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Dulles Schools
Newsletter Summer Dulles Schools Newsletter
Welcome to the fourteenth edition of the Dulles Schools Newsletter. In this edition we announce
the FDK lottery, say goodbye to students and faculty, celebrate some successes, identify some
resources and provide important information on bonds and boundaries
To be added to the electronic distribution list, please contact me via email:
Important Dates: Aug 22
nd Full Day Kindergarten Lottery closes at 12:00 pm
Aug 29th
First Day of School
Sep 5th
Labor Day Holiday
Sep 19th
Loudoun Education Foundation Golf Tournament
Sep 28th
Madison’s Trust Elementary School Dedication
Oct 18th*
Secondary School Attendance Zone Overview/Public Hearing
Oct 24th*
Secondary School Attendance Zone School Board Work Session
Nov 1st * Secondary School Attendance Zone Briefing/Public Hearing
Nov 7th
* Secondary School Attendance Zone Briefing/ Work Session
Nov 7th
& 8th
Student Holidays
Nov 8th
Election Day
Nov 14th*
Secondary School Attendance Zone Briefing/Public Hearing
Nov 21st*
Secondary School Attendance Zone Briefing/Work Session
Nov 28th*
Secondary School Attendance Zone Briefing/Public Hearing
Nov 29th*
Secondary School Attendance Zone Board Information Item
Dec 5th
* Secondary School Attendance Zone Briefing/Public Hearing
Dec 13th*
Secondary School Attendance Zone Adoption
*proposed
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Back to School Dates/Open House Dates:
LCPS back to school dates are posted below. Please double check with your school’s web
page as we get closer to the date to ensure there are no updates.
School Day Date Time Grades/Notes Academy of Science Thursday September 8, 2016 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. Grades 9 - 10
Academy of Science Thursday September 8, 2016 7:30 - 8:30 p.m. Grades 11 - 12
Arcola ES Tuesday September 13, 2016 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. Grades K - 2
Arcola ES Thursday September 15, 2016 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. Grades 3 - 5
Briar Woods HS Monday September 12, 2016 7:00 p.m. Grades 9 - 10
Briar Woods HS Monday September 26, 2016 7:00 p.m. Grades 11 - 12
Buffalo Trail ES Tuesday September 13, 2016 6:30 p.m. Grades K - 2
Buffalo Trail ES Thursday September 15, 2016 6:30 p.m. Grades 3 - 5
Cardinal Ridge ES Thursday August 25, 2016 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. AM K, Full Day K, Grades 1-3, Resource
Cardinal Ridge ES Thursday August 25, 2016 7:15 - 8:15 p.m. Grades 4 - 5
Creighton's Corner ES Thursday August 25, 2016 6:00 p.m. AM K, Full Day K, Grades 1 - 2
Creighton's Corner ES Thursday August 25, 2016 7:00 p.m. PM K, Grades 3 - 5
Douglass School Thursday August 25, 2016 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. All Grades
Eagle Ridge MS Thursday September 8, 2016 6:30 p.m. Grade 6
Eagle Ridge MS Thursday September 15, 2016 6:30 p.m. Grade 7 - 8
Freedom HS Thursday September 1, 2016 7:00 p.m. Grades 9 - 12
Hutchison Farm ES Thursday August 25, 2016 6:00 - 6:45 p.m. AM Kindergarten, AM STEP, AM ECSE, Grades 3 - 5
Hutchison Farm ES Thursday August 25, 2016 7:15 - 8:00 p.m. PM K, Full Day K, PM STEP, PM ECSE, Grades 1 - 2
Hutchison Farm ES Friday August 26, 2016 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. Full-Day K, Grades 1 - 5 (Open House)
Hutchison Farm ES Friday August 26, 2016 9:00 - 9:30 a.m. AM K, AM STEP, AM ECSE - Open House
Hutchison Farm ES Friday August 26, 2016 9:30 - 10:00 a.m. PM K, PM STEP, PM ECSE - Open House
J. Michael Lunsford Wednesday August 31, 2016 7:00 p.m. Grade 6
