NEW DULLES CAMPUS Admissions Information Session Saturday, October 19 12 at 10:00am LANGLEY K4 12th Grade GOLFERS INSIDE: OUR 44-PAGE GUIDE TO THE BRING HOME 703-759-5100 AUTUMN REAL-ESTATE MARKET! BIG TITLE www.FairfaxChristianSchool.com Sun Gazette GREAT FALLS McLEAN OAKTON TYSONS VIENNA VOLUME 41 NO. 2 OCTOBER 10-16, 2019 Tysons Athletic Field Garners Approval Construction Was Among the Proers for 3-Million-Square-Foot Development BRIAN TROMPETER Sta Writer Fairfax County supervi- sors on Sept. 24 added to the inventory of athletic elds in Tysons by unanimously ap- proving a proposal by PS Business Parks LP to build a eld at 8229 Boone Blvd. The 330-by-180-foot, pub- licly accessible eld will have synthetic turf, 15-foot over- runs and a containment area up to 24 feet tall to keep balls from exiting the site. The eld will be used for regulation games for ages 12 and under, plus practice by adults. Located on 2.49 acres, the eld will replace a planned extended-stay hotel that never was built at the site. The eld will have lighting, an equipment-storage shed and at least 25 parking spaces that would be shared with a nearby ofce building. Specta- tors will benet from two sets of bleachers, plus benches, bicycle racks and portable toi- lets. The eld’s construction will fulll a proffer from The Mile, a nearly 3.05-million-square- HOLD ON TO THE BUCKING BRONCO! foot project being developed A respite from the hot weather of the previous few days brought families out to the McLean Project for the Arts’ annual MPAartfest, held Oct. 6 at McLean by the applicant on 38.8 acres Central Park. For youngsters, the playground was a good spot to take a break, and here, Brooks Witt experiments with a creative riding style of the min- to the north in Tysons. That iature-sized pony. See a slide show of photos from the event at https://sungazette.news/photos. PHOTO BY DEB KOLT Continued on Page 14 ONLINE https://sungazette.news l On Facebook: sungazettenews l On Twitter: @sungazettenews @sungazettespts Local Postal Customer Postal Local Jean Beatty o. 703.738.9526 | m. 301.641.4149 [email protected] 1320 Old Chain Bridge Rd. www.JeanBeatty.com PERMIT NO. 605 605 NO. PERMIT 703.790.9090 Frederick, MD Frederick, McEnearney.com PAID U.S. POSTAGE U.S. Ideas, Answers, & Compassion ECRWSS PRSRT STD PRSRT Vienna Dept of Parks & Recreation and Vienna Theatre Company Transportation Notes FAIRFAX COUNTY CONNECTOR SEES Metrobus and Virginia Railway Express Present RIDERSHIP IMPROVEMENT IN NEW service off slightly. DATA: Fairfax Connector bus ridership was up during the second quarter of 2019 MEETING SET TO UPDATE PUBLIC ON compared to a year before, according to POST-STORM ROAD REPAIRS: A com- new data, spurring hope it has turned a munity meeting on the effort to repair corner from declining ridership totals. Kirby Road and Swinks Mill Road fol- by The bus system, operated by a private lowing the July 8 storm will be held on rm under contract to the Fairfax County Thursday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. at Chester- Richard Bean government, recorded a ridership of about brook Elementary School. 2.2 million in the three-month period end- Although the work on Swinks Mill ing June 30, according to gures reported Road is expected to be completed by the to the Northern Virginia Transportation time of the meeting, the forum will pro- Commission. vide local residents the opportunity to ask That’s a rise of 1 percent from the same specic questions. period a year before. The forum is being hosted by Supervi- But the system still has some ground to sor John Foust (D-Dranesville) and will make up: Its average daily ridership in the include staff from the Fairfax County scal year ending in June (27,872), while government and the Virginia Department directed by up slightly from a year before, remained of Transportation. below the previous few years. In 2015, it Updates on the repair process are had stood at 32,547. available at www.virginiadot.org. Eric (Ridership on local transit systems Storck has ebbed and owed in recent years, in STATE TRANSPORTATION AGENCIES part, depending on whether portions of TO HOST PUBLIC HEARING: The Com- the Metrorail system are shut down for monwealth Transportation Board will