Historical Records
Documenting the History of Fairfax County Public Schools
On Fairfax County Public Schools’ 150th anniversary in 2020-21, historians, community members, and FCPS staff and students spent several years photographing and transcribing historical documents, videotaping oral histories with former students and educators, and researching answers to questions commonly posed by historians and the general public related to the history of Fairfax County Public Schools.
The resulting collection catalogs the history of the public schools of Fairfax County from 1870 to 1922 and the desegregation of Fairfax County’s public schools. We invite you to explore these primary sources to gain a better understanding of the school system’s history.
A Brief History of FCPS
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) was founded in 1870, after the ratification of a new state constitution and the passage of the Public Free School Law. FCPS operated as one school system overseen by a single superintendent, but there were separate school boards for each magisterial district (and, later, some towns). Each district board included three school trustees who could purchase land for schools, build schoolhouses, assign teachers, and pay their salaries. Each district board kept its own minutes and financial records. Only fragments of these records have survived.
The historic magisterial districts were: Centreville, Dranesville, Falls Church, Lee, Mount Vernon, and Providence. After the incorporation of the towns of Fairfax, Falls Church, Herndon, and Vienna, these localities formed separate school trustee boards.
In 1922, the magisterial district school boards were abolished and the consolidated Fairfax County School Board was formed. All school properties owned by the magisterial districts were transferred to the Fairfax County School Board by blanket deed in August 1922.
From 1870 to the mid-1960s, FCPS operated as one school system with two sets of schools segregated by race. When you study the school system’s earliest records, one of the first differences you’ll notice from modern records is that the school trustees named schools alphanumerically.
Schools for white children were given numbers, and schools for African-American children were given letters, e.g., Providence District School #1, #2, #3, #A, #B, #C. In some districts these numbers and letters were consistently applied to the same school from year to year, in others they were not.
Names given to the schools by the community can also be found in school trustee records, but these names were not always consistent either. The Crouch School was originally known as the Buckley School, the Johnson School later became the Powell School, and so forth.
On lists of teacher assignments recorded in the minute books, you might see entries such as “School 7a and 7b,” or “School 1a, 1b, and 1c.” This is what is referred to as a "graded" school — a schoolhouse with more than one classroom and one teacher. These larger schools made it possible for the pupils to be separated by grade level. In a two-room graded school, for example, a typical arrangement would be grades 1-3 in one room, and grades 4-7 in the other.
Because Fairfax County was a rural farming community, the school year began after harvest, and ended before the start of planting. Attendance at public school wasn’t required like it is today, and many boys stopped their schooling once they were old enough to work full-time on the family farm.
Before 1907, public school education in Fairfax County consisted of grades 1-7, and all children ages 6 to 21 were eligible for a free public education. The first high schools for white children were introduced in Fairfax County in 1907. The first and only high school for African-American children in Fairfax County, Luther Jackson High School in Merrifield, opened in 1954.
The history of Fairfax County Public Schools from 1870 to 1922, includes racially-charged language that is archaic and often problematic by modern standards. The terms “Colored” and “Negro” commonly describe students and schools. Those words remain in these records where they quote directly from the primary source material.
FCPS did not have a central administrative office building until the late 1950s. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the clerks of each district school board kept meeting minute books and account ledgers in their homes. In 1922, when the combined Fairfax County School Board was formed, many of the district clerks’ records books were turned over to the new School Board. School Board meetings were frequently held in the Board of Supervisors’ meeting room, then located on the second floor of the Fairfax County Circuit Court Clerk’s Office building in Fairfax City.
When FCPS administrative staff and the School Board moved into the School Administration Building (the Burkholder Center, which was completed in 1959), many of the school system’s records from before 1922 were left behind in the Circuit Court Clerk’s Office. These records have since become part of the Fairfax County Circuit Court’s Historic Records Center .
