Kings Park Elementary School

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

Welcome to Kings Park Elementary School! Join us in sharing the excitement of the foundational early childhood years as one of only a few primary schools in Fairfax County Public Schools. Kings Park's 700+ students, kindergarten through grade 3, live in the Springfield-Burke communities. Students attend neighboring Kings Glen Elementary School for grades four through six. In grades seven through twelve, students attend Lake Braddock Secondary School.

When Kings Park was built, in 1964, it was a K-6 school. It didn't officially open until November 1964 and shared half days with Little Run Elementary. In 1968, when public kindergarten was instituted, Kings Park’s enrollment was over 1,200. Ten classes had to be housed at Oak View Elementary School, eight at Holmes Intermediate and two classes in trailers. With the student population quickly outgrowing the building, Kings Glen was built and opened in 1969. Instead of splitting the neighborhood in half, the decision was made to create a primary school at Kings Park and an upper grade school at Kings Glen. The two schools have been operating in this capacity since 1969 and have a shared PTA.

After being built in 1964, Kings Park went through several building improvements. In 1986, the gym and music rooms were added. Kings Park was fully renovated in 1997 and in 2013, two wings were added which included seven additional classrooms and two conference rooms.

Kings Park students participate in a variety of learning opportunities to meet their academic and social emotional needs. Additionally, they have access to classroom computers, a computer lab, mobile labs, and iPads to enhance their learning. The school motto "Together We Grow" at Kings Park reflects the enthusiastic commitment to life-long learning shared by students and staff.

In 2015, Kings Park celebrated its 50th anniversary. During the 50th celebration, many former and current Kings Park students, teachers, and administrators attended to celebrate together.

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:

Kings Park Elementary School, named for the surrounding residential neighborhood, opened in November 1964. The Kings Park subdivision was built by Richard Kirstein and Marvin Kay’s Richmarr Construction Company. When naming the neighborhood’s streets and model homes, the men used names associated with people and places from Great Britain, such as parliament, Victoria, Cromwell, king, and queen. The cover of the first Kings Park brochure featured an illustration of a grenadier guard. These soldiers guard the residences of Britain’s monarchs. With this association in mind, Kirstein and Kay marketed their neighborhood as being “fit for royalty.” The land on which Kings Park Elementary School was built was once part of a 24,000-acre estate acquired by the Fitzhugh family in 1685. In 1742, the southern half of the estate came into the possession of William Fitzhugh, a wealthy planter and legislator who lived at Chatham, a mansion which still stands in Stafford County, Virginia, across the Rappahannock River from Fredericksburg.
In the mid-1790s, William Fitzhugh built a mansion, which he named Ravensworth, on his land in Fairfax County. In the 1870s, Ravensworth was inherited by the children of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, whose wife, Mary Anna Randolph Custis, was a niece of the last Fitzhugh owner. In 1917, brothers George Bolling Lee and Robert E. Lee sold more than 2,000 acres of the Ravensworth estate, including the future Kings Park site, to the Glatfelter Pulp Wood Company. Founded by Philip Henry Glatfelter in 1864, the Glatfelter Company is one of the largest paper manufacturers in the world. The company harvested softwood trees such as pines and cedars from the former Ravensworth property, but left hardwood trees such as oak, hickory, and sycamore to grow. Many of these trees were preserved by the Richmarr Company during the development of Kings Park. It was into this regal-themed neighborhood with its park-like setting that Kings Park Elementary School was constructed beginning in March 1964.

50+ years of Kings Park Principals
1964 – 1966: Robert Whittier
1966 – 1982: Mary M. Musick
1982 – 1983: Alex D. Wargo
1983 – 1990: Lenore H. Plissner
1990 – 2005: Mary Agnes Garman
2005 – 2007: Kathleen Walts
2007 – 2011: Sarah Skerker
2011 – Present: Dotty Lin