Bailey's Elementary School for the Arts and Sciences

Bailey's Elementary School for the Arts and Sciences is a public school located in Bailey's Crossroads, Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The school was founded in 1952 and is part of the Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS). Bailey's Elementary is a Title I School, and was the first magnet school in Fairfax County. Bailey's is located in the Culmore area and many children from that area attend Bailey's.

Bailey's Elementary Magnet School for the Arts and Sciences
Bailey's Elementary
Address
6111 Knollwood Dr., Falls Church, 22041 VA, United States
Information
TypePublic School
Established1952
PrincipalMarie Lemmon
GradesK-5
Enrollment1,400
Colour(s)Orange and Black
MascotTiger
AffiliationFairfax County Public Schools
Information703.575.6800
Cluster3
PyramidJustice High School
Websitehttp://www.fcps.edu/BaileysES/

In 1997, Bailey's Elementary was selected by President Bill Clinton's One America Initiative Advisory Board on Race as a model for educational excellence in diverse communities.

History

The school opened in 1952.

The magnet program was established in 1991,[1] after Bailey's parent–teacher association (PTA), under President Richard Kurin, threatened to sue the school board to redraw the school boundaries,[2] hoping to bring academic, linguistic, and cultural diversity to a school with a high percentage of non-native English speakers (87% in 1991).[3] To attract students outside of the area, the school's educational program focused on the arts, science, and technology.

In 1997, Bill Clinton's One America Initiative Advisory Board on Race commissioned a case study, "Bailey's Elementary: Educational Strategies for Making Diversity an Asset",[4][5] calling the school "an educational, social and cultural haven for students from all backgrounds", as quoted by journalist Peter Baker.[6]

Bailey's science teacher Lynn Riggs was selected Teacher of the Year in Fairfax County in 2006.[7]

Under the 2010 FCPS budget cuts, the Magnet transportation buses that brought out-of-boundary Bailey's students to school was proposed for elimination, to save approximately $100,000.[8] The PTA protested that this would lead to a loss of magnet families, which would in turn damage the school's diversity. In April 2009, the FCPS school board decided to maintain the magnet transportation.

A second campus opened for the 2014-15 school year in a converted five-floor office building, to house Grades 3, 4, and 5 (the "Upper" school), and relieve overcrowding at the original building. The Upper School is located at 6245 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, 1.4 miles from the original building at 6111 Knollwood Drive, which continues to house grades K-2.

Educational programs

Bailey's Elementary has a partial Spanish immersion program for the math and science curriculum.[9] The school also has a two-way immersion for kindergarten, in which both English- and Spanish-speaking students are taught half of the school day in English and the other half in Spanish.

Bailey's English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program caters for around 500 students in grades K-5.[10]

In 1999, Bailey's began participating in the Kennedy Center's "Changing Education Through the Arts" (CETA) program,[11] which integrates arts throughout the curriculum.[12] The Kennedy Center provides professional development to the teachers that focuses on arts-integrated instruction. Under the 2010 FCPS Proposed Budget cuts, the CETA program was earmarked for elimination, but was eventually redesigned instead.

The school has an educational partnership with the US Forest Service to teach students about conservation.[13]

Every year local artists help Bailey's students create murals that are displayed on the exterior and interior walls of the school.[14]

Bailey's performing arts include 4th and 5th grade chorus, 4th and 5th grade band, 3rd grade violin, and 4th and 5th grade orchestra. The school also has its own theater, the Black Box Theater.

References
  1. Duke, Daniel L. (1 February 2012). Education Empire: The Evolution of an Excellent Suburban School System. SUNY Press. ISBN 9780791482988. Retrieved 21 January 2018 – via Google Books.
  2. "A magnet program intended to bolster Bailey's Elementary School in Fairfax County VA, almost eliminated in a round of budget cutting by the School Board, was revived after parents invoked an obscure law requiring the board to vote again."
  3. Fairfax School Targeted For Magnet Program; Aim Is to Lure English-Speaking Students, The Washington Post, DeNeen L. Brown Oct 23, 1991
  4. "Educational Strategies for Making Diversity an Asset" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-26. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  5. "washingtonpost.com: Special Race Relations Report". www.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  6. "Special Race Relations Report". washingtonpost.com. 1997-12-18. Retrieved 2018-01-21.
  7. Glod, Maria (6 April 2006). "A Teacher's Call: 'Let's Investigate'". Retrieved 21 January 2018 – via www.washingtonpost.com.
  8. Chandler, Michael Alison (April 24, 2009). "Turning Back the Clock? Fairfax Magnet School, a Model of Diversity, Could Lose Its Bus Service". The Washington Post.
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-01-18. Retrieved 2009-01-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. "ESOL Teacher Allyn Kurin". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  11. "CETA". Archived from the original on 2008-06-18. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  12. "FCPS CETA video". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  13. "Partnership". Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  14. https://web.archive.org/web/20100611175355/http://www.fcps.edu/DIT/streaming/ss1_mural.asx
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