School History: 1986-2006

In 1986, Amanda Griggs Miles was appointed the fourth principal of Lake Anne Elementary School. During her principalship, Lake Anne continued to foster creativity and individuality through a myriad of before and after school activities, such as Chorus and Choralairs, the Lake Anne Times student newspaper, Woodworking Shop, Poetry and Ceramics, Science Lab, Gymnastics and Basketball, Improvisational Drama, Garden Club, WLAS, French Club, Spanish Club, and Chess Club.

As principal of Lake Anne School, I continue to be impressed with the closeness of students, parents, and staff. This triad works to make Lake Anne a fine environment for students to become emotionally happy people equipped with the fundamentals for the pursuit of intellectual stimulation. I am equally impressed by the mutual respect that students, parents, teachers, and other staff members have for each other and for the need of students to become educated people. It is a winning combination and one of which I am proud to be a part.
~Principal Amanda Griggs Miles, 1986-87 Yearbook

Our Principals: 1989-1994

Principal Miles departed Lake Anne in March 1989, and Michele J. Freeman stepped in as interim principal for the remainder of the school year. In the summer of 1989, Ms. Freeman was appointed principal of Lake Anne, and served in that role for one year. Ms. Freeman left in 1990 to become the principal of Herndon Elementary School, where she had previously served as an assistant principal. Lake Anne’s sixth principal was Ann Erler. She led our school from the fall of 1990 to January 1994.

Black and white yearbooks portraits of principals Amanda Griggs, Michele Freeman, and Ann Erler. Griggs’ photo was taken in 1987, Freeman’s in 1990, and Erler’s in 1990. — Principals Amanda Griggs Miles (Left, 1986-89), Michele J. Freeman (Center, 1989-90), and Ann Erler (1990-94).

Lake Anne Elementary School strives to support each student’s path toward excellence. Students bring to the learning environment unique strengths that are valued and enhanced by our total school community. We acknowledge, nurture, and celebrate the growth that unfolds as each child proceeds along this path toward excellence.
~Ann Erler, Principal, and Kim Brown, Assistant Principal, 1990-91 Yearbook.

Photographs of the covers of three Lake Anne yearbooks. On the left is the cover from 1987 to 1988. It features five color photographs. Four are of students and one is of the building. In the center is the cover from 1990 to 1991. It is a simple white text on dark green background design. The central image is similar to a family crest. It is a shield emblazoned with three sailboats, two Plesio mascot figures, and an oil lamp. The shield has laurel branches on both sides, a crown above it, and the word Reston written on a banner beneath it. The cover on the right is from 2002 to 2003. It is a student-drawn illustration of a sailboat on a watercolored blue sea and purple sky background. A plesiosaur, dolphin, and sea turtle are swimming in the water. Each animal and the sail of the ship have words written on them: Friendship, Learning, Teaching, Growing, Choices, and the phrase Sailing into Greatness. — Lake Anne Elementary School Yearbook Covers, 1987-88, 1990-91, and 2002-03.

Teachers of the Year

Lake Anne Elementary School is proud of all the outstanding teachers and school staff who have shaped the lives our students from the founding of our school to the present. In 1989 and 2000, two Lake Anne educators received special recognition for their expertise.

Lena Goreski

In May 1989, Lake Anne kindergarten teacher Lena Goreski was named the Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Teacher of the Year.

Ms. Goreski was nominated by her colleagues for her educational expertise, for serving as a model and resource for her peers, and for her ability to encourage children to become lifelong learners. “She recognizes that all students can achieve and can be successful in an educational atmosphere that is both pleasant and productive, and instills a sense of pride, diligence, and positive self-concept in her students. Ms. Goreski demonstrates a strong personal commitment to fostering positive school and community relations; and she exemplifies the highest caliber of human spirit, while demonstrating the belief that hard work and diligence are the hallmarks of a life well spent.”

Nancy Harris

In May 2000, Lake Anne first and second grade teacher Nancy Harris was selected as the Phi Delta Kappa Educator of the Year.

The Washington Post reported that Ms. Harris was chosen “for going far beyond the usual requirements of a teacher and devoting hundreds of hours of personal time to her students.”

Fun Facts

Did you know that the Spanish Immersion program at Lake Anne began in the 1990s? Lake Anne was one of the first ten schools in Fairfax County to offer what, at that time, was called partial-immersion. Also during the 1990s, Lake Anne Elementary School was designated a Model Technology School.

