Camelot Elementary School

Here follows the school history as published by Fairfax County Public Schools on their website:

In 1965, the Fairfax County School Board assigned architect Earl Bailey to design plans for a 20-classroom school tentatively called the Mill Creek Park Elementary School. Due to lack of construction funding, the plans for the school never got off the table and the project was put on hold. In June 1968, the architectural design of the Mill Creek Park School, by then referred to as Camelot Elementary School, were considered outmoded because an educational concept calling for "open classrooms" was quickly becoming the preferred teaching methodology in Fairfax County. The School Board assigned architect Anthony Mussolino to redesign Camelot to incorporate open classroom spaces and increase the capacity of the school to 900 students.

On September 26, 1968, the School Board awarded the contract for the construction of our school to Earl K. Rosti, Inc., at a cost of $1,047,969, with a scheduled completion date of July 1969. Camelot Elementary School opened on September 2, 1969. Our first principal was Beatrice B. Ward. Approximately 574 students walked through the doors of Camelot on opening day.

Camelot Elementary School, 1970s. Our school looks quite different today because Camelot underwent an extensive $7.7 million renovation and addition project from 2001-03.

What's in a Name?
The name Camelot has long been associated with the legendary King Arthur and fantastical stories of knights and dragons. Accordingly, this association inspired our choice of a school mascot and two special gifts to our school.

Camelot Elementary School's logo / mascot is a dragon. Its nickname, Flames, was chosen by students.

One day, when former Camelot principal David Chubb was shopping, he came across this knight statue in an antique store. He purchased it and donated it to our school, and henceforth it has become known as Sir Learn-a-Lot.

This statue was donated to our school following the completion of our 2001-03 renovation. Its name is Sir Smartacus!

How exactly did our school come to be known by the name Camelot? Find out in this video produced for Fairfax County Public Schools’ cable television channel Red Apple 21:

Camelot Elementary School opened in 1969. The school is named for the Camelot residential community which was developed during the 1960s by the Minshew Corporation. To attract buyers, the developers decided to give the neighborhood an Arthurian theme. Historically, Camelot is a castle associated with King Arthur, a legendary King of Great Britain popularized in folklore and literature. 13th century authors described Camelot as the location of King Arthur's Court where he presided over his most chivalrous nights at the famed round table. Stories depicted Camelot as the center of a world of adventure, magic, and dragons. It was also the place where King Arthur married the lady Guinevere and where courageous Knights set off on their quest to find the Holy Grail. Historians still debate as to whether or not a King Arthur and Camelot actually existed, but legends surrounding Arthur and his knights have inspired countless works of art and literature. The Minshew Corporation sought to capture that spirit describing Camelot in their sales brochure as a million moves away from the hurly-burly of today. The main entrance to the neighborhood was made to look like castle walls adorned with shields and flags. The home models were given popular names from Arthurian stories such as the Lancelot, the Gawain, and the Galahad. The streets were named similarly King Arthur Road, Merlin Way, Eire Drive, Excalibur Court, and Round Table Court. This photograph from 1968 shows many of the newly constructed homes in the Camelot neighborhood as well as the future site of Camelot Elementary. The school opened approximately eighteen months after this photograph was taken.

Pine Ridge Elementary School
From the mid-1970s into the early 1980s, student enrollment began a gradual decline resulting in the closure of several schools in Fairfax County. The closures affected neighborhoods that saw the earliest growth post-World War II. The children in these neighborhoods were graduating high school, and there were fewer families in the area with young children. Enrollment at Camelot Elementary School gradually declined from 637 students in 1975 to 445 students in 1982. A study was conducted to determine which of three elementary schools—Camelot, Mantua, or Pine Ridge—should be closed at the completion of the 1981-82 school year. The Fairfax County School Board voted to close Pine Ridge Elementary School, located nearby on Woodburn Road. After it closed, the school was converted into a police station. The subsequent boundary adjustment transferred approximately 200 former Pine Ridge students to Camelot.

Camelot Center
From 1969 to 2012, Camelot Elementary School was home to a special education center for deaf and hard of hearing students. In addition to elementary-aged children with special needs, the center enrolled preschool children in the Camelot Hearing Pod for Preschoolers. Hearing impaired children throughout Fairfax County were bused to the center, which offered specialized small-group classes and "mainstreamed" students into general education classes.

By the mid-1990s, Camelot Center served infants as young as 9 months and children up to the sixth grade. An early intervention program for deaf and hard of hearing infants and toddlers, called Bright Beginnings for Babies, was being offered in collaboration with Fairfax-Falls Church Early Intervention Services. Learn more about Bright Beginnings and other aspects of Camelot Center’s history in this video playlist from the Fairfax County Public Schools’ Red Apple 21 television channel archives.

Camelot Center closed in 2012, when the deaf and hard of hearing program was moved to Canterbury Woods Elementary School.

Camelot Center Principals
For many years, Camelot Center operated under the direction of a separate principal from Camelot Elementary. The first known principal of Camelot Center, from pictures in our 1980s-era yearbooks, is Connie Rahill. Carol McBride was principal from the early to mid-1990s, and Donna Grossman was principal from the late 1990s until the center closed in 2012.

Center principals Connie Rahill (left), Carol McBride (center), and Donna Grossman

Camelot Elementary Principals
Camelot Elementary School’s first principal was Beatrice B. Ward. She left during her second year due to health complications. Marvis G. Wynn was appointed principal of Camelot during the summer of 1971. In 1980, she was succeeded by Joseph N. Rucker. Joe Rucker retired in 1991, and in January 1993, Camelot Elementary School's library was named in his honor by the Fairfax County School Board.

Principals Beatrice B. Ward (left, 1969-71), Marvis G. Wynn (center, 1971-80), and Joseph N. Rucker (1980-91)

The School Board resolution naming the library praised Joe Rucker for his love of learning, for fostering a sense of "family" at Camelot, and for his deep concern for the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of all children. In 1991, David E. Chubb became the fourth principal of Camelot. After his retirement in 2003, he donated Sir Learn-A-Lot (the knight statue prominently displayed in our lobby). Principal Chubb was succeed in 2003 by Melaney Mackin, who led our school until 2008.

Principals David E. Chubb (1991-03) and Melaney Mackin (2003-08)

In 2008, Craig Gfeller was appointed the sixth principal of Camelot Elementary School. Gfeller led Camelot until our current principal, Aileen Flaherty, was appointed in 2012.

Yearbooks
Our library has a copy of almost every yearbook since our school opened. Here is an animated look the covers in our collection.

Missing years are 1969-76, 1982-83, 1987-88, 1989-91, 1995-97, 2001-02. Do you have a yearbook from one of these missing years?

The Buddy Bench
Dedicated in May 2016, the Buddy Bench has become an important part of our school culture. Children are taught that if they feel alone or isolated during recess, they are to go and sit on the bench. When other children see one of their peers sitting on the bench, they know to come and talk or play with him or her.

The Buddy Bench is in front of the playground.