Paul VI Catholic High School will relocate from its current
18-acre campus in Fairfax City to a 68-acre property 12 miles
west in South Riding, according to an announcement this week
by the Arlington Diocese.The projected opening of Paul VI’s
new Loudoun County campus in 2020 will ensure the high school
has a facility that fits its needs and strengthens the
school’s legacy of excellence.
The estimated $60 million school will be built on property
currently owned by the diocese, with state-of-the-art
facilities able to accommodate diverse academic needs and
robust extracurricular and athletic programs.
The move will not affect any current Paul VI students or the
incoming Class of 2019.
The relocation of Paul VI High School to a world-class
facility ensures that future generations of students in our
diocese will receive Catholic education at the highest level
of excellence,” said Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde.
“I am so proud of the achievements of the students, faculty
and staff of the Paul VI community,” said Sister Bernadette
McManigal, diocesan superintendent of schools. “It is with
great excitement that I look forward to PVI’s future in a new
complex which will enhance the students’ educational
opportunities.”
The decision to relocate the high school follows an extensive
assessment of diocesan Catholic education and the long-term
needs of Paul VI, including curriculum development,
co-curricular programming and the sustainability of the
current campus.
The 80-year-old facility, previously occupied by Fairfax High
School and George Mason University, is being used to its
maximum potential: There is a forced cap on student
enrollment due to space restrictions. Site expansion is not
possible, and rising costs of building maintenance are
unsustainable, according to diocesan officials.
The diocese is in the final stages of negotiations with a
developer who will formulate plans for the 18-acre property
in cooperation with Fairfax City planning officials.
Paul VI was established in 1983 by former Arlington Bishop
Thomas J. Welsh to provide Catholic education to students in
the western region of a rapidly growing diocese.
The school’s first principal was Oblate of St. Francis de
Sales Father Donald J. Heet, and enrollment was 350 students.
The Oblates ended their 17-year association with the school
in 2000, although their Salesian spirituality can still be
felt. Three years later, the school opened a two-floor, $6.5
million student activity center.
Since 1983, the diocese has opened nine parishes and seven
schools to serve more than 92,000 Catholics living in western
Fairfax County and in Loudoun County, the fastest-growing
county in Virginia.
The diocese will provide bus transportation for students
traveling to and from the new site. Proposed pick-up and
drop-off locations include stops within the City of Fairfax.
In addition to providing transportation, the diocese will
continue to offer financial assistance to families in need.
In 2014-15, the diocese educated more than 12,900 students in
37 elementary schools. Four diocesan high schools – Paul VI,
Bishop Ireton, Bishop O’Connell and Saint John Paul the Great
– serve 3,570 students throughout the northern tier of
Virginia.
At Paul VI’s 2015 commencement ceremony May 31 at the Patriot
Center in Fairfax, 225 seniors received their diplomas.
Virginia Colwell, Paul VI principal for nine years, was to
tell the faculty, staff and students about the impending move
June 3.
Colwell said that the school community has been waiting for a
decision since 2013, so many of them will be excited that
it’s finally been made.
She’s not sure how the move will impact future enrollment,
but the new facilities will allow the school to add new
programs and expand existing ones, such as the Options
program. Extra athletic fields mean teams won’t have to
travel off campus for practice, as they currently have to do
in Fairfax.”
Both personally and professionally, I’m thrilled about the
move,” Colwell said. “Why wouldn’t I want to expand the
Options program and the science labs? It’s the best thing for
us, to be able to reach as many Catholic students as we can.
“The chapel will be the heart of the new school,” she said.
“The chapel comes first.”
Colwell said she’s visited other Catholic high schools in New
Orleans, Harrisburg and Olney, Md., that underwent similar
moves to learn what worked and what they would do
differently.
She hopes to engage alumni and parents in the design of the
new school, especially the new science labs.
“Paul VI is not the building,” Colwell said. “It’s who we
are, not where we are. Paul VI’s home is where we are as a
family.”
Find out more More information about the relocation of Paul
VI High School can be found here.
