The students gathered around Flint Hill Elementary School Tuesday, Sept. 6 were in a celebratory mood. Fifty years earlier to the day, Flint Hill opened its doors to its first students. U.S. Rep. Tom Davis (R-11), Sen. Jeannemarie Devolites-Davis (R-34), Del. Steve Shannon (D-35), Mayor M. Jane Seeman, and Supervisor Catherine Hudgins (D-Hunter Mill) and others joined Flint Hill principal Sal Rivera in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to honor the school's birthday.
Congratulatory letters also came from President George Bush, former Virginia governor George Allen, and U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings.
"I had chills the whole time," said Rivera after the ceremony. "I'm honored and proud to be principal … the kids are a great community to work with and we've got a fantastic staff."
"It's fantastic. But you know, I knew it would happen, with such great people," said Beth Burke, Flint Hill's first principal, about the school's anniversary. The school was so small when it first opened, said Burke, that she remembers teaching half the day, and being principal the other half.
"I wonder what (Flint Hill) will be like 50 years from now," said former principal Linda Clark. "I don't know what it will be like, and how it will function, but I know there will be kids, and teachers."