I'm Coming Back...!

Guess who might be getting an intern position again at Loudoun County Public Schools? THIS GUY!!

I haven't gotten a 100% confirmation, but they are interested in having me back. That's half the battle right there!

I hope you can't wait for more content, more history, more everything!! This summer, we will follow the finishing of the new Frederick Douglass Elementary School, see the new John Champe HS open, as well as maybe look at my day-to-day jobs. I also plan to cover some Aldie history, as I can see people continue to search for history on the school, yet there is none here.

This year, I also hope to not get sick for 3 weeks. Before I started my blog last year, I got strep and it was pretty bad.

Finally, I hope to finally bother the food department, the only department I didn't bother on the Admin Building second floor.

Of course, this is all IF I do indeed get it again. Here's hoping!!

North Street 2012 Update

Front entrance for The Senior Center of Leesburg

Previous post: Leesburg High School / North Street

   102 North Street is now "The Senior Center of Leesburg." Membership is open to 55 and up, but I checked it out for myself (after asking permission, of course). After gutting the whole building, they built what feels like a new building inside of an old one.

   The building also has a wing devoted to Loudoun County Library Administration, which they do not allow public entry into.

   To my delight, some LHS/LES alumni now go here. I briefly met a funny gentleman there who went to LHS in the 50's when it still taught all grades. He said one time he snuck out a window when the principal held him after school.

   A second gentleman I met gave me a tour around. He attended the elementary school in the late 50's. I asked him if he remembered anything about the Union Street School down the street. He didn't know anything. It's interesting how you can see each school from one another, yet there was little to no interaction between the children. That was how segregated it was.

   Senior citizens can be a delight to be around. One lady said to me, "You don't look like you're fifty-five!" I hope not.

   Now, for a look around:

Reception! It also doubles as the Center's Library

Rec Room

Hallway

Nice outdoor seating area

This can be divided into two rooms

Lounge

Hallway looking towards the Reception area

   (Rooms not pictured: Board Room, 2 fitness rooms (one with machines, the other empty for fitness classes), two art rooms, various offices, and a classroom.)

The Ballroom (which can be rented out for events)

   Along with all the new features, there are many nods to the building's history throughout. They saved the Proscenium Arch of the old stage in a hallway behind the ballroom.

   In the ceramics art room, there is a whole original chalkboard on display. It's now behind glass.

   Something I just noticed was they uncovered a window above the auditorium-now-ballroom doors.

July 2011

January 2012

   Also remaining is the historic entrance to the school. The concrete steps have been all patched up. The doors have long been out of operation and now have walls built around them on the inside. The doors' windows are the only windows that did not get replaced. 

Only the top right window piece was replaced to reflect its
historical look again.

   Before:

March 2009

   And let's not forget all the windows that now resemble the original windows!

   A lot of money and thought was poured into this facility, and it looks wonderful. I applaud everyone who helped North Street shine again.

J. Michael Lunsford MS

This blog was inactive when these videos were originally posted, but better late than never! 

LCPS's first second story middle school, J. Michael Lunsford MS, opened up this fall. It is named after the late J. Michael Lunsford. He first started out as a student bus driver, and eventually climbed the ranks to become the LCPS Director of Transportation from 1995 to his death in 2009. He had over 40 years of service to the school system. Can many people say they have done the same?

Here is a tribute video on the man behind the name:

And here is the school's dedication video:

Here is Lunsford MS's page on Mr. Lunsford.

Be sure to check out LCPS's offical Youtube Channel: OfficialLCPS

LCHS Murals: Update

The last time we left the LCHS paintings/murals, I still hadn't answered two important questions: Why and when were they moved from the courthouse to LCHS? I finally have the answers today, along with a more fleshed-out origin story.

On January 9th, 1958, there was a short article on the front page of the Loudoun Times-Mirror about the murals:

   "The Loudoun Bar Association wants the bicentennial murals removed from the Court House so that the photographs originally on the walls can be replaced. President Stirling M. Harrison of the Bar Association transmitted the Bar's request to the supervisors Monday. The supervisors unanimously decided to offer the historic murals to Loudoun County High School. They were painted by the Loudoun Sketch Club, as their contribution to the bicentennial, and presented to the county."

Scanning newspapers after that article, I did not find another mention about the murals (though one could have easily been overlooked). My next bet to find exactly when they arrived to LCHS is to comb through old copies of The Loudoun Raider, LCHS's newspaper. Until then, the ending of our story is they eventually did reach the school. The first picture of the murals appear in Lord Loudoun yearbook is the 1959 edition.

Lord Loudoun 1959. LCHS's original cafeteria,
now the Band and Chorus wing.

So, now that we have this, let's put everything together.

The whole history of the murals:

   In honor of the approaching bicentennial of Loudoun County's birthday, the Loudoun Sketch Club begins in 1956 on eight murals depicting the history of Loudoun County. It takes them a year to create all of them.

   On July 12th, 1957 the murals are unveiled to the public at the courthouse. An estimated 300 people turn out to view them. The murals hang in the courthouse for the remainder of the year. 

   After the year ends, the Loudoun Bar Association is done with them, and the Board of Supervisors offers the murals to Loudoun County High School, which they accept. The six vertical ones are hung on the walls in the Auditorium, while the two panoramic ones are hung in the Cafeteria. 

   In the 1970's, a new mural is painted, highlighting the county's developments throughout the 60's. 

   In 1990, the new Cafeteria wing of LCHS is completed, and the old cafeteria is converted into the chorus and band rooms. The two murals that previously hung in the cafeteria are moved to the back wall of the Auditorium.

   In 2004, LCHS celebrates its 50th Anniversary, and a tenth mural is created for the occasion.

And that brings us up to the present.

Thank you Balch Library for preserving Loudoun Times Mirror microfilm. It does not go to waste.

Here are links to the other LCHS Murals articles in the saga:

LCHS Murals

LCHS Murals: Update 1

A Swimming Pool at School?

Is there a pool down there? (Nope)

   There were always the rumors: "There's a pool in the basement" or "The Auxiliary Gym's floor is retractable and there's a pool underneath." * These were spread around my high school to the new freshmen. But what if a school really did have a pool?


   Well, at one time, there was talk about just that.

   While looking through files and files, one folder title jumped out at me: "Pools in Schools." Only two pages inside, a map and an information item from a School Board meeting.

   Let's briefly set the stage: It was the late 90's. Eastern Loudoun's population was growing immensely, yet the closest public pool was at Ida Lee in Leesburg.

   In 1999, Parks and Rec teamed up with the school system to come up with plans for a new public aquatic center. It would be connected to the school that eventually became River Bend MS. The aquatic center would be placed on the back of the gyms. The gyms would also be a shared facility with the school and PRCS, much like how Douglass School's gym space is shared with the school and community center.

   The file I found states that the Board of Supervisors would review this plan on their next meeting, and were "expected to vote on inclusion of these facilities as part of the November voter referendum for general obligation bond funding."

   For whatever reason, when River Bend MS opened in 2002, it did not include an aquatic center. With the opening of Claude Moore Recreation Center, there is currently not much need for a pool. For now, the idea sits in a filing cabinet, ready to be called on if the need ever springs up again.


   I hope you are having a merry 6th day of Hanukkah/Christmas today! (Happy Kwanzaa tomorrow!)
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* Which I did believe for a while. I was part of the first freshman class at LCHS after its 2005-2006 renovation, and the just-opened Auxiliary Gym smelled like chlorine for its first month.

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