Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-08-28
.Woodson Guided Vast
Expansion of Schools
BY MARY LOU WERNER

] Fairfax County's big. modern
school system opens September
Is under the direction Of the
same man who started running
1t IS years ago, when every
building with a bunsen burner
was called a high school and
the school administration Office
was one room that served several
other functions as well.
Wilbert Tucker WoodSon. dean
of all school superintendent in
the Washington area, has piloted
the Fairfax schools through a
quarter century of remarkable
change and growth.
/ Most of the buildings are
modern. OF l,l04 classrooms-
including some due to be ready
by next spring-825 have been
built since 1851.
Double Shifts TO End
There will be some double
shifts and temporary classrooms
in use at the beginning of the
year, out most of these should
disappear gradually as new
buildings are finished during the
1866 school term. Certainly 1t
is nothing like conditions four
years ago. when roughly half of
the school population was on
double-shiftS or in temporary
quarters, such as f1rehouses, tar
paper-covered-fram buildings
and the like.
Altogether, II new elementary
schools and one new high school
are opening in Fairfax within so
days of September 6. 1t is the
largest number of buildings ever
opened at one time in the rapidly
growing county.
Some other schools will be fin
ished later in the year, giving
Fairfax County a total student
capacity of 1880 by spring.
That is just shy of the $4,000
enrolment expected.
Fairfax County, like the rest
of the country, was buzzing with
talk of the big boom" when Mr.. |
Woodson came there in 1926 as
supervisor and assistant super
intendent. Calvin Coolidge was
in the White House and General
Motors stock was soaring four
points day on Wall Street.
Boom Confined to Talk
Talk was about the only effect
of the 1926 boom felt in Fairfax
County. Fairfax was much like
Mr.. Woodson's native Albemarle
County. Va. He was born No
vember Il. 1893 on a farm near
CroZet.
In 1929 Mr.. Woodson was made
superintendent,
Mr.. Woodson and one secre-
tary made up the administrative
staff. Their Office was on the
second floor of the old clerk
Office building that stood in front
of the present building site. The
same room served as the county
health office. Board of Super
visors' meeting room and School
Board meeting room.
There were "a school buildings
in the county. Thirty of them
were one-room schools and IS
had only two rooms. Most of
them were wood frame. There
were four school buses.
The average teachers salary
was $779 year, which was 18th
in the State. There were l68
teachers and enrolment was
4.742, of which only 70 per cent
attended class.
The first major step forward
after Mr.. Woodson became
superintendent was a survey of
county high schools by three
noted educators. The survey
team recommended consolida-
ton of the IL scattered high
schools into three centers---
Herndon, Fairfax and Lee-Jack-
son. which eventually was re-
placed by Mount Vernon.
Some Said One Enough
There were some members of
the school board who thought
one high school should be enough
but Mr.. Woodson agreed with
the aiIrVevnra that TairfaY