LOUDOUN COUNTY’S COMMUNITY-OWNED NEWS SOURCE
LoudounNow
[ Vol. 4, No. 46 ]
[ loudounnow.com ]
[ October 3, 2019 ]
■ PUBLIC AND LEGAL NOTICES - PAGE 26 ■ NOW HIRING LOUDOUN PAGE 40 ■ RESOURCE DIRECTORY PAGE 41
School Board Eyes Changes to Making the Grade(s) BY NORMAN K. STYER
burg Utilities Director Amy Wyks during the Sept. 30 Town Council meeting, the Town of Leesburg has provided sewer service to Graydon Manor since 1963 at a rate of 765 gallons per day. Now, the town is concerned about increasing that service. If Gregory’s plans work out, he’ll need about 300 gallons of sewer flow per co-housing unit each day—which would come out to about 71,700 daily gallons, not including what’s needed for a brewery or winery. Aside from noting that the town’s existing 56-year-old terracotta pipe might need an upgrade if the town were to increase sewer service on the property, Wyks pointed out that Graydon is located in the county’s Rural Policy Area—an area that the county’s comprehensive
Grades of zero for missing assignments could be eliminated—along with opportunities for extra credit and grading homework—as part of a comprehensive rewrite of school division grading policies under review by the School Board that could be in place by the next school year. The proposed changes are the result of a year-long effort to streamline and standardize grading policies with the guidance of a consultant and input from focus groups of teachers, parents and college recruiters. Eric Hornbaker (Ashburn) said the overarching goal was to ensure students have the best opportunity to master their lesson material. “We’re trying to get students to learn. That is the key,” he said. During a review of the proposal last week, Hornberger highlighted three of changes that have gotten attention. Rules to prohibit issuing grades on homework assignments are designed to recognize that the work is intended as an extension of the classroom lesson, rather than a test of proficiency. Prohibiting teachers for recording grades below 50 percent is designed to keep students striving to succeed, noting that the practices of assigning a low grade—such as a 0 or 10 or 25—to missing work can form an insurmountable obstacle to passing a class. Hornberger said issuing a 0 is defeating for students and does not encourage a “growth mindset.” And, the elimination of extra credit? He said that is because it is currently used to provide “score recovery” or to encourage a behavior unrelated to demonstrating the mastery of assignments. “That goes back to the philosophy of what grading and assessment is. If we are measuring a student’s learning, then extra credit really doesn’t do that,” said Ashley F. Ellis, the assistant superintendent for Instruction.
GRAYDON MANOR >> 46
GRADING >> 10
Patrick Szabo/Loudoun Now
Dave Gregory, principal of the Zeeland NV property company, and Cody Francis, Zeeland’s engineer, talk about their company’s plans to construct a cohousing village on the 131-acre Graydon Manor property overlooking the Town of Leesburg.
Graydon Manor Owner Battles Leesburg, County Over Co-Housing Village Plans BY PATRICK SZABO In January 2006, Dave Gregory moved to Loudoun County after years of doing business in the area. After a decade of passing by Graydon Manor on his way to and from work each day, he decided to purchase the 131-acre property with plans to build a co-housing village—following nearly six decades of the property operating as a group home for epileptic children. Now more than three years later, Gregory is finding out that it will take more money than he originally bargained for and hundreds of hours of discussions and litigation to make those plans a realty, if that’s even possible at all. Gregory, the principal of the Zeeland NV property company, plans to build 239 co-housing units on the western portion of the property, which sits
west of the Town of Leesburg and east of the Shenstone Farm neighborhood. His plans include 73 units to be housed in their own individual, 2,780-squarefoot single-unit buildings; 160 units in 40 4,320-square-foot buildings; and six units in two 3,240-square-foot buildings. Alongside that community, Gregory plans to build a brewery across three buildings, including in the 11,000-square-foot, century-old mansion house, and a winery that would feature a farm-to-table restaurant.
Additional Sewer Service Questionable To bring those plans to life, Gregory will need water and sewer service on the property. While Gregory said than an aquifer on the property would provide it with more than enough water, sewer service is a whole other discussion. According to a presentation by Lees-
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