During the late 1960s or early 1970s, John K. Gott, a historian, educator, and librarian with Fairfax County Public Schools, donated a large collection of FCPS historical records and photographs to the Fairfax County Public Library. These documents are now part of the library’s local history repository at the City of Fairfax Regional Library known as the Virginia Room .
Due to the decentralization of FCPS administrative offices in the 1960s, historical records still held by the school system have been scattered between the School Board office and various administrative departments. Most of the original record books in the school system’s collection are located at the Gatehouse Administration Center, and many have been microfilmed and/or scanned by the school system’s Department of Information Technology.
The following records pages are an attempt by FCPS staff and volunteers to recombine Fairfax County Public Schools’ earliest records digitally in one place.
The following records of the pre-1922 school boards have been grouped by magisterial district and town. Transcriptions of the meeting minutes of the school trustees and other records have been generously provided by members of the Providence Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR), and from students enrolled in West Springfield High School’s Applied History program, who volunteered their time and expertise to this endeavor. We invite you to explore these primary sources to gain a better understanding of the school system’s history.
Founded in 1870, the Centreville Magisterial District includes the communities of Centreville, Clifton, Cub Run, Pender, Popes Head, and portions of Chantilly.
The Centreville School District has suffered significant records loss. Surviving minutes of the School Trustees, covering the period of August 1904 to August 1922, are incomplete. There is also one account ledger listing payments made to teachers, contractors, and vendors from 1907 to 1921.
School Board Minutes
Meeting minutes, lists of teachers and their salaries, and school construction records of the Centreville District School Board can be found in this collection.
The Educators of Centreville District
Learn about Centreville District teachers, school trustees, and community members named in the historical records of the School Board.
Founded in 1870, the Dranesville Magisterial District originally included the communities of Colvin Run, Dranesville, Floris, Forestville, Money’s Corner, Navy, Vale, Wiehle, portions of Chantilly, and for a brief period the village of Herndon.
The Dranesville School District has suffered some records loss. There are two surviving minute books of the School Trustees.
Dranesville District School Board Minute Book 1 (1886-1910)
Meeting minutes, lists of teachers and their salaries, and school construction records of the Dranesville District School Board from 1886-1910 can be found in this collection.
Dranesville District School Board Minute Book 2 (1907-1922)
Meeting minutes, lists of teachers and their salaries, and school construction records of the Dranesville District School Board from 1907-1922 can be found in this collection.
Educators of the Dranesville District
Learn about the Dranesville District teachers, school trustees, and community members named in the historical records of the School Board.
Founded in 1870, the Falls Church Magisterial District included the communities of Annandale, Bailey’s Crossroads, Fort Ward, Lincolnia (Lebanon), Merrifield, Mount Pleasant, Seminary, and West End (Alexandria).
The Falls Church District should not be confused with the Town of Falls Church. While both were part of Fairfax County until the incorporation of the City of Falls Church, they had separate School Boards.
Portions of the Falls Church Magisterial District were annexed by the City of Alexandria in 1915, 1930, and 1952. The largest annexation, in 1952, led to the redistricting of Fairfax County and the creation of the Mason Magisterial District.
Falls Church District School Board Minutes
Meeting minutes, lists of teachers and their salaries, and school construction records of the Falls Church District School Board can be found in this collection.
Educators of Falls Church District
Learn about Falls Church District teachers, school trustees, and community members named in the historical records of the School Board.
Founded in 1870, the Lee Magisterial District originally included the communities of Belle Aire, Burke, Fairfax Station, Lorton Valley, Oak Grove, Pohick, and Wakefield Chapel.
Two books of meeting minute records are in existence covering the periods of 1888-1897 and 1904-1921 . Additional surviving records include the 1920-1921 District Fund account ledger, miscellaneous receipts for paint and school supplies, and teacher registers for the Burke School, Fairview School, and the Lorton Valley School.
Educators of Falls Church District
Learn about Lee District teachers, school trustees, and community members named in the historical records of the School Board.
