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Danielle Nadler
L if e s t yle s
Williams Outlines Phased Approach To Expand Full-Day Kindergarten
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Judge Irby Sworn In
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DAILY UPDATES ONLINE
DECEMBER 4, 2014
NUMBER 25
Educa t io n
VOLUME 8
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$52 million hurdle. That’s the hefty price tag cited in recent years to build enough classroom space to send every one of Loudoun’s 5,000 kindergartners to school for a full-day program. But School Board members heard during a work session Monday about an incremental, and much less expensive, option that would extend full-day kindergarten to a total of 1,600 students next school year. Thirty-one elementary school buildings throughout the county likely have space to provide 43 classrooms of kindergartners a full, six-hour school day. Nine of the county’s 55 elementary schools already house extended kindergarten programs. For an estimated $3.45 million, the school district could hire the needed 20.5 full-time equivalent teachers and 20.5 teacher assistants, as well as eight specialist teachers. “This is a measured potential step forward,” Superintendent Eric Williams said. But he stressed that, at this point, he simply wanted to gauge board members’ interest. The presentation comes after state lawmakers and local families have increased pressure on school leaders to craft a plan to provide more students with full-day kindergarten. Loudoun, touted as one of the nation’s wealthiest counties, is one of only three school districts in Virginia that does not have universal full-day kindergarten. School Board members have talked in recent weeks about the possibility of charging families tuition to extend the school day for their kindergartners. Reversing Virginia law that prohibits charging for kindergarten is on the board’s list of legislative requests, which it will formally present to state lawmakers Friday. Right now, 1,013 kindergarteners receive some form of full-day programming. A total of 518 are in kindergarten classrooms for the full school day—those students are either considered economically disadvantaged, or they attend a school with a high number of students who fall into that category— and 495 are in kindergarten programs for half the day and English Language Learner programs for the other half.
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s she spoke in front of a packed courtroom Tuesday night, donning her judicial robe for the first time, Jeanette Irby’s voice was a little hoarse because of the laryngitis she’s been battling. But that didn’t stop her from cherishing the moment that she’d been waiting for since she first started practicing law 26 years ago. “It sounds worse than it is. I’m actually feeling fine, I just lost my voice,” Irby said. “It’s overwhelming and humbling.
That’s what I’m feeling after achieving a lifelong dream.” Irby takes the Circuit Court bench held by Judge Thomas D. Horne, who was the commonwealth’s longest-serving Circuit Court judge before he faced mandatory retirement on his 70th birthday last Dec. 1. Horne, as well as Del. Randy Minchew (R-10), Leesburg Mayor Kristen Umstattd and other public officials, spoke about the judge who will replace him. “I quickly realized that she’s not only there as a judge, but as somebody who reaches out to the community,” Horne said. “That’s the only way you get to understand human nature... And as a judge, you must honor the past, but accept the chal-
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Leesburg Today/Danielle Nadler
Jeanette Irby is sworn in as Loudoun’s newest Circuit Court judge by Judge William Shore Roberson as her husband Jeff looks on.
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