn't the first outdoor classroom created in Loudoun (I can't think of any off the top of my head), so I guess they are effective means for teaching.

-------------------------------------------------------

   After Tuscarora, I went back into Leesburg to the Balch Library to look through microfilm (which is really fun). I was going through the Loudoun Times-Mirror in 1957, looking to see if anything was written on the closing of the last one-room schoolhouse. I didn't find what I was looking for, but I did find articles on the Loudoun County HS Murals I posted on two weeks ago! And here they are:

So the stars are supposed to be there...

(You're not supposed to take pictures,
but they ran out of toner for the printer)

   It wasn't much, but as soon as I saw that first image, I knew I hit something good. I love unintentionally finding stuff like this.

   Have a great weekend! See you on Monday!

Here are links to the other LCHS Murals articles:

LCHS Murals

LCHS Murals: Update 2

Cookie Cutters

   The debate on "cookie cutter" schools has gone on, but I'd like to take a look at the talk from maybe another angle. If you look historically, we have been making duplicate schools for a long time.

For example:

Lincoln (1926) and Lovettsville (1927)

Lincoln Elementary School

From "Beacon," Lovettsville HS's 1954 yearbook

Ashburn (1945) (aka the Staff Training Center) and Banneker (1947)

Banneker Elementary

Staff Training School
(Formerly Ashburn Elementary School)

And then there is the Carver School (1945/1946), which used a school blueprint from Clarke County, Boyce Elementary School (which is still in operation)
 

Boyce Elementary School.
Image courtesy of the Clarke County Historical Association.

Carver Center
(Formerly Carver Elementary School)

   The first modern "cookie cutters" were Guilford ES, opened in 1966, and Sully ES (1968). A year after Sully, Broad Run HS opened, using Loudoun Valley HS's blueprint (1962). And so, with a few exceptions, every new school design had at least two schools use it. That's how things went until the 90's, where we hit the BIG population boom. Since 1995, we have had built 31 elementary schools, 10 middle schools (including J. Michael Lunsford MS, opening this fall), and 8 high schools. That is a total of 49 schools, all of them has in the very least four or five other schools that look like it.

   Since 1995, we are now on our fourth generation of elementary school cookie-cutter, middle schools are on their 2nd or 3rd generation, and, after Potomac Falls HS, high schools have more or less stayed the same.

   So, we have had cookie cutters in the past. Never on the scale we have now, but in the past we weren't growing as fast as we have been recently.

   Just wait until Heritage and Freedom get additions. Loudoun Valley HS and Broad Run HS started out the same, but the schools have had very different expansions that make them different from each other.

   Personally, I don't like cookie cutter school. I think every school should be unique to its community to be special. But it is a cost-efficient necessity we have to work with or the population can easily overwhelm the school system.

Sources:
Boyce ES
Blueprints
CIPs

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"

Monday Memories - Douglass High School 1965

This week, I'm going to Douglass High School's 1965 yearbook, "The Ram."

I wish the stage was still able to be used like this.
(It's now converted into classrooms)

Here's a close-up on my favorite candid/caption

   Douglass opened in 1941 as a segregated black high school. It closed in 1968 with the school system integrating. Since then, Douglass has served many purposes for the school system. In the 1970's, a deal was worked out to share Douglass between LCPS and Parks & Rec. Douglass continues to be used today.

Sources:
Douglass School