J. Michael Lunsford Wednesday September 7, 2016 7:00 p.m. Grade 7 - 8
John Champe HS Monday September 19, 2016 7:00 p.m. Grades 9 - 12
Legacy ES Thursday August 25, 2016 6:00 - 6:45 p.m. AM K, Grades 1 - 2, Early Childhood
Legacy ES Thursday August 25, 2016 7:15 - 8:00 p.m. PM K, Grades 3 - 5
Liberty ES Thursday August 25, 2016 6:30 - 7:15 p.m. AM K, Full Day K, Grades 1 - 2
Liberty ES Thursday August 25, 2016 7:15 - 8:00 p.m. PM K, Grades 3 - 5
Liberty ES Friday August 26, 2016 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. Grades 1 - 5, FD K (Open House)
Liberty ES Friday August 26, 2016 9:00 - 9:30 a.m. AM K - Open House
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School Day Date Time Grades/Notes Liberty ES Friday August 26, 2016 9:30 - 10:00 a.m. PM K - Open House
Little River ES Thursday August 25, 2016 6:00 - 6:45 p.m. AM K, Full Day K, ECSE, Grades 3 - 5
Little River ES Thursday August 25, 2016 7:15 - 8:00 p.m. PM K, K - 2 Resource Room, Grades 1 - 2
Little River ES Friday August 26, 2016 8:00 - 8:30 a.m. ECSE & Grades K-2 Resource (Open House)
Little River ES Friday August 26, 2016 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. Grades 1 - 5 (Open House)
Little River ES Friday August 26, 2016 9:00 - 9:30 a.m. AM K, Full Day K - Open House
Little River ES Friday August 26, 2016 9:30 - 10:00 a.m. PM K - Open House
Mercer MS Wednesday August 31, 2016 6:30 p.m. Grade 6
Mercer MS Wednesday September 7, 2016 6:30 p.m. Grade 7 - 8
Middleburg Charter Tuesday August 23, 2016 6:00 p.m. All Grades
Moorefield Station Thursday August 25, 2016 6:00 p.m. Grades K - 5
Pinebrook ES Thursday September 15, 2016 6:30 p.m. Grades K-5 (Parents Choice )
Pinebrook ES Thursday September 15, 2016 7:30 p.m. Grades K-5 (Parents Choice )
Rock Ridge HS Monday September 26, 2016 7:00 p.m. Grades 9 - 12
Rosa Lee Carter Wednesday August 24, 2016 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. Grades K - 2
Rosa Lee Carter Thursday August 25, 2016 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. Grades 3 - 5
Stone Hill MS Wednesday August 24, 2016 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Annex - Orientation at RRHS
Stone Hill MS Wednesday September 28, 2016 7:00 p.m. Grade 6
Stone Hill MS Wednesday October 5, 2016 7:00 p.m. Grade 7 - 8
Freedom High School Odyssey of the Mind Team Participates at Worlds
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Lottery Open for Remaining Full Day Kindergarten Seats Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) is holding a division-wide lottery for 62 full-day
kindergarten (FDK) seats. These seats are located at four elementary schools: Forest Grove (13);
Sterling (seven); Sugarland (28) and Sully (14). The seats were originally reserved for children
within each school’s boundary, but as the year approaches and available seats remain, the seats
will now be offered up to all families enrolled in the Loudoun half-day kindergarten program.
Parents who participate in this lottery must be willing to provide transportation for their child to
the FDK site. A student’s name may be entered for one or more school lotteries. Interested
parents need to complete the form, indicate which school they wish their child to attend and
return the form to their home school office by noon Monday, August 22nd. These forms will
be date- and time-stamped as they are received by the school to ensure the form was received by
the deadline. By 3 p.m. Monday, school attendance secretaries will verify that each student
applying for the lottery is registered as an LCPS student. A list of student names will be created
for every FDK site requested.
