Sixteen years after the Westminster School purchased an adjoining property on Gallows Road in Annandale, it’s clearing the site for a full-size athletic turf field.
The field will be used for soccer, lacrosse, and softball.
Tree clearing is expected to be done next week, and the field should be completed in January 2026, says Nancy Schuler, head of the highly acclaimed private school.
Westminster School is a top sponsor of the Taste of Annandale, a family-friendly street festival on Sept. 20 at the Eileen Garnett Civic Space.
The school also has plans to put up a basketball court, playground, tot lot, fountain, walkways, and green space between the new field and the school building, Schuler says. The school’s initial fundraising goal is $1.6 million.
While work on the “Griffin Field of Dreams” is going on, Westminster is simultaneously installing a greener, more efficient HVAC system in the oldest part of the building. That project isn’t interfering with Westminster’s summer camp or enrollment for the fall because the arts wing, gym, and theater aren’t affected by the construction.
Schuler, a former Westminster student, teacher, and administrator, was named head of school in 2021. Her father, Ellis Glover, built the school in 1970. His son and Schuler’s older brother, also named Ellis Glover, served as head of school from 1992 until he retired four years ago.
Westminster offers a classical education with small classes for children from preschool to grade 8. The school takes a Socratic approach to education, which promotes critical thinking, Schuler says. “Instead of telling kids the answer, you draw it out of them through class discussions.”
The arts, especially Shakespeare, are a big part of the school’s curriculum. Students put on a play every year, and all students take classes in the theater arts.
During the groundbreaking ceremony for the field, Westminster’s symphonic orchestra and chorus performed, and Angelique Palmer, the Fairfax County Poet Laureate and a kindergarten teacher at Westminster, read a poem she wrote for the occasion.
“We’ve got a stellar academic program, and when the field is completed, we’ll also have an improved athletic program,” Schuler says.
In the past, Westminster leased the athletic field at a nearby property owned by Fairfax County Public Schools but lost access to the field when Mason Crest Elementary School was built.
When Westminster purchased the property for a new field from the Shiver family in 2009, they had hoped to retain the architecturally interesting house on the lot and possibly use it for a preschool. “We lamented having to tear it down but the house was in such bad shape, it couldn’t be saved,” Schuler says. It was demolished a couple of years ago.
Despite all the construction going on, she says, “the neighbors have been great to work with.”
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