Photograph of the front exterior of Clifton Elementary School taken in the mid-1980s.

School History: Clifton Elementary School

Remembering Our Past

In the early 1950s, the Fairfax County School Board decided to replace the aging wood-frame school building in the town of Clifton. In February 1952, architect Earl B. Bailey was assigned to prepare plans for a new brick-and-mortar school to be located on the site of the existing school.

Photograph of an architect’s drawing. — Pictured above is architect Earl B. Bailey’s rendering of the new Clifton Elementary School.

In October 1952, the School Board awarded the contract for constructing the new elementary school to Whitener and Skillman, Inc. In the summer of 1953, the old Clifton Elementary School was demolished, and the School Board purchased seven acres of land from Mae V. and John W. Heflin to enlarge the Clifton school property.

Black and white photograph of the two-story Clifton High School. — Pictured above is the school building that once stood on the site of Clifton Elementary School. Built in 1912, the school was originally known as Clifton High School. The facility housed elementary and high school classes until 1935 when the high school department closed.

Built for $168,373, the new Clifton Elementary School opened its doors to students on September 8, 1953. The school had four classrooms, a combined cafeteria and auditorium called a “cafetorium,” and a library. The names of Clifton Elementary School’s first staff members and their annual salaries in 1953-54 are:

Mr. Dorilas J. Driver, Principal - $4,320
Mrs. Annie E. Adair - $4,400
Miss Naomi L. Connatser - $3,200
Mrs. Virginia T. Jackson (part-time) - $1,050

In addition to his duties as principal, Mr. Driver taught the seventh grade and drove the school bus. The other teachers had combination classes with two and sometimes three grades in the same room.

[To get to school] the children from the village walked across the railroad tracks and climbed a path even steeper than the school road. The really daring students ignored the path and climbed straight up the cliff holding on to bushes and rocks. ~ Rose Payne

In the fall of 1953, FCPS had a total enrollment of about 24,500 students and 797 teachers. The county’s public schools were racially segregated, and only white children were permitted to enroll at Clifton Elementary School. Black children living in the area were bused to Eleven Oaks Elementary School in the town of Fairfax.

Photograph of the front exterior of Clifton Elementary School taken in 1954. A car is parked in front of the building. — Clifton Elementary School, 1954

In the 1950s, Quentin Porter was frequently hired by FCPS to photograph school buildings and students. Porter’s photographs are now part of the Virginia Room, Fairfax County Public Library. The slideshow below contains 19 photographs taken by Porter at Clifton Elementary School between 1953 and 1956.

Clifton Elementary School, October 5, 1954

Clifton Elementary School, November 8, 1956

Photograph of a newspaper article. It reads: May Carnival At Clifton School - The Clifton PTA is sponsoring a May carnival at the Clifton Elementary School, Saturday, May 26. Crowning of the May Queen and the May pageant, “Months of the Year,” will be presented at 11 a.m. The carnival stands will open at 12 noon. There will be games of skill, pony rides, a white elephant sale, bake sale, and many other activities for the enjoyment of all. There will be ten prizes awarded during the afternoon and an a la carte dinner will be served from 5 to 7 in the evening. — *Fairfax Herald*, May 25, 1956. Courtesy of the Library of Virginia.

Growth and Change

In September 1954, construction began on a two-classroom addition to Clifton Elementary School. The addition was built by E. H. Glover, Inc., for $30,228.

During the 1955-56 school year, Clifton had four full-time teachers: Annie Adair, Virginia Blevins, Helen Buckley, and Naomi Connatser. Driver continued in his dual role as principal and teacher. Additional staff members were George Volchansky, a part-time teacher, who alternated between Clifton and Fairview Elementary School, and Mrs. Patricia L. Foley, who worked part-time as Clifton’s librarian.

In the fall of 1960, FCPS opened its first intermediate schools, and the racial desegregation of the public schools began. The desegregation process was completed in 1966 with the closing of the last two all-Black elementary schools, Eleven Oaks and James Lee. Thereafter, Black children living in the vicinity of Clifton attended Clifton Elementary School.

Photograph of the front exterior of Clifton Elementary School taken around 1958. A car is parked in front of the building. — Clifton Elementary School, 1958. Courtesy of the Virginia Room, Fairfax County Public Library.

