Groundbreaking Ceremony Held for Nokesville K-8 School

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The Prince William County School Board held its groundbreaking ceremony for the new Nokesville K-8 school on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. Parents, children, teachers and Prince William County School Board members, include Brentsville school board member Gil Trenum were in attendance. In addition Virginia Delegate Rich Anderson, Superintendent Dr. Steven Walts and members of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors were present.

The new modern school site is located at 12375 Aden Road in Nokesville, where it is adjacent to Brentsville District High School. The school is scheduled to open in September of 2014.

Nokesville Elementary School is somewhat of a Nokesville landmark. It opened in 1928, and has served several generations of Nokesville residents, first as a high school, then as an elementary school. To accommodate community growth a second building was added in the 1950s, and today some teachers hold classes in “learning cottages” or trailers directly behind the school.

Nokesville Elementary School Principal Eric Worcester has said that though the old facilities have their charm, the limited space and outdated infrastructure inhibits the use of new technology in the building. However, Nokesville K-8 will have the newest technology, including Smart Boards or Promethean boards installed in classrooms.

The new K-8 school received some resistance from some citizens, mostly of Bristow, who argued that while the school would help overcrowding at Marsteller Middle School, that school would still remain overcrowded. They also questioned building a Nokesville Elementary that offers more seats than the community requires, and questioned the cost of the new school.

However, Pennington School, a K-8 in Manassas, has been one of the most sought after schools for which parents choose to transfer their children into, so it is possible that many parents outside of Nokesville may benefit from sending their students to Nokesville K-8.

And despite resistance, Nokesville parents have been steadfast in their approval of the school, believing it would replace facilities in long need of an overhaul for space, safety, convenience and to bring the school up to modern regulations (for instance, it is a two story building without any elevators, or ramps, and there is no bus parking or pull-through driveway.)

Parents, along with Brentsville Magisterial District Board Member Gil Trenum, spoke in favor of the K-8 experience, which studies have shown to provide a more nurturing environment for adolescents in comparison to the traditional middle school model.

V.F. Pavone was awarded the construction contract to build the school designed by Moseley Architects, Inc. State-of-the-art technology will be incorporated into the building, including a local area data network providing wireless access to the Internet; classrooms equipped for interactive instruction; and building wide audio/visual and cable distribution systems. An integrated system with security intrusion detection and security camera monitoring systems will help provide a secure learning environment. Instructional areas will include a family and consumer science lab and a science lab.

When complete, the school will accommodate a total of 900 students in grades kindergarten through eight in a 141,832 sq. ft. facility.

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