1938 Woodlawn Schoolhouse

Here follows a history of the school as published on the Fairfax County Public Schools website:

By the school year 1935-36 the community had outgrown the old schoolhouse. The school needed repairs badly but the School Board was planning a new building for Woodlawn. In March, 1936, "Mr. Woodson and a committee of men looked over several sites of land that may be suitable for our new school". The roof of the school was repaired during the summer of 1936, for in September the Parent-Teacher Association purchased a piano for $25.00, "since the roof had been fixed and it was safe to have one." In November 1936, the Parent-Teacher Association authorized teachers to purchase milk daily for undernourished children.

A New Start
On May 28, 1937, 10. 485 acres of land was deeded to the county to erect a new Woodlawn School. "This land was located in the beautiful pasture land with a small wooded knoll which was named Engleside. Not too far away stood Washington's old brick sixteen-sided barn often called the round barn. The new Woodlawn School was a brick structure containing four classrooms, a library, clinic, and principal's office, and was centrally heated. It cost approximately $36,000.

In September 1937, the new school was not ready. As the old building contained only two classrooms, two teachers taught in the community house for the enrollment that had increased from 78 to 162 pupils. Before the children could attend, a bumble bee nest had to be destroyed, doors repaired, and locks installed. The new school was completed by November and on February 11, 1938 a "housewarming" was held. In 1941 two classrooms were added to take care of 219 children.

Enrollment Increases Dramatically
In 1947, when Mrs. Sylvia Allen was principal-teacher, Mrs. Christine Buckman was secured as the first school secretary. The second addition to the school was built in 1948 to take care of 372 pupils. This addition consisted of four classrooms, a cafeteria, kitchen, and teachers' lounge. Mrs. Sylvia Allen now became the first non-teaching principal at Woodlawn. Until 1950 there were just a few faithful members of the Parent-Teacher Association; but, at this time under the leadership of Mr. Lewie D. (Pat) Murphy, it became a very active organization with standing room only at every meeting. This participation has continued.

The school population increased at such a rapid pace that another school was built in 1952 to relieve the overcrowding at Woodlawn. The third addition was made in 1953, consisting of a clinic, auditorium, multi-purpose room and a classroom. On July 23, 1954, 6.35 acres of land were bought to provide adequate play area. Again in 1957, eight classrooms were added while the multi-purpose room was converted into a library and the kitchen was enlarged.

In spite of these additions to the school, there was insufficient space to accommodate the school enrollment. Between 1963 and 1965 two additional schools had to be built in the area to relieve the crowded conditions at Woodlawn when the peak enrollment (763) was reached.

What's in a Name?
Learn more about the history of Woodlawn Plantation and the early years of Woodlawn Elementary School.

Woodlawn Elementary School takes its name from nearby Woodlawn Mansion. In 1799, President George Washington gave some 2,000 acres of land, consisting of farmland, meadows and forests, as a wedding gift to his nephew Lawrence Lewis and his bride Eleanor Parke Custis. Eleanor and Lawrence named their new estate Woodlawn and lived there for almost 39 years. The Lewis's mansion, completed in 1805, was built on a prominent hill which offered magnificent views of the Potomac River and Mount Vernon to the east. In 1846, merchants from New Jersey, who supplied lumber to Northern shipbuilders, visited Fairfax County in search of timber tracts and purchased the Woodlawn estate. Some of these timber merchants and their families settled in the area, dividing Woodlawn into smaller tracts of land. These families were Quakers, part of a Christian religious movement devoted to peaceful principles, many of whom were abolitionists and proponents of public education. The Quakers established and funded one of the area’s first public schools which they named Woodlawn. In 1870, the Fairfax County public school system was established in accordance with the new Virginia constitution and the Woodlawn School was incorporated into the new system. From 1870 to 1965, Fairfax County public schools were segregated by race, so the Woodlawn School only educated children from white families. The school was located close to present day Talbott Farm Drive off of Route 1, which at that time was known as the Accotink Turnpike. The schoolhouse was, at first, a one-room frame structure and had expanded to two rooms by 1922. The rooms were heated by wood-burning stoves. During the autumn of 1924, one of these stoves overheated and the school caught fire while the children were inside. A history of the Woodlawn School records that a student stood up and calmly said, "The schoolhouse is on fire, we had better get our coats and hats and get out." Soldiers from the Camp Humphreys Fire Department responded and managed to save the children's desks. The school was repaired and remained in operation until 1937 when the current Woodlawn Elementary School opened. The new brick building had four classrooms and was built at a cost of $36,144. Woodlawn Elementary has seen many additions and changes over the years. During renovations in 2015, the oldest portion of the school was preserved and now functions as a meeting space. The history of the early Woodlawn School for white children is well documented and remembered, but there is less information regarding a second schoolhouse also called Woodlawn. Very little has been written about this one because the historic African-American community it served was dislodged by the expansion of Fort Belvoir in 1940. In 1866, a public school for freed slaves, first called the Accotink School and later named the Woodlawn Colored School, was founded near the Woodlawn estate with assistance from the Quakers and the Freedmen's Bureau. This school was located in the historic African-American settlement of Woodlawn, very close to the site of present day Fort Belvoir Upper School. A second schoolhouse was built in the village around 1888. When village residents were forced to move in 1940, many of the children were reassigned to the Gum Springs School approximately four miles away. Today, Woodlawn Elementary School carries on the rich tradition of public education established by both Woodlawn schools. Its namesake, the Woodlawn Mansion, has been a site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation since the early 1950’s and continues to be open for tours today.
Visitors to the site can experience and contrast two historic homes: Woodlawn Mansion and the Pope-Leighey House, a 20th century home designed by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Go to woodlawnpopeleighey.org for more information.