Recommended for Ages 13 and up. maintenance and in part due to the 2014 host a community-feedback meeting on opening of the Silver Line, making direct Vienna Community Center, 120 Cherry Street SE Tuesday, Oct. 22 at 6 p.m. at the Northern comparisons between various time frames Virginia ofce of the Virginia Department difcult.) of Transportation, 4975 Alliance Drive in Oct 18, 19, 25, 26, 27 • Nov 1, 2, 3 For the quarter ending in June, Fairfax Fairfax. Connector service represented 6.1 percent Representatives from the Virginia Of- [email protected] of all Northern Virginia transit usage. ce of Intermodal Planning and Invest- www.viennatheatrecompany.org The total of 34.4 million trips during that ment, Virginia Department of Transpor- period counts Metrorail, Metrobus, Vir- tation and Virginia Department of Rail ginia Railway Express and local/regional and Public Transportation will discuss bus systems. current initiatives, answer questions and Also posting year-over-year increases discuss ideas. for the period were the ART (Arlington Meeting materials are slated to be on- Transit), Fairfax City CUE, Loudoun line starting Oct. 15. County Transit and OmniRide/Omni- For information, see the Website at Link (Prince William) bus systems. Me- www.ctb.virginia.gov. trorail ridership dropped 3 percent, with – Staff Reports Most FCPS Schools Accredited Nearly all of Fairfax County’s 194 native programs – were accredited pend- OCT 18, 19 & 20 public schools have been fully accredited ing nalization of alternative-education for the 2019-20 school year by the Virgin- programs. DULLES EXPO CENTER ia Board of Education. Statewide, 1,682 public schools, or 92 But three schools – Fort Belvoir Ele- percent of the total, received full accredi- CHANTILLY, VA RT. 28 AT WILLARD RD mentary, Justice High School and Mount tation for 2019-20, with 132 schools (7 3 DAYS ONLY! Vernon High School – were “accredited percent) rated as “accredited with condi- with conditions,” a lower rating based on tions” and the remainder new schools or academic achievement and other factors, those working out alternative-education such as absenteeism. plans. State ofcials said, however, that 61 Shop 325+ Artists The results are not a complete victory schools currently receiving waivers from for the county schools system, but Super- evaluation due to past high performance Free Painting Classes, Live Art intendent Scott Brabrand described them would have been rated as accredited with as “outstanding.” conditions had they not had the waiver, Demos, Kids’ Show & More! “We have provided side-by-side coach- which would have pulled the overall fully- ing and stafng supports at Justice and accredited rate down to 89 percent state- Mount Vernon high schools to address wide. Fri & Sat 10-6, Sun 10-5 student retention and the dropout rate, Over the past year, state school of- and have given Fort Belvoir an instruc- cials have put a focus on reducing chronic tional coach and two additional resource absenteeism in Virginia schools and have teachers to address core reading instruc- managed to cut the number, but 23 schools BUY TICKETS! tion for their K-3 program,” Brabrand will be targeted with state support to ad- said. “We fully expect these supports and dress absenteeism over the coming year. www.SugarloafCrafts.com strategies will result in accreditation im- In addition, 252 schools across Vir- $8 ONLINE $10 AT DOOR KIDS 12 & UNDER FREE provement for these schools next year.” ginia will receive academic support from Two additional schools – Mountain the state level, based on students’ perfor- View and Bryant high schools, each alter- mance in standardized tests. 2 October 10, 2019 www.sungazette.news ‘Suits & Sneakers’: It’s a Celebration of Excellence Leaders of the Great- • Jon Cunniffe of Mos- er McLean Chamber of quito Hunters of McLean- Commerce kept up a de- Falls Church, Entrepreneur cade-long tradition Oct. 3, of the Year. bestowing awards on some • Kathy Neal of Sun- of the community’s out- Trust Mortgage, President’s standing people, businesses Award for Exceptional En- and groups. gagement. The chamber held its • Retiring McLean annual “Suits & Sneakers” Chamber of Commerce ex- event at the McLean Com- ecutive assistant Marianