n LOUDOUN
Pg. 4 | n LEESBURG
VOL. 7, NO. 44
Pg. 10 | n EDUCATION
Pg. 12 | n OBITUARIES
Pg. 23 | n PUBLIC NOTICES
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Pg. 30
SEPTEMBER 22, 2022
Superintendent Recommends Rebuilding, Not Renovating, Park View High School BY ALEXIS GUSTIN
agustin@loudounnow.com
Superintendent Scott Ziegler is recommending that the Loudoun County School Board rebuild Park View High School rather than renovate it. The announcement comes after Sterling community members campaigned for months during School Board meetings asking for a rebuild of the Title One school, citing problems like flooding, extreme temperatures, a cramped lunchroom and broken bathroom toilets and sinks. One student mentioned a recent fire and said the school felt like a “microcosm of the world.” During the Aug. 9 meeting, several teachers including Liz Thomas, a social studies teacher, and Julie Cacciola, an art teacher, spoke about the conditions at the school and the desire of the community to rebuild it. Cacciola said teachers, parents and students have held information meetings in the community and canvassed the neighborhoods to make people aware of the persistent issues at 46-year-old Park View. She shared a comment from a mother of four children slated to go to the school. She said the mother told her “I didn’t think that Park View in Sterling PARK VIEW HIGH SCHOOL continues on page 42
Alexis Gustin/Loudoun Now
Students walk from the parking lot to Woodgrove High School on Aug. 25. Preliminary enrollment numbers show growth from last year, but are still below preCOVID numbers.
Public School Enrollment Still Lags Behind Pre-COVID Level
BY ALEXIS GUSTIN
agustin@loudounnow.com
Loudoun County Public Schools announced its preliminary 2022-2023 enrollment numbers last week as the district climbs back toward pre-pandemic student counts. The report compares the first 10 days of school this year to the first 10 days
of school in 2021. This year’s overall numbers showed 674 more students enrolled than last year’s 81,318, bringing this year’s 10-day preliminary count to 81,992. Director of Planning and GIS Services Beverly Tate said the official enrollment, to be determined on Sept. 30, is projected to be 83,039. In the pre-COVID September 2019
official count, the school district’s enrollment was 84,175. In September 2020, the official count dropped by 2,671 to 81,504, and last year recovered only 138 students to 81,642. This year the school district projects growing by another 1,397 students, meaning the school district will have recovered just under 60% of the SCHOOL ENROLLMENT continues on page 42
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