LoudounNow LOUDOUN COUNTY’S COMMUNITY-OWNED NEWS SOURCE
[ Vol. 1, No. 42 ]
[ loudounnow.com ]
[ Aug. 25 – 31, 2016 ]
7 Local brews rank among Virginia’s best
Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now
Hillsboro Charter Academy opens on Monday as the county’s second charter school. Kindergarteners got a glimpse at the new school, and a tasty snack, during orientation earlier this week.
Charter School Brings New Life to Education in Hillsboro BY DANIELLE NADLER
W
hen talk of starting a charter school began among Hillsboro families, this year’s kindergartners were still in diapers. It was May 2013, in response to Loudoun County School Board members’ threat of closing down the 50-year-old Hillsboro Elementary School. Its enrollment had dwindled to 66, and school system leaders said it was costing too much to keep
the doors open for so few students. The school’s parents and teachers thought converting it into a public charter school, with the flexibility to customize everything from lesson plans to student schedules, would be enough to draw new families and boost enrollment. And already—four days before Hillsboro Charter Academy’s very first day—it seems to be working. CHARTER SCHOOL >> 46
Loudoun Schools Ready for 78,000 Students BY DANIELLE NADLER It’s a week of preparation in Loudoun. The final touches on new and renovated school buildings will be made, student nametags will be carefully penned, and hundreds of buses will be tuned up and ready to roll. Monday is the big day, when Loudoun County Public Schools will welcome a record 78,000 students—almost 3,000 more than last year’s enrollment—and thousands of other students will return to the county’s private schools and homeschool proNEW SCHOOL YEAR >> 47
ECRWSS Postal Customer
Permit #131 Leesburg, VA
PAID
U.S. Postage PRESRT STD