So hard to believe it is August. On my jog this morning through Cameron Station I saw the Tucker students going off to their first day of school, replete with new backpacks and new clothes. Tucker is on a modified school calendar, but the start of school for other West End students is not far off (Sept. 8). Polk Elementary School is welcoming a new principal, PreeAnn Johnson; Ms. Johnson has been an assistant principal since 2002 and was most recently assigned to Minnie Howard School.
If you have a kindergarten student, Polk’s K-Prep program gets underway on August 10; you must register your kindergartner to secure a place in K-Prep.
At Hammond, the three new schools are conveniently holding their orientations on the first (for School 1), second (for School 2) and third of September (for School 3). Back to school nights are Sept. 15 (School 1), Sept. 16 (School 2), and Sept. 17 (School 3), all at 7 p.m. By all accounts, the Hammond students are extremely excited about the school’s new configuration.
As promised, here is the information on the Dowden Terrace Dolphins, courtesy of Marianne Hetzer. The Division 6 champions won second place in the Division 6 Relay Carnival and first place in the Todd Potts IM Carnival. What’s more, three individual team records and eight relay records fell this season. Seminary Valley Dolphins (ages 4-18) include: Tory and Kathryn Atkinson; Will Bremner; Ethan, Harrison and Liam Brock; Mia, Natalie and Nick Brown; Alexandra Cerda; Caroline and Maggie Chamberlain; Sarah Chopko; Claire Costello; Abby, Colleen and Patrick Cox; Larry Dow; Lili and Sean Dowling; RJ Firestone; Jacob and Shannon Foster; Alex and Ryan Goodale; Jenn Hatstat; Steven Hetzer; Jenna and Julia Lindsey; Reagan Lungren; Brendan and Gabrielle Richichi; Karl Staudinger; Kathy Tanner; Kai Taylor-Deak; Erica and Gabrielle Thompson; Claire Toman; Harrison and Kendall West; Brendan, Caley and Ryan Zack.
August also marks the end of the summer youth theater season in our area; it’s no surprise that Meg Glassco turned in a great performance last weekend in Encore Stage’s “Beauty and the Beast”. Meg, who lit up the stage as Lumiere, is home in Seminary Valley, taking a break from her studies at Ithaca College, where she is pursuing a double major in theatre and visual art. Taking up his usual spot behind the scenes was Walter Lohmann. Last week also had the Curtin brothers, Peter and Andrew, reprising their roles as producer and associate producer of St. Bernadette’s “Peter Pan.”
If the hot weather has prevented you from strolling along the Holmes Run bike path, you are in for a treat. The City has repaved and widened the path from Brookville to Fox Chase. It’s a real pleasure to traverse. The path is eventually going to be connected to a Fairfax County bike path near Chambliss Street, making for a great West End route for commuters and nature-lovers alike.
<1b>— Mia Jones