Prince William schools open doors for new year

Though this Tuesday marked the official return to school for thousands of youngsters throughout the county, faculty and staff had already been hard at work making sure each opening could be launched smoothly.

While each elementary school shares similar goals for child development, they build their own legacies and traditions too. Nokesville Elementary School first grade teacher Bonnie Cheshire and Gravely Elementary School assistant principal Amy Larsen both shared some insight this past week into what students and parents alike can expect during the upcoming school year

Gravely is one of the county's newest elementary schools, opened in 2008, while Nokesville is one of the oldest. Completed in 1929, Nokesville ES is the oldest elementary school in western Prince William and the third oldest in the entire county, only behind Dumfries (1918) and Occoquan (1927). All the schools have roots extending further back, though only Dumfries can trace its origins to the 1700s.

"We spent the previous week preparing for the students, looking at where we've been and where we're headed," said Larsen about what's been going on at Gravely this summer.

She explained that the Gravely staff have "created a school-wide writing rubric for our students so that kindergarten through fifth grade will leave as very strong creative writers."

That's one of the aspects of teaching Cheshire said she enjoys the most. Now into her tenth year at Nokesville, Cheshire said the advent of all-day kindergarten during the last few years in the county has helped out with more children being able to read and write by the time they enter first grade. From there, Cheshire can introduce them to a variety of subjects and books and kids start choosing their own favorite authors.

"I think that's exciting because they're discovering something for themselves," she said.

Over at Gravely, creativity can flourish in the robotics program. Last year, during its inaugural launch, students could be active in the program but did not compete against other schools.

"This year, we are taking our students to compete at the FIRST Lego League competition," said Larsen.

According to the Virginia FLL Web site, the program allows students to "solve real-world engineering challenges, develop important life skills, and learn to make positive contributions to society" while they "talk to scientists, visit the library and develop compelling presentations."

That's not the only first for the school either as Gravely is issuing "Netbooks" after some parents requested their children be able to access their text books online. Essentially, Netbooks are the same as text books, only for computers.

"I would say that our parents and our (parent-teacher organization) blended together really in supporting literacy. There's a strong support for literacy at our school," said Larsen.

Cheshire said she met parents and students last Friday at an open house at Nokesville ES. The sight of parents at the facility is common even during the school year as she said the school has a strong relationship with its volunteers. For instance, Cheshire said she always finds more than enough parents willing to help out with field trips and it's parents that help stack and sort "homework books" dropped off by students.

"It's a wonderful group of parents, we're very, very fortunate," she said.

Larsen shared similar sentiments for Gravely's volunteer base, saying, "I think their impact in the community and in learning is very strong," particularly citing how parents work with students on subjects like math and reading.

One new topic of discussion Cheshire said she had to learn this year is the history of former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of former President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Finding books "suitable for children to read is kind of tricky," Cheshire said.

Fifty Gravely students will have a history lesson of their own up close and personal in November when they selected to perform the song "One Nation" at the U.S.S. Gravely's commissioning in North Carolina. The school's namesake Samuel Gravely, Jr. served as a vice admiral and became a trailblazer for African Americans rising through the ranks within the U.S. Navy.

Back at home, Cheshire said she's planning to take her students on a time-honored hands-on trip to Sully Historic Site in Chantilly and kids will also have a combination social studies-science trip to the Cows-N-Corn field in Midland. The latter allows students to study dairy cows lives from calves to adults from a herd of 300 Holstein cows, according to the Cows-N-Corn Web site.

In the classroom, Cheshire said her students will continue to benefit from Nokesville's increase in diversity, something occurring throughout county schools.

"When we have people moving in from various backgrounds, I really enjoy that. I think it makes our perspectives matter," she said. "So it's nice."