Riverside Elementary School

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

Riverside Elementary School opened in September 1968, approximately two weeks after the start of school on September 3. According to alumni Gary Morin, who was a sixth grader that year, the opening of our school was delayed because the building was still under construction. Mr. Morin’s mother was a volunteer at Riverside, and she helped set up our library. He adds, “The first students at Riverside came from Fort Hunt, Woodlawn, and Woodley Hills elementary schools. I remember music class. It was at the end of the hall in the front of the building, just a couple of doors down from the principal’s office. Our class helped plant the oak tree on the northeast corner of the building. Mrs. Somers was a teacher. Mr. Coins, our janitor, had one arm, but he did it all! Principal Herman Keith showed movies in the cafeteria as a present. He liked nature movies of the great outdoors. I loved the field days we had in June.”

Design and Construction
Riverside Elementary School was designed by architect Allan J. Dickey. Our school originally had 24 classrooms and was built by the E. H. Glover Construction Company at a cost of $789,000. Our first principal was Herman Keith, Jr. He served from 1968 to 1980.

One former Riverside tradition that was recently rediscovered, and is poised to make a comeback, is letter achievement pins.

1975 to 1985
The period between 1975 and 1985 was a challenging time for Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS). Student enrollment gradually declined during this decade resulting in the closure of several schools in the eastern part of 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 Riverside fluctuated, but our school was not in danger of closure. In 1976, 436 students were enrolled at Riverside. That number jumped to 515 in 1978, fell to 366 in 1981, and rebounded to 420 by 1985. Our second principal, Charles P. Gray, came to Riverside from Wilton Woods Elementary School where he’d served as principal until that school closed in 1980.

1985 to 2000
Our third principal was John F. Spataro. He came to Riverside in the early 1980s and had previously served as the principal of Markham Elementary School on the Fort Belvoir military installation. During his principalship Riverside had its first addition. In 1987 the Golden Construction Company built a gymnasium and music room addition to our school at a cost of $680,331. Principal Spataro was succeeded in May 1990 by Janet K. Funk who served as principal until 1995 when she transferred to the newly opened Halley Elementary School. Our fifth principal was Olivia Michener. During her time at Riverside a second addition of six classrooms and a new state-of-the-art library were constructed. This addition began construction in 1996, and was contracted to Zadmer Enterprises, Inc. at a cost of $1.3 million.

Principals Janet K. Funk (Left, 1990-95), and Olivia Michener (1995-00)

A Glimpse Back in Time
In 1993, Riverside Elementary School was the subject of the Fairfax County Public Schools cable television channel series Profile. The Red Apple 21 crew spent several days at Riverside, gathering interviews with teachers and classroom footage. The resulting 25-minute documentary provides a fascinating snapshot of our school in the early 1990s.

2000-2015
At the beginning of the new millennium, Sandra O. Culmer became Riverside’s sixth principal. Culmer was the former principal of Rose Hill and Poplar Tree elementary schools and only served as our principal for one year before moving on to lead Willow Springs Elementary School. She was succeeded by our longest-serving principal to date, Lori J. Morton. Principal Morton arrived at Riverside in 2001 and two years later led our school through its first, extensive building-wide renewal and modernization. During her principalship, the Young Scholars program began and a Gifted and Talented Center (GT) opened at Riverside. The GT program was the forerunner of the Advanced Academic Program.

Principals Sandra O. Culmer (Left, 2000-01), and Lori J. Morton (2001-15)

Fun Facts
Did you know that Riverside was built on land that was formerly part of Muddy Hole Farm, one of five farms that comprised President George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate? Learn more: Muddy Hole Farm in this article by Emily Carlin of George Washington University:

Muddy Hole Farm was one of the five farms that made up the Mount Vernon estate. Located in the northeast corner of the plantation, running alongside Little Hunting Creek, Muddy Hole is said to have lived up to its name.

George Washington inherited the main chunk of the farm in December 1754 as part of the original Mount Vernon Tract. The remainder was purchased from Sampson Darrell in December 1757 and George Mason in October 1769.

According to an advertisement for the lease of four of the farms in 1796, Muddy Hole’s soil had “a greater mixture of sand in it than either of the other Farms, and is of a thinner quality,” but the farm had the “same number of fields with the rest; besides four grass lots of five acres each, surrounding the barn and stables; the whole making together 476 acres of ploughable land.” Additionally, the ad states, “The barn, (which is of wood) and stables for eight or ten horses are good.”

Muddy Hole went through a series of changes in what it produced, originally being part of the plantation’s tobacco operation. According to George Washington’s diary, hemp was grown at Muddy Hole in 1765 as part of his attempt to exit the tobacco industry in pursuit of more profitable cash crops. Hemp was harvested on August 15 of that year. While letters to potential buyers of his crop indicated that the experiment had not been a huge success, Washington intended to try again the following year. According to the diary, more hemp was indeed sowed at Muddy Hole, the mill and Dogue Run farms in March 1766. As Washington evolved as a farmer, Muddy Hole Farm became a part of the crop rotation implemented by him plantation-wide.