The Parent-Teacher Association of Clifton Elementary School was entertained Wednesday night by a student program. Mrs. Helen Buckley’s second-grade class offered a variety program of songs, skits, poems, and recitations following a short business meeting. ~ Northern Virginia Sun, April 20, 1962

In December 1964, construction began on an addition to Clifton Elementary School to increase the building’s capacity from 120 to 240 students. Four classrooms, a teacher workroom, and a new, wider driveway to the school were constructed for $112,800 by Whyte Construction Company. Before 1965, the old road up to the school was only wide enough to accommodate one vehicle at a time. If two cars met on the driveway, one would have to back down the steep hill to Clifton Road to allow the other vehicle to pass.

Aerial photograph of Clifton Elementary School. — Pictured above is Clifton Elementary School in 1976. The 1954 addition to the school is outlined in red, and the 1965 addition is outlined in yellow. Photograph courtesy of Fairfax County GIS & Mapping Services.

In 1968, FCPS adopted kindergarten county-wide at all elementary schools, and Clifton Elementary School admitted its first five-year-old students.

A class portrait. — P.M. Kindergarten Class, 1979

Photograph of the front exterior of Clifton Elementary School taken in the late 1960s. A student is standing by the flagpole. — Clifton Elementary School, Circa 1968

Clifton in the 1970s and 1980s

By the 1970s, Clifton Elementary School had a physical education teacher and a part-time music teacher who held class in a trailer.

In 1979, Clifton had one classroom for both physical education and music instruction, a small room for speech therapy, a student activity room, and one trailer for speech and reading services.

A group portrait. — Clifton Elementary School’s Safety Patrol, Circa 1978

During the 1983-84 school year, construction was underway on a $1.6 million renovation and addition to the school. During the renovation, Clifton had four trailers outside the building. One was used as a third-grade classroom and the other three were used for physical education, music, and special education services.

In the spring of 1983 big drawings were put up on the school walls. They were plans for building more rooms at Clifton School. Everyone was interested and excited. Soon machines came. They ripped away the playground. Trucks hauled dirt away. More trucks brought bricks and blocks and steel. Foundations were made and the walls rose straight and tall. During the spring of 1984 some classes could hear loud noise all day long. The fourth grade in room 6 called the builders “giant termites” and joked about their drills coming through the wall. ~ Rose Payne

Completed in 1984, the addition consisted of two “pods” at the rear of the building. Each pod had an open resource area surrounded by five classrooms, a teacher workroom, and a room for special education services. Also constructed was a new multi-purpose room — which served as a gymnasium — and a music classroom, a teacher’s lounge, and a courtyard at the center of the school.

During the renovation of the existing areas of the building, a wall was removed to expand the library into what had been a first-grade classroom, and the old teacher’s lounge and clinic were reconfigured to create a new office for the principal. The school was rededicated on May 19, 1984.

A Look Back

In 1994, Clifton Elementary School was the subject of the FCPS cable television channel series “Profile.” The Red Apple 21 crew spent several days at Clifton, gathering interviews with teachers and classroom footage. The resulting 30-minute documentary provides a fascinating snapshot of Clifton in the mid-1990s.

Clifton Elementary School Closes

In 1996, Clifton Elementary School entered the digital age when the building was wired for internet access. One year later, the school established a business partnership with the National Geographic Society, which led to an increase in the study of geography at Clifton.

During the 2000s, Clifton Elementary School entered into a partnership with The Lamb Center — a daytime homeless shelter in the City of Fairfax. Clifton students made hundreds of sandwiches each week, which were delivered by parent volunteers to the center for distribution at lunchtime.

Photographs of yearbook covers. — Pictured above are the covers of three Clifton Elementary School yearbooks. They are, left to right, 1993-94, 2000-01, and 2009-10.

In 2010, Clifton Elementary School had an enrollment of about 370 students, making it the smallest elementary school in Fairfax County. The school continued to rely on two wells for drinking water. FCPS staff reported to the School Board that the wells had sporadic water quality problems and had tested positive for bacteria, manganese, lead, copper, uranium, and arsenic. Staff estimated that it would cost $302,400 to correct the problem. Additionally, the school needed a renovation, which staff estimated would cost between $8.1 and $11.3 million.

The School Board began discussing whether to close Clifton Elementary School, and area residents strongly objected stating that the school was integral to life in Clifton. Parents expressed that Clifton should remain open because it was a high-performing, award-winning school, and a cultural landmark. On July 8, 2010, citing declining enrollment and high renovation costs, the School Board voted 9 to 2 in favor of closing Clifton Elementary School. A group of Clifton-area residents sued to keep the school open. Ultimately, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Fairfax County School Board, and Clifton Elementary School closed on June 21, 2011.