A New Look for the Old School

Wakefield High, Waiting to Be Replaced, Gets a One-Day Makeover

When students return to Wakefield High School next month, they will find the likeness of a giant panda on the cafeteria wall. They will also be greeted by a new dressing room for the theater department, freshly planted trees across the campus and hallways lined with college-themed bulletin boards. One depicts a giant football field with the words "Go for the goal."

And all it took was this: more than 800 bottles of water, 350-plus volunteers, 300 pairs of latex gloves, 40 shovels, 20 ladders, 15 dustpans and brooms -- and one day.

The school was chosen for a makeover this year as part of the National Education Association's annual convention. Every year for the past 13, the group has chosen a public school to pamper for a day as part of the NEA Student Program's "Outreach to Teach." Wakefield is the first school to be picked in Virginia.

"We know if a district had all the money it needed, it would take care of all this stuff itself," Student Program coordinator Kimberly Anderson said. "But this is reality. There is not going to be enough money to take care of every school."

Anderson said the last time the association's convention was in the District, a school in Forestville received the makeover. This time, it was Virginia's turn. Anderson visited schools in Fairfax County, Alexandria and as far south as Fredericksburg, she said, before deciding Wakefield was "by far the neediest."

"It's a well-kept building, but it looks like a typical school," Anderson said. "It was not inviting at all."

Wakefield Principal Doris Jackson said that the school's custodial staff keeps the grounds "spit shining" but that the age of the building, which was constructed in 1952, was evident. She said the concession stands were in dire need of painting, the drama department's makeshift dressing room lacked even basic mirrors and the dated furniture in the teachers' lounge was neither comfortable nor inspiring.

The high school is slated for a complete overhaul like its North Arlington counterparts, Washington-Lee and Yorktown, but crews won't break ground at Wakefield until 2013 at the earliest. Jackson welcomed the immediate help.

"Environment does affect the way you feel about what you do," she said. "So I expect the new paint, the new furnishings and the murals will just make the building a lot more attractive and make us feel good about being here."

School systems often take care of construction projects during summer break. In Arlington, work on Washington-Lee's new pool, auditorium and gym was done over the summer. In Alexandria, crews worked on the T.C. Williams High School football field, track and parking area.

And when students return to school in both jurisdictions Sept. 2, it's not just the structures that will be new.

In Alexandria, Morton Sherman has stepped into the superintendent position, replacing Rebecca L. Perry, who left in January. The School Board awarded Sherman, a former superintendent in Tenafly and Cherry Hill, N.J., a $250,000-a-year contract in June. The Alexandria School Board also has a new chairman in Yvonne Folkerts after Claire M. Eberwein left to join her family overseas in June, a year before her term was to expire. Marc Williams won a special election last week to fill the balance of Eberwein's term.