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Westfield Preps for Parade in Pasadena

Tournament of Roses president speaks to students.

Sure, the students in Westfield High’s marching band are enjoying their summer. They’re also busy learning new music and practicing their drills. Besides marching on the Bulldog football field come fall, they’ll be participating Jan. 1 in the Tournament of Roses Parade.

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Young Students Tackle Real-World Problems

Rocky Run eighth-graders learn via their science projects.

To the untrained eye, they looked like science-fair projects. But Ileana Rodriguez, eighth-grade science teacher and Science Department chair at Rocky Run Middle School, said her students created experimental-design displays.

Alexandria School Notes

Eric Costantino has been accepted as a violist into the Credo Chamber Festival, to be held at Oberlin Conservatory this summer.

Celebrating the Fourth At Chantilly Mosque

Food, fun, politicians and gratitude.

There were hot dogs, hamburgers, watermelons, children’s games, politicians and speeches — a typical, American celebration of the Fourth of July. But this one last Thursday was at the Mubarak Mosque in Chantilly, home of the local Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

Before Going Forward, Taking a Look Back

Centreville High seniors open elementary-school time capsule.

Before a group of Centreville High seniors graduated in June, they returned to their elementary school, Union Mill, to reunite with their classmates and take a trip down memory lane.

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Alliance Theatre presents ‘Grease.’

It’s high school 1959, and the students at Rydell High are busy with their classes, music and love lives. And with a rockin’ beat underscoring the story, the audience will see the blossoming romance of tough guy Danny and nice girl Sandy.

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Remembering Reema in Song and Dance

The annual Remembrance Cabaret for 2006 Westfield High grad and Virginia Tech victim Reema Samaha was June 15 at Westfield.

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Braddock/Pleasant Valley Dilemma

Residents want their say before supervisors vote on design.

While discussing local road projects last week, Supervisor Michael R. Frey (R-Sully) saved the most controversial one — the Braddock/Pleasant Valley roads intersection — for last. VDOT’s proposing a roundabout, but residents in nearby communities say it’ll benefit Loudoun County commuters, while flooding Braddock and Pleasant Valley roads with so much traffic that it’ll all but imprison them in their neighborhoods.

Road Projects Moving Forward

Frey updates Sully District Council.

Transportation was the topic last week when Supervisor Michael R. Frey (R-Sully) addressed the Sully District Council of Citizens Associations, updating the panel and audience on local road projects. “We have a fair amount of transportation improvements coming in the next two years,” he said last Wednesday, June 26. “And for the first time in awhile, there’s some optimism that we’ll be able to [carry them out] because of the passage of the transportation bill.”

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Eline Leaves Rocky Run

He’s named new principal of Robinson Secondary School.

Under Matt Eline’s leadership at Rocky Run Middle School, several teams of math and science students have won state and national championships, and the school, itself, received the Governor’s Award for Educational Excellence, three years in a row.

Alexandria School Notes

Alexandria School Notes

New Leader at Robinson’s Helm

Matt Eline is named school’s principal; will retain Meier as football coach.

There’s a new person at the helm of Robinson Secondary School—one well equipped for the job. He’s Matt Eline, who was an assistant principal at Fairfax High for four years and principal of Rocky Run Middle School the past three years.

Centreville Day Plans Are Now Underway

Event seeking sponsors, vendors, crafters, nonprofits.

Centreville Day isn’t until fall, but event organizer Cheryl Repetti is putting out the call for participants now. Sponsorships, vendor, crafter and nonprofit spaces are available at early-bird pricing through July 31. The one-day, outdoor festival is held in Centreville Park in the Centreville Historic District and includes a variety of fun, activities and entertainment for all ages. This year’s 21st annual event is Oct. 19, and the planning is already beginning.

Chantilly Tragedy Described As Family Murder-Suicide

Police say suspect killed brother and himself.

The tragic event in which two men were stabbed and another was shot last week inside a Chantilly home has turned into a murder-suicide. Fairfax County police identified the murder victim as Haseeb Raza, 24. They also said his suspected killer was his 20-year-old brother, Mohammad H. Raza.

Attracting Teens to Reading

Parents of teenagers may find it harder to encourage their children to read.

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Making Maps to Solve Problems

Centreville High students apply geospatial analysis to solve real-life dilemmas.

When Centreville High seniors Antonio Choi and Brooke Peterson presented their culminating, final-exam project, they did so at their school’s first-ever GIS (geographic information system) Fair. And Tish McKinstry, their Geospatial Analysis teacher, couldn’t have been prouder of them and their classmates.

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Police Call Chantilly Tragedy ‘Domestic in Nature’

It’s not yet known what touched off the fight among the three men, Tuesday morning, inside a Chantilly home used as a childcare center. And at press time, the victims’ names hadn’t been released.

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CVHS Honors its Thespians

Actors and techs were honored June 13 during Centreville High’s 25th annual Thespie Awards ceremony; 14 students were inducted into Centreville Troupe 4510 of the International Thespian Society.

10 Years Incarceration For Former Teacher

He was convicted of child-porn offenses.

Little more than a year ago, Oak Hill resident Robert C. Fenn was about to finish his first year of teaching at Poplar Tree Elementary, where he taught special-ed students in kindergarten through third grade. But it all ended June 12, 2012, when Fairfax County police arrested him at the school on child-pornography charges.

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‘His Life Mattered’

Westfield teacher, students raise money to honor Matt Peterson.

Matt Peterson was just 16 when his father inexplicably killed him, his mother and younger brother in their Herndon home before taking his own life.