Loudoun County Public Schools


Loudoun County Public Schools is a branch of the Loudoun County, Virginia, United States government, and administers public schools in the county. LCPS's headquarters is located at 21000 Education Court in Ashburn, an unincorporated section of the county.
Due to rapid growth in the region, LCPS is one of the fastest-growing school divisions in Virginia and the third largest school division in the state. For the 2019-2020 school year, LCPS educated approximately 84,000 students.

History

The public school system in Loudoun County was established in 1870 to fulfill the needs for free education after the Civil War and in an era of Reconstruction. For most of its history, LCPS served a rural population, known for its dairy farms. Since the construction of Washington Dulles International Airport in 1962, Loudoun County's population has skyrocketed, accompanied by that of the school system. For example, since the 2000-2001 school year, LCPS has opened 51 schools: 28 elementary, 11 middle, 11 high and one educational center.

Administration

The LCPS system, while operated on a day-to-day basis by the Superintendent, is managed under the direction and authority of the Loudoun County School Board, a nine-member panel elected by citizens in the county. Eight of the nine board positions are divided among voting districts that represent communities throughout the county, while the ninth seat is elected at-large by the entire county. The voting districts correspond to those used for Loudoun County Board of Supervisors elections. Unlike the Board of Supervisors, the chairmanship of the School Board is elected annually by its members, while the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors is always the at-large seat. While the School Board makes decisions relating to school policy and curriculum, it receives funding through the Board of Supervisors.
Current school board members are:
NameDistrictYear Elected
Brenda SheridanSterling, Chair2011
Atoosa ReaserAlgonkian, Vice-Chair2019
Denise CorboAt-Large2019
Harris MahedaviAshburn2019
Ian SerotkinBlue Ridge2019
Leslee KingBroad Run2019
John BeattyCatoctin2019
Jeff MorseDulles2011
Beth BartsLeesburg2019

Demographics

In the 2019-2020 school year, LCPS students were 46% White, 23% Asian, 18% Hispanic, 8% Black/African American, and 6% Multiracial.

Schools

High schools

With the opening of Independence High School, Loudoun County has 16 high schools. All but two high schools, Loudoun Valley and Broad Run, are two stories. Loudoun County, the oldest high school, can hold around 1,370 students, Loudoun Valley and Broad Run can hold around 1390-1410, although Broad Run can hold more because it has 9 trailers on site as of 2012, Park View can hold about 1370 and Potomac Falls can hold about 1400. Potomac Falls' design has been used with every high school in Loudoun County built after it, with a bigger auditorium and more classrooms. Stone Bridge, Heritage, Briar Woods, Freedom, and Woodgrove can hold 1600 students. Dominion High School is an exception to the 1,600 capacity rule; the school is structurally designed for 1,600 students, however, because it is the site of the Academy of Science, the actual student capacity for Dominion High School is 1,350, and the remaining seats are designated for the Academy of Science students. With the opening of Tuscarora High School, and John Champe High School, the new high schools still use the Potomac Falls design template but with an 1800 student capacity. When Riverside High School in 2015, and Rock Ridge High School opened in 2014 it had a 1,600 student capacity not the standard 1,800 because of little increase in student population foreseen in the Ashburn area. The 2019-2020 year introduced Independence High School with a newer and refreshed design of Potomac Falls, although the student capacity is to be determined due to the amount of high schools around the build site. The 2020-2021 year will introduce Lightridge High School with a new design different than Potomac Falls High School. The school is opening to reduce overcrowding at John Champe High School.
All high schools serve grades 9–12.
Briar Woods High School
Broad Run High School
Dominion High School
Freedom High School
Heritage High School
Independence High School
John Champe High School
Lightridge High School
Loudoun County High School
Loudoun Valley High School
Park View High School
Potomac Falls High School
Riverside High School
Rock Ridge High School
Stone Bridge High School
Tuscarora High School
Woodgrove High School
Loudoun County currently has 17 middle schools, all of which typically feed into one high school currently, or in the near future. Older middle schools such as Simpson, Blue Ridge, Sterling, and Seneca Ridge originally were able to carry about 1,000 students, but have all gone or are going through expansion projects that will allow them to carry 1,200 students once the projects are complete. The older schools are also trying to modernize the building by placing ornamental designs throughout the school. Newer middle schools built since 1995 when Farmwell Station opened typically have capacities of 1,200 to 1,350 students depending on the age of the building and how fast growth was around the particular school when the school opened. Since the opening of J. Michael Lunsford, all middle schools are built with a two-story design that can carry 1,350 students. As of the 2018-2019 year, Mercer Middle School will serve grades 6-7, while Willard Intermediate School will serve grades 8-9. Once Lightridge High School opens in 2020, the two schools will serve grades 6-8, with Willard becoming a full-fledged middle school.
Serves grades 6–8.
Eagle Ridge Middle School
Farmwell Station Middle School


Serves grades 8-9
LCPS had two previous intermediate schools
LCPS currently has 51 elementary schools, which are nearly all community based, with over half of them opening in the last 10 years. Newer elementary schools throughout the county can carry approximately 800 to 875 students. Older elementary schools in the eastern part of the county can carry anywhere from 400–600 students. There are some rural elementary schools in Loudoun County as well, nearly all of them in the western part of the county. They are much smaller in size and are much older facilities, typically holding enrollments of about 100–150 students. Since the opening of Buffalo Trail Elementary School, all elementary schools are built with a two-story design that can carry 875 students.
Serves grades K-5

High schools

Students primarily attend classes on their home campus, but have opportunities to take additional, specialized courses at LCPS's magnet and alternative schools, such as Science, Engineering, Technology, and more at the Academies of Loudoun Campus
Each school's instructional curriculum is set primarily by the LCPS district office based on Virginia Department of Education requirements. There are generally eleven academic departments, each supervised by a department head :
The "core" courses of English, mathematics, science and social science typically have tracks or sequences that are determined by grade level. This is true for some of the other course groups as well, such as world languages, physical education and fine arts. Additionally, many of the core courses are further arranged into basic/general, academic, honors, Dual Enrollment and Advanced Placement classifications. Each classification generally denotes a progressively more challenging level of instruction, although the distinction between honors and AP is often blurred.
Students attending Loudoun Academy of Science at Dominion High School in Sterling and C.S. Monroe Technology Center in Leesburg do so every other class day, taking their non-magnet classes at their home campuses on the alternate days.

Specialized programs

ESL

Nearly all LCPS schools offer a full English as a Second Language program, for students whose native language is not English and who do not speak and/or read English well. For school assessment purposes, these learners are referred to as "Limited English Proficient" or "LEP" students.

Special education

LCPS offers a wide range of Special Education programs for students who have minor learning disabilities to those with mild to moderate mental retardation in most schools. If a student is severely mentally impaired, he or she attends a special county wide program at Loudoun County High School or Heritage High School.