8 Loudoun Schools Win Excellence Award

Thursday, Jan. 10, 2008

Eight Loudoun County public schools were among more than 30 schools in Northern Virginia and 89 statewide on Thursday to win a governor's award for excellence through a new state rating known as the Virginia Index of Performance. Read story and 1 comment »

County to Require Seat Belts on New School Buses

Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008

From now on, every school bus that Loudoun County buys will be equipped with a safety feature missing from most school vehicles in the Washington area: seat belts. Read story and 5 comments »

Smart’s Mill Principal Wins Award At a Time of Loss

Thursday, Nov. 29, 2007

The hallways at Smart’s Mill Middle School in Leesburg are decorated like a family living room, crowded with artwork and photographs. On a recent tour, Principal Eric L. Stewart stopped often to point out pictures of the faculty cookout or a student canoe trip or a flag football game. Read story »

Lingering Academic Gap Riles NAACP

Black and Hispanic Students Demand Attention, NAACP Says

Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2007

In one of the wealthiest counties in the country, minority advocates are urging the Loudoun County School Board to redouble efforts and resources to boost achievement of black and Hispanic students to the level of their white classmates. Read story and 6 comments »

Growth Is Defining Issue in Loudoun

Sunday, Oct. 7, 2007

Three years after Loudoun was named the nation’s fastest-growing county, few say they are happy with the results. Read story »

Woman Charged in School Bus Collision

Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2007

A South Riding woman has been charged after her car struck a school bus loaded with students from Mercer Middle School in Aldie Tuesday afternoon, the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office said. Read story »

Teachers Use Space Training in Class

Sunday, Sept. 16, 2007

After a day spent somersaulting in zero gravity in an airplane, a group of math and science teachers were still sporting flight suits when they stood before their classes Friday morning at Seneca Ridge Middle School. Read story »

This Joy Ride Brings Out Teachers’ Lighter Side

Friday, Sept. 14, 2007

Instead of teaching science at their Sterling middle school yesterday, Lynn Austin was doing somersaults, suspended in the air. Rhonda Labuhn was flying like Superman. Christopher Souther was playing a game of teacher toss, and he was the one being tossed. Read story »

Language Offerings Reflect Diversity, Global Outlook

Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2007

On their first day of first grade, Beech Tree Elementary School students yesterday easily fielded questions about their summer vacation. They smiled at teachers who offered cheerful hellos. But they appeared downright bewildered by teacher Fadwa Hussein’s unfamiliar greeting: "Marhaba." Read story »

N.Va., Loudoun Suffer Testing Setbacks

School Systems Blame U.S. Rule For Missed Goals

Thursday, Aug. 23, 2007

The Fairfax County school system for the first time failed to meet academic goals under the No Child Left Behind Act, largely because many students with limited English skills struggled on reading tests that were given in response to a federal order, according to school officials and scores released yesterday. Read story »

Broadway Role Transforms a Summer

Loudoun 7th Grader Summers on Broadway

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

NEW YORK — When 12-year-old Emma Rowley returns to Blue Ridge Middle School in the fall and writes her “What I Did on My Summer Vacation” essay, she may need to explain that she is not making it up. Read story »

Looking to the Future With Room to Grow

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Every morning this week, trucks full of desks, chairs and cabinets have pulled up outside Stone Hill Middle School in Ashburn. By opening day, the furniture will adorn the nearly 50 classrooms and 12 science labs in Loudoun County's newest and largest middle school. Read story »

Intercoms May Be Installed To Curtail Access to Schools

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Loudoun County school officials hope to install a video intercom system in each of the district's 68 public schools so visitors would have to be buzzed in, a proposal developed last fall after shootings at an Amish school in Pennsylvania. Read story »

Sixth-Grader Wins Va. Geography Bee

Mercer Student Preps For U.S. Event in May

Sunday, April 8, 2007

Partha Narasimhan has always surprised his parents. At 2, he was able to recite Shakespeare, they said. At 4, he read Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time." Early on, he abandoned cartoons for the History Channel and the Learning Channel. Read story »