Other schools with identified seats will open a lottery within their school. The LCPS Office of
Elementary Education will conduct a lottery for every universal FDK school with available space
at 1 p.m. Tuesday, August 23rd. The lottery drawing will be open to the public. See the LCPS
website below for more details.
http://www.loudoun.k12.va.us/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=1&ModuleInstanceID=179243
&ViewID=7caaa5fa-9086-4e88-bcf0-
3224ab17505e&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=253977&PageID=1&GroupByFied=&GroupYear=0&GroupMon
th=0&Tag=
School Bond Referendum Addresses District Overcrowding Issues There are three new schools and six school expansion projects on the School Bond Referendum
question this fall. New schools on the bond are ES-28- a Dulles South Elementary School
adjacent to John Champe, opening in 2018; MS-7 –a Dulles South Middle School at the
intersection of Lightridge Farm road and Braddock road, opening in 2018; and HS-9 –a Dulles
South High School to be built on a site TBD, opening in 2021. Six elementary schools each
located in and around the Dulles District, will receive a three-classroom expansion: Arcola,
Creighton’s Corner, Rosa Lee Carter, Legacy, Liberty, and Pinebrook. These classrooms will
help alleviate overcrowding and may be used to further expand full day kindergarten when
possible (alleviating overcrowding must come first). Election Day is November 8th
…please
support the schools!
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Dulles South Food Pantry supports Backpack Fridays Those for whom placing food on the table every night is a challenge now have neighborhood
support right around the corner! Dulles South Food Pantry provides food to families in need, and
supports the Friday Food Packs program to ensure children don’t go hungry, even over the
weekends. Please support DSFP and the coalition to feed those who are in need. Click on:
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Farewells From the Dulles District There have been many changes to the leadership in our District Schools. First, we said goodbye
to Principal Jodi Day from Stone Hill Middle School. Jodi led the school for the last three years,
facing some of the most overcrowded conditions in the county, but ensuring the students were
able to focus on learning. She will be missed, as she returns to her Indiana roots to be a Middle
School Principal. Fortunately for the Stone Hill community, Kathryn Clark, Assistant Principal
at Stone Hill, has been selected as Jodi’s replacement. Congratulations Principal Clark!
(L) Jodi Day, outgoing Principal of Stone Hill Middle School; and (R) Kathryn Clark, incoming Principal
Next, Ed Starzenski leaves Briar Woods having established the school as one of the best in the
state, whether in performing arts, athletics, or academics. Ed leaves Briar Woods as its first
Principal after serving for 12 years. His retirement is well deserved and his legacy is impressive.
Relieving Ed as Principal is long time Briar Woods Assistant Principal Chris O’Rourke.
Congratulations Principal O’Rourke!
(L) Ed Starzenski, outgoing Principal of Briar Woods; and (R) Chris O’Rourke, incoming Principal
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Lastly, many of our longest serving employees retired this past year. Loudoun County Public
Schools (LCPS) celebrated the careers of 192 employees during a banquet held in their honor.
The employees had a combined 3,516 years of service to the children of Loudoun County. Their
legacy will live on within the tens of thousands of children they touched throughout the years!
Patricia and Tom Everhart celebrating her retirement at the LCPS Retirement Dinner
Creighton’s Corner Math League Places 5th
at Nationals The fifth grade Math League team from Creighton’s Corner Elementary recently captured both
state and national honors. The team, coached by Seshu Anathaneni, won the Virginia State Math
League Championship held on May 7th at Mosby Woods Elementary in Fairfax County. This
win earned them the right to compete at the national contest in Houston, where the team finished
fifth in the country in their category.
Creighton’s Corner Math League members Vamsi Merla, Kisna Matta, Arihan Dixit and Vankat Prayuj Anathaneni
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Dulles District Lacrosse Teams Complete Memorable Season Bringing back all four state titles in which Loudoun Schools were eligible to compete, Loudoun
lacrosse has arrived. Even within the District, success stories abound:
Briar Woods High School Boys lacrosse finished an incredible year, bringing back
another state championship.
The Freedom Girls Lacrosse team completed the first perfect regular season and
conference championship in school history. In the process, the team’s Coach, Richard
DeSomma won conference Coach of the Year and Senior Megan Balog won conference
Player of the Year.
Freedom Lacrosse ladies following a 17-0 record and Conference Title
Freedom Boys lacrosse team took their first conference regular season title, conference
tournament title, and made it all the way to state semi-finals.
