Churchill Road Elementary celebrates its 50th anniversary this year with various events, beginning with an Oct. 20 Homecoming Festival.
“It’s going to be an outdoor festival and we’re expecting to have a lot of alumni here,” said Don Hutzel, principal at Churchill Road for the last six years.
Hutzel said the school will also be working hard to achieve the new goals set by the Fairfax County School Board last spring. These goals focus on academic achievement, personal responsibility and respect for the community.
“We’re lucky that we already have good programs in place,” said Hutzel.
Hutzel was referring to Churchill Road’s “Outdoor Odyssey” program and the school’s fitness program, both of which encourage students to learn about the importance of physical fitness and maintaining personal health. In addition, the school now features its own greenhouse that will be used as an educational tool for students.
“One of our parents went through a very elaborate process to get funding and the children will be able to use it for gardening and for planting edible food,” said Kim Moran, an office assistant at Churchill Road. “It will all tie in with the curriculum — the kids even have their own Farmer’s Market at the end of the year, where they make their own dishes and sell them in the school.”
As far as academics go, Hutzel said students in kindergarten through grade six all learn to research a topic and create a final “thesis” at the end of the school year.
“The children begin to investigate and they use sources, which are important skills for them to have,” said Hutzel. “Obviously the development is appropriate for each individual grade level, but by the end of the project, each child has a full-fledged report.”
There are no new renovations scheduled for Churchill Road this year, but the school will welcome Gifted and Talented students from Kent Gardens Elementary School to its school-based GT Center for the first time. Previously, Kent Gardens GT students traveled to the Haycock Elementary School GT Center, but to alleviate overcrowding at Haycock, the School Board made the decision to divert the Kent Gardens students to Churchill. Hutzel said Churchill also welcomes 10 new teachers and instructional assistants, and expects an enrollment of approximately 700 students.
“This is a great place to work,” said Hutzel. “The Churchill Road instructional staff are just extraordinary — they are committed and dynamic and you can just feel their energy. It makes Churchill a very exciting place.”