Black and white photograph of a student sitting in front of a computer workstation in 1990. The apple computer has a large keyboard built into the hardware assembly, a small CRT monitor, two large floppy disk drives, and a dot matrix printer. — Lake Anne was designated a Model Technology School in 1994. The rapid advancements in computer technology we’ve seen since that time make this equipment seem antiquated, but this computer was state-of-the-art in the early 1990s.

Lift Every Voice and Sing

On March 19, 1997, the entire Lake Anne student body gathered in the gymnasium to experience a live performance of The World’s Greatest Song by the Canadian Brass via a distance-learning teleconference. Students at schools from all over the United States joined one another in a simultaneous performance of the song Lift Every Voice and Sing. Some of the students at Lake Anne had been working on learning this song in their music classes, and the lyrics had been written on large posters that were posted in the gymnasium. When the announcer for the Canadian Brass said Lift Every Voice and Sing was generally known as The Black National Anthem, many of the African-American students went over to read the lyrics, and started to sing when the music began whether their class had practiced the song or not. Stuart Gibson, a School Board member who was in attendance, later recalled to other members of the Board how much the sight moved him and drove home the importance of engaging every student to make education relevant for them.

Yearbook photograph of the Lake Anne Ringers from 2005 to 2006. 18 children are pictured, standing in rows on three risers. Music notes are painted on the classroom wall behind them in colorful shades of red, blue, yellow, and green. — Did you know that Lake Anne was home to the only elementary school bell choir in Fairfax County? The Lake Anne Ringers rehearsed before and after school hours, and attendance was mandatory at every rehearsal. This photograph of the Lake Anne Ringers is from our 2005-06 yearbook.

Party Animals

Have you ever wondered why there is a large painted statue of a donkey in our lobby? In the summer of 2002, the sidewalks of Washington, D.C. became home to 200 painted donkey and elephant sculptures. Sponsored by the D.C. Commission on the Arts, the artwork project was called Party Animals. Of the 100 donkey statues on display, one was painted by students from Lake Anne Elementary School. With the help of teachers Pauline Daniels, Lana Jernigan, and Patti Koreski, 150 Lake Anne students began work on the donkey in January 2002. First and second graders drew the character designs, and fifth and sixth graders painted the designs onto the sculpture. The students entitled their masterpiece “Partying in the House and Senate.”

Two photographs of the Party Animal donkey on display in our lobby. The statue is more than four feet tall and sits on a wheeled base. The donkey was painted white all over, and on top of that colorful illustrations of children and political figures are shown having a party with balloons, food, and games. It is a bright, cheerful display of student artwork. — The D.C. Commission on the Arts received 1,200 design submissions for the Party Animal project, and Lake Anne was the only public school in Virginia to have its design selected. The Party Animals were on display until September 2002. Afterward, the sculptures were sold at auction with the proceeds going to the Greater Washington Girls and Boys Clubs, and the D.C. Commission on the Arts.

Renovations and Additions

Like most FCPS schools constructed in the 1960s, Lake Anne Elementary School was built without air conditioning. Window-mounted air conditioning units were added in the 1980s to some rooms, and in 1992 air conditioning was added building-wide at a cost of $305,320. In November 2001, a school bond referendum was held and voters approved funding for an addition and renovation to Lake Anne. The contract for the project was awarded to Whitener & Jackson, Inc., in the amount of $2.1 million, and construction began in June 2003. Completed approximately 16 months later, the project added a new nine-classroom wing to our building, a new teachers lounge, conference room, and work room, and revamped our parking lot and kiss and ride.

Color aerial photograph taken from a helicopter above North Shore Drive looking toward our building at an angle from due south. Compared with the earlier aerial photograph from the 1960s, you can see there have been three additions to the building: the gymnasium, and two classroom wings that have connected the formerly separate houses. — Lake Anne Elementary School, July 30, 2010.

Our Principals: 1993-2006

From 1994 to 2006, Lake Anne Elementary School had four principals. Cabell W. Lloyd was appointed principal in January 1994. He was succeeded in 2001 by Carol Franz, who served part-year in an interim role, until Michelle O. Graves Padgett was appointed principal. Ms. Padgett took a leave of absence in 2005, and Laura Shibles served as Acting Principal for remainder of the 2005-06 school year.

Yearbook portraits of Principals Cabell Lloyd, Michelle Graves Padgett, and Laura Shibles. Lloyd is seated at his desk. The portrait of Padgett has been cut out by hand and overlaid on a blue background surrounded with a colorful border of fish and kelp. Shibles is pictured in the cafeteria at a table with three female students. — Principals Cabell W. Lloyd (Left, 1994-2001), Michelle O. Graves Padgett (Center, 2001-2005), and Laura Shibles (2005-06).