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Celebrating Promotions and Graduations
(L) Promotees are celebrating at Cardinal Ridge; (R) Classmates await Liberty 5th grader in the traditional school walk
Dr. Bowers impresses with his horn at the Arcola Promotion; Andrew Foley leads the final cheer at Champe Graduation
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Madison’s Trust Elementary School in Brambleton preparing for August opening
Academies of Loudoun Under Construction The School Board broke ground on the Academies of Loudoun, a world class educational facility
for all Loudoun Students. The site, located west of Belmont Ridge off Sycolin Rd, will open in
the fall of 2018. The first class of AoL students are entering high school this year and
participating in the Academies of Science housed at Dominion, in programs at the C.S. Monroe
Technology Center in Leesburg, and in the new Academy of Engineering and Technology
program housed at Tuscarora.
Groundbreaking on the Academies of Loudoun
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Monroe Technology Center (MTC), the Loudoun Academy of Science (AOS) and the new
Academy of Engineering will share the three-story, 300,000-square-foot building. (The Academy
of Engineering will be launched this fall at Tuscarora High School.)
The Academies of Loudoun will house 2,500 students on an alternating-day schedule.
The Academies of Loudoun will incorporate many unique features:
The campus will be wired for Wi-Fi and electrical/recharging areas far beyond that of a
standard high school campus.
There will be a “learning stair,” a staircase that will double as a classroom and
presentation area.
All classrooms will feature natural light.
A theater that can be subdivided for presentations.
There will be a “Maker Space,” incorporating 3-D modeling, project work tables and
tools so that students can construct their ideas.
A communications studio will incorporate the animation and graphics programs and a full
television studio.
Flexible and specialized laboratory space.
Outdoor learning terraces.
Energy-efficient features that will allow the building to use 30 percent less energy than
required by building codes.
The Academies of Loudoun was designed by Stantec with civil engineering from Bowman
Consulting. It is being built by Holder Construction Company at a cost of $86.5 million.
Presenting an LEF Grant to Arcola’s Chris Morris, with Dr. Clark Bowers
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Boundary Changes Being Considered This Fall The addition of Brambleton Middle School in the fall of 2017 and the unnamed Brambleton-
located High School (HS-11) in the fall of 2019 requires LCPS to perform yet another boundary
change. As you may recall, the School Board adopted new boundaries May 10th. A link to the
plan is captured here: http://www.lcps.org/Page/168857.
Interim Boundaries for Dulles District High Schools/Middle Schools
That plan adjusted boundaries to relieve overcrowding at Stone Hill, but failed to provide relief
to Mercer. The decision on how to relieve Mercer was postponed so that up to date enrollment
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figures from September 2016 and subsequent enrollment projections could be considered.
Another reason for the postponement was the possibility of knowing where we will build the
next Dulles South High School (HS-9), an effort to find a parcel is actively in progress. Whether
or not the site is located before this fall, we must move forward with Mercer boundary changes
that will occur next fall. The entire process is fluid, so stay up to date. Please stay active in
this process so that there are no surprises! Email me ([email protected]) your
thoughts/preferences as the plans are released.
Comments For the last 5 years, our District has been the center of growth in the county. Now, as
development pushes west, the Blue Ridge district is the recipient of that distinction. The
school’s and projects on this year’s bond referendum are likely to be the last to massively and
directly impact most residences in the Dulles District.
Following the opening of the Brambleton Middle School (in 2017), Brambleton-located high
school (in 2019), the Dulles South Middle School (in 2018), and Dulles South High School (in
2021), I believe the district will be “built out” for secondary schools. Although ES-28 is
scheduled to open in 2018, there are still a handful of potential elementary school sites that could
impact us at a later time. But for now we have our hands full. Please bear with us, provide us
feedback, and together we will set up long term, strategic solutions to alleviate overcrowding
while trying to minimize the impact on our children.
Remember, no solution is perfect: children don’t grow in nice groups of 25. No one likes to
change schools, but in the end, history shows us that families adapt to and adopt new schools
rapidly, and I maintain that all of the schools in our district are peak performers. To stay up to
speed on the plethora of boundary issues we face, I recommend you join my Dulles Schools
Newsletter distribution list by sending your email address to me at [email protected].
Finally, you have my promise that I will collaborate fully, listen attentively, and be completely
transparent with my reasoning for any changes before adopting them. In the end, it is about
empowering all of our students to make meaningful contributions to the world.
Sincerely,
Jeff Morse
Jeff Morse
Loudoun County School Board
Dulles District Representative
