Address:
830 West Broad Street
Falls Church, VA 22046

Phone:
(703) 533-1182

Location:
Suburban

Grade Levels:
K-8

Student Characteristics:

Nestled in the once quiet colonial town of Falls Church, St. James has served generations of community children which now include growing ranks of immigrants from across the globe who search for values and educational skills for their children. The Christian heritage of a community of faith experienced by earlier graduates like marine biologist Gretchen Linton of Baltimore's National Aquarium, Catherine Pipan, M.D., laser physicist, John Spadaro, of Long Beach, California, and Father Jack O'Hara, former director of Catholic Charities for the Diocese of Arlington, continues to be transmitted to the new inhabitants as well as the children and grandchildren of longtime residents.

This heritage, together with the tradition and beliefs of the Catholic faith, is linked with respect for our parents as the primary educators of their children, recognition of the uniqueness, individual talent, ability and the needs of our current student population for the ever-developing challenges of the twenty-first century. Our community of 622 students currently includes youngsters who have come from five continents - Australia, Asia, Central and South America, Europe, and North America. We view it as a mini-United Nations where all cultures and individual traditions mix in harmony. The socioeconomic structure of our school families broadly represents the stratification of Northern Virginia - 4% receive parish tuition subsidies, 76% are lower to middle income families, and 20% are higher income families.

A centralizing highlight of our current educational program is our Beatitude Program, "Gathering the Peaces", under which the entire school community focuses each year on one of the Beatitudes, such as this year's theme: "Blessed are the peacemakers". All curriculum areas touch regularly on this theme and the students and the faculty who are encouraged to pursue projects or consider situations that will interiorize as well as exteriorize the chosen theme.

To ensure the continuing tradition of excellence in service to the community, teams of parents, teachers, administrators and community representatives embarked on the preparation of a five year strategic plan which was completed in late 1995. Based upon this study, significant curriculum and physical plant improvements have already been made - art and music rooms were added, as well as computer and science labs, and all classrooms were wired and computer interconnected as a special project of our PTO. Air conditioning (a must for our humid spring and fall seasons) and new windows were added. A systematic plan for timed renovations has been developed and is being implemented. The junior high curriculum was fully departmentalized to maximize faculty expertise and to facilitate student movement into high school.

Our faculty has embarked on "Project Togetherness" whereby all have committed to working together to assist and motivate the neediest of our students as they are identified. The focus is on encouraging all the talents, experience and capabilities of those students who otherwise might "slip through the cracks".

Our campus encompasses three buildings, which house primary, intermediate and junior high classes. A new $1.6 million community activities and sports facility is scheduled to be completed by December, 1998. It will not only help us serve as a "home court" for the many CYO basketball leagues in Northern Virginia but it will also serve as a focal point for parent, school, parish and community activities for many potential "latch-key" children. The new facility will enable us to expand our physical education program which we view as an extension of our value system and which will enhance our commitment to the community in general. It will be named after a member of the original planning committee, a longtime parishioner and St. James' student from kindergarten through the 8th grade, Joseph B. Knecht. His sudden and tragic death in the fall of 1995 shocked and saddened the entire St. James and Falls Church communities. The values that he lived and mirrored to others as a model father, devout parishioner, Scout and civic leader, coach and tireless volunteer provide an outstanding model to our community.

Intensive collegial study and goal setting has resulted in the addition of science and computer specialists to our staff and a resource teacher/student advocate and an assistant. In the science department area, our students have won national and district championships in the "Invent, America" competition and have earned a grand prize in WJLA-TV's Washington Metropolitan area's "Seek Out Science" competition. For this achievement, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors made a special recognition award to the team and to the Science teacher. Through this process we have also identified the need to prepare our students for the technological challenges of the future while guiding them with the time tested values of our faith.

In the Virginia Math Leagues competition, St James' students have excelled, consistently placing among the top schools statewide over the past five years. The departmentalization of our seventh and eighth grade classes over the past three years has profited from the expertise, enthusiasm and charisma of our teachers.

Our graduates during the past three years have earned academic scholarships to the area's most prestigious high schools including the nationally acclaimed Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Gonzaga, St. Alban's, Phillips Exeter, and our diocesan "Blue Ribbon" high school, Bishop O'Connell. Motivated by their teachers to a superior standard of academic excellence, our students have achieved scores higher than 80% of the national norm on the CAT 5 test during 1996 and 1997. In recognition of our standards and performance, parents have entrusted their children to our care resulting in a 35% increase in enrollment over the past five years.

St. James is truly committed to bridging the colonial past and traditions of the 300-year old City of Falls Church with the vision and integrity of our Christian values to foster growing student citizens for the next millennium.