Founded in 1870, the Mount Vernon Magisterial District originally included the communities of Accotink, Cameron, Camp Humphreys (Fort Belvoir), Franconia, Groveton, Gum Springs, Gunston, Potter’s Hill, Snowden, Spring Bank, Springfield, Woodlawn, and a portion of what is today the City of Alexandria.
The Mount Vernon School District has suffered catastrophic records loss. The minute books of the school trustees have all been lost or discarded. Surviving records include the 1875 School Census (available at the Virginia Room , Fairfax County Public Library, Harry Lattimore Collection), the 1890 School Census (available at the Fairfax County Circuit Court Historic Records Center ), a Mount Vernon District School Trustee Account Ledger (1916-1922), and a teacher salary list for Mount Vernon District (1920-1922).
Founded in 1870, the Providence Magisterial District originally included the communities of Andrew Chapel, Chesterbrook (Lincolnville), Dunn-Loring, East Woodford, Flint Hill (Oakton), Freedom Hill, Idylwood (Robey’s Station), Jermantown, Langley, Lewinsville, McLean, Odrick’s Corner, and for brief periods the villages of Fairfax Courthouse and Vienna.
The Providence School District has suffered significant records loss. Surviving minutes of the Providence School Trustees cover the period of September 1915 to February 1922.
The first community-funded public school in the village of Herndon for white children was constructed in 1868 on Center Street. The school opened two years before the founding of Fairfax County Public Schools and was absorbed into the school system’s Dranesville School District in 1875.
After the incorporation of the Town of Herndon in 1879, the Town of Herndon School Board was formed. The town’s school trustees operated two schools, one for white children and one for African-American children at Oak Grove.
When the consolidated Fairfax County School Board was formed in 1922, the town’s schools came under the management of the consolidated board. The Town of Herndon retained its School Board, but only one member of the board had a voting seat on the Fairfax County School Board.
In 1952, when Fairfax County changed to the executive form of county government, the Town of Herndon lost its seat on the Fairfax County School Board.
Town of Herndon School Board Minutes
Meeting minutes, lists of teachers and their salaries, and school construction records of the Herndon School Board can be found in this collection.
Educators of Falls Church District
Learn about Herndon's teachers, school trustees, and community members named in the historical records of the School Board.
From 1870 to 1922, the school trustees of the several magisterial district and town school boards met periodically at Fairfax Courthouse to discuss high-level matters affecting the entire school division. At these meetings, the trustees compared the financial records in their keeping with those of the county treasurer and division superintendent and dealt with matters related to public school funding, the school calendar, and public school legislation enacted by the Virginia General Assembly. Records are available of meetings taking place from 1872 to 1899 and from 1900 to 1922 .
The “combined” Fairfax County School Board, as it was known, was abolished in 1922, with the creation of the "consolidated" Fairfax County School Board. Although its structure has changed since 1922, the consolidated board is the modern Fairfax County School Board that governs the school system to this day.
Desegregation
The following historical records are related to the desegregation of Fairfax County’s public schools. Primary sources include:
- the meeting minutes of the Fairfax County School Board,
- personal correspondence of Superintendent W. T. Woodson and School Board members,
- desegregation reports to the School Board,
- oral histories, and
- newspaper articles.
Efforts have been made to provide answers to common questions posed by researchers such as: Where were the former all-African-American schools located? And, what happened to the African-American teachers after desegregation?
- Official Acts of the Fairfax County School Board During Desegregation
- Letters and Other Documents Relating to the Desegregation of FCPS
- Desegregation by the Numbers
- Desegregation in the News
- Oral Histories of FCPS Educators and Alumni
- African American Schools in Fairfax County
- African American Teachers and the End of Segregation
- FCPS Leaders During Desegregation
These records were created with assistance from staff at the Virginia Room , Fairfax County Public Library, who provided research guidance and access to records in the library’s archive. Assistance was also provided by West Springfield High School students in the Applied History program who provided transcriptions of documents and newspaper articles.
