Schools
Stenwood Elementary To Celebrate 60th Anniversary
Alumni are invited to Stenwood Elementary to walk down memory lane and celebrate the school's 60th anniversary.
VIENNA, VA — There have been plenty of students who have passed through the hallways of Stenwood Elementary in Vienna over six decades, and they are all invited to join a celebration of the school.
The school, just north of the Dunn Loring Metro station, will celebrate its 60th anniversary on Friday, May 17 from 5 p.m to 8 p.m. The school and PTA are encouraging alumni to attend.
The school, built on a 10-acre site in the Dunn Loring Woods subdivision, officially opened in February 1964. It opened at a time when Fairfax County was working to integrate its public schools, according to the school's website. The elementary school initially enrolled nine Black students and gained more when it closed James Lee Elementary School, one of the county's remaining all-Black elementary schools, in 1966.
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Some in the Dunn Loring community suggested naming the school after Walter A. Stenhouse due to his community involvement. According to the school's website, the name Stenwood comes from a neighborhood the Stenhouse family created across Gallows Road near the school. Only a few of the neighborhood's homes continue to exist today after widenings of Interstate 66 and Gallows Road.
Edna W. Stenhouse, Walter Stenhouse’s widow, planted trees and placed a sundial in the school's driveway once construction was complete. The sundial was renovated and rededicated during the school's 20th anniversary in the 1980s.
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Stenwood Elementary had been renovated starting in 1986 and has a library dedicated to Mildred O’Neill, the school's first librarian. A new gymnasium and addition at Stenwood was named "The William B. Martin Center" to honor Martin's 32 years of service to Fairfax County Public Schools.
The 60th anniversary will include a chance for alumni to walk the halls and see how the school has changed, meet other alumni and reconnect with students and staff, hear music from the Coozies, let the children try the moon bounce, and enjoy light refreshments and food trucks.
To attend, visit bit.ly/Stenwood60th.
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