Newington Forest Elementary School

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

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:

Newington Forest Elementary School, named for the surrounding Newington Forest residential neighborhood, opened in 1983. The name Newington is derived from the name of a dwelling, built in the mid-1700s, that once stood approximately three-and-a-half miles east of the school. In the 1600s, as the Virginia colony grew and settlers increased the population of the “frontier,” the General Assembly formed new counties and parishes to oversee the functions of local government. Counties were administrative areas governed by the courts in which justices, sheriffs, and constables maintained law and order. Within the boundaries of each county could be found one or more parishes. A parish was a region in which the Anglican Church and its vestry – a group of wealthy landholders – oversaw religious activities as well as some civil functions such as the care of orphans and the poor. Each parish had one or more areas known as a “glebe.” A glebe was a tract of land set aside for the support of the parish’s minister. In the spring of 1767, the vestry of Fairfax County’s Truro Parish offered for sale at auction one of its tracts of glebe land, including the dwelling house on the property. The glebe was purchased by Daniel McCarty, and was later given by him to his daughter Sarah and her husband Richard Chichester. Historians believe that it was the Chichester's who gave the dwelling on the former glebe tract the name Newington. In 1828, Newington was purchased from the Chichester’s heirs by William Nevitt. Located in the vicinity of the modern intersection of Accotink Road and Newington Road, the manor house remained in the Nevitt family until it was destroyed by fire in 1875. The name Newington likely would have been forgotten had it not been for the establishment of a post office by that name in 1888. The first Newington Post Office was located approximately three quarters of a mile west of the ruins. In the early 20th century, after the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac railroad tracks had been realigned, the Newington Post Office was moved to Pearson’s Store, which was then located on the east side of the railroad tracks south of the Newington Road underpass. Accotink Station, a train station within walking distance of Pearson’s Store, was renamed Newington Station in the 1950s. The station and post office were both demolished later in the 20th century, but the name Newington endures in the names of roads, neighborhoods, a new post office, and Newington Forest Elementary School.