Keene Mill Elementary School

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

Keene Mill Elementary School opened its doors, under the principalship of Mrs. Arthurea B. Rubinowitz on December 6, 1961. By January 1st, our school held 269 of its 480-pupil capacity, with new students arriving almost daily. The school was built at a cost of $376,100.

The Keene Mill PTA held its first meeting on Tuesday, September 11, 1962. In 1963, there was a problem with soil erosion on the playground so the science teacher in cooperation with the State Forest Service, set up a project for the students to plant 1,000 white pine seedlings in the schoolyard. Due to the various stages of renovation to Keene Mill, all that remains of those seedlings are about a dozen pine trees on the school playground. The first computer lab was Mrs. Avery's office. The cafetorium was the combination cafeteria and auditorium as productions were presented on a platform in the cafeteria. Keene Mill Elementary School was originally called Keene Mill Road School. Every Saturday afternoon a PTA-sponsored movie was shown in the cafetorium. Admission was 30 cents and candy was available for 10 cents. Movies shown included "Lassie Come Home" and Jerry Lewis in "The Bellboy." Keene Mill's first mascot was a cougar and the school colors were blue and silver. The present gym and music rooms were added on in the mid-1980's. Keene Mill underwent a major renovation in the 1989-90 school year. The old library was the present site of the computer lab. The new library was added along with the SACC/ preschool/MOD/SD wing.

What's in a Name?
Learn about the origin of our school's name in this video produced for Fairfax County Public Schools’ cable television channel Red Apple 21:

Keene Mill Elementary School opened in 1961. The school is named for Old Keene Mill Road which was named for a mill owned by the Keene family. Historically, Fairfax County was a farming community. Water-powered grist and sawmills were important economic engines for the community grinding grain and corn and cutting timber into lumber for buildings. In the late 1790s, James Keene established a saw and grist mill on Pohick Creek near present-day old Keene Mill Road. This record from 1799 delineates an agreement between William Barker and James Keene along with his brother William Keene for the construction of a mill dam on Pohick Creek. After their deaths, the mill passed down through William Keene's family. The Keene mill operated for approximately 60 years and the milling complex last appears on a map dating from 1878.
From the 1870s to the late 1950s this area of the county was sparsely settled, but by the 1960s suburban development had nearly obliterated all traces of Keene's mill. Today all that remains are two mill races, but the memory of the mill and its contribution to Fairfax County are preserved in its namesake Keene Mill Elementary School.