In June 1799, farm manager James Anderson suggested sweeping changes to the way the entire plantation operated in response to Washington’s hope to slowly scale back operations. Anderson suggested the “Scheme of Planting all muddy hole with Peach trees is without any doubt the best. And a few more hands may be useful on the Farm on that Account, But I would incline <crossing> it ligh[t]ly to improve the Soil.”

That same year, Washington took stock of all his enslaved laborers at Mount Vernon. Thanks to this account, we know forty-one slaves in total lived and worked on Muddy Hole Farm at the time, thirty-six owned by Washington and five dower slaves belonging to the Custis family. Twenty-one of these slaves are listed as workers, while nineteen are listed as children and one as “does nothing.”

The slaves known to have lived and worked on Muddy Hole included Kate and Will, a married couple. Will was an enslaved overseer, while Kate was a midwife, or “granny,” providing birthing assistance to the entire enslaved population at Mount Vernon.

Davy Gray, a dower slave, also lived and worked at Muddy Hole for a period of time. Davy, a mulato, began as a field worker but became a supervisor as early as 1778. In 1799, Davy was overseeing Muddy Hole Farm, a position usually reserved for hired white workers, and living with his wife, Molly, in the overseer’s house, a step up from the usual slave quarters. Washington respected, noting, “Davy at Muddy hole carries on his business as well as the white Overseers, and with more quietness.” In 1793, Gray convinced Washington to increase slave rations at Mount Vernon, a testimony to their good relationship. Gray was also one of the few slaves outfitted with mourning cloths for Washington’s funeral.

Between 1793 and 1795, when Washington reorganized the living quarters for his slaves on the farms to form more structured rows, Muddy Hole was left untouched, with a map from 1793 showing three buildings in a wooded area and two in a field. This is perhaps another product of Washington’s relationship with Davy Gray.

Upon Washington’s death, the farm passed to his nephew, Bushrod Washington, as laid out in Washington’s will, along with Mansion House and Union Farms. Today, the original site of the farm is home to a community park opened in 1979.

In 2010, the National Education Association and the School Library Journal held a nationwide contest, entered by more than 5,000 schools, and Riverside won! What was the prize? On March 18, 2010, Riverside hosted the gala premiere of the Hollywood blockbuster movie Diary of a Wimpy Kid! Series author Jeff Kinney was in attendance, as were film stars Zachary Gordon (who played Greg Heffley) and Robert Capron (who portrayed Greg’s best friend Rowley). Our safety patrol provided “security services” on the red carpet.

The flags in our main entrance represent the many countries of origin of Riverside’s students.

In 1967, during the architectural design process for our school, Riverside was referred to as Mount Vernon #6 Elementary School. Our building was officially named Riverside by the Fairfax County School Board in May 1968. Learn why that name was chosen in this video produced for Fairfax County Public Schools’ cable television channel Red Apple 21:

Riverside Elementary School was built in 1968, and was named in connection with the Riverside Estates neighborhood. The neighborhood was given this name because of its close proximity to the Potomac River.
The Potomac River is one of the major tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay, contributing thirty percent of the fresh water that enters the estuary. Its headwaters reach far up into the Appalachian Mountains and from pre-historic times the river has served as a major conduit of people and trade goods between the mountains and the coastal plain. The word Potomac is the Anglicized name of a Native American Indian tribe that at one time was loosely allied with the Powhatan Paramount Chiefdom. John Smith and a group of English explorers from Jamestown first encountered this tribe in June, 1608, during their exploration of the Potomac River near present day Stafford County, Virginia. It is believed that the name was originally pronounced " pa-taw-o-meck" and that it may have meant "trading place." Smith wrote that the tribe had eleven towns with an estimated 850 people and 160 fighting men. Their capital town, called Patawomeck, was located near Marlboro Point at the confluence of Potomac Creek and the Potomac River. John Smith named the Potomac River for the tribe, but the name the Patawomeck used for the river is unknown. The Five Nations of the Iroquois called it Kahongoroton which means "great river". In 1613, the Patawomeck assisted the English in capturing Matoaka, also known as Pocahontas, the famed daughter of paramount chief Wahunsenacawh and a woman of the Patawomeck tribe. In 1666, the English colonists declared war against several tribes on the Northern Neck of Virginia, including the Patawomeck, whom they massacred.
Today, descendants of the survivors continue to reside in Stafford and King George counties.

Our School Song
Riverside School is a beautiful sight
Its striking colors are red and white
A school that stands so proudly for all
It’s the one that beats them all
Soar Riverside, Soar Riverside
You’re number one
Soar Riverside, Soar Riverside
Aim for the sun!