Bailey's Elementary School for the Arts and Sciences is a public school located in

Bailey's Crossroads Bailey's Crossroads is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 24,749 at the 2020 census. Bailey's Crossroads lies at the crossroads of State Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) and State Route 244 ( Co ...

Fairfax County, Virginia Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. With a population of 1,150,309 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most p ...

, United States. The school was founded in 1952 and is part of the

Fairfax County Public Schools The Fairfax County Public Schools system (FCPS) is a school division in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. It is a branch of the Fairfax County government, which administers public schools in Fairfax County and the City of Fairfax. FCPS's h ...

(FCPS). Bailey's Elementary is a

Title I The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was passed by the 89th United States Congress and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on April 11, 1965. Part of Johnson's " War on Poverty", the act has been one of the most far-re ...

School, and was the first

magnet school In the U.S. education system, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. Normally, a student will attend an elementary school, and this also determines the middle school and high school they attend unless they mo ...

in Fairfax County. Bailey's is located in the Culmore area and many children from that area attend Bailey's. In 1997, Bailey's Elementary was selected by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

One America Initiative One America in the 21st Century: The President's Initiative on Race , or the One America Initiative, was established by U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1997 with . The main thrust of the effort was convening and encouraging community dialogue throu ...

Advisory Board on Race as a model for educational excellence in diverse communities.

History

The school opened in 1952. The magnet program was established in 1991, after Bailey's

parent–teacher association A parent–teacher association/organization (PTA/PTO), parent–teacher–friend association (PTFA), is a formal organization comprising parents, teachers and staff that is intended to facilitate parental participation in a school. A parent–te ...

(PTA), under President Richard Kurin, threatened to sue the school board to redraw the school boundaries, hoping to bring academic, linguistic, and cultural diversity to a school with a high percentage of non-native English speakers (87% in 1991). To attract students outside of the area, the school's educational program focused on the arts, science, and technology. In 1997,

Advisory Board on Race commissioned a case study, "Bailey's Elementary: Educational Strategies for Making Diversity an Asset", calling the school "an educational, social and cultural haven for students from all backgrounds", as quoted by journalist Peter Baker. Bailey's science teacher Lynn Riggs was selected Teacher of the Year in Fairfax County in 2006. Under the 2010 FCPS budget cuts, the Magnet transportation buses that brought out-of-boundary Bailey's students to school was proposed for elimination, to save approximately $100,000. The PTA protested that this would lead to a loss of magnet families, which would in turn damage the school's diversity. In April 2009, the FCPS school board decided to maintain the magnet transportation. A second campus opened for the 2014-15 school year in a converted five-floor office building, to house Grades 3, 4, and 5 (the "Upper" school), and relieve overcrowding at the original building. The Upper School is located at 6245 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, 1.4 miles from the original building at 6111 Knollwood Drive, which continues to house grades K-2.

Educational programs

Bailey's Elementary has a partial Spanish immersion program for the math and science curriculum. The school also has a two-way immersion for kindergarten, in which both English- and Spanish-speaking students are taught half of the school day in English and the other half in Spanish. Bailey's

English for Speakers of Other Languages English as a second or foreign language refers to the use of English by individuals whose native language is different, commonly among students learning to speak and write English. Variably known as English as a foreign language (EFL), Engli ...

(ESOL) program caters for around 500 students in grades K-5. In 1999, Bailey's began participating in the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

's "Changing Education Through the Arts" (CETA) program, which integrates arts throughout the curriculum. The Kennedy Center provides professional development to the teachers that focuses on arts-integrated instruction. Under the 2010 FCPS Proposed Budget cuts, the CETA program was earmarked for elimination, but was eventually redesigned instead. The school has an educational partnership with the

US Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering of land. The major divisions of the agency are the Chief's ...

to teach students about conservation. Every year local artists help Bailey's students create murals that are displayed on the exterior and interior walls of the school. Bailey's performing arts include 4th and 5th grade chorus, 4th and 5th grade band, 3rd grade violin, and 4th and 5th grade orchestra. The school also has its own theater, the Black Box Theater.

References

External links

Bailey's PTAFacebook Group to raise awareness about the 2010 FCPS Budget CutsFairfax County Coalition of Advocates for Public SchoolFairfax Cty Federation of TeachersVA PTAPresident Clinton's "One America Initiative" Advisory Board on Race Commissioned Case study "[Bailey's Elementary: Educational Strategies to Make Diversity an Asset
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey's Elementary School For The Arts And Sciences 1952 establishments in Virginia Educational institutions established in 1952 Magnet schools in Virginia Public elementary schools in Virginia Schools in Fairfax County, Virginia Brick buildings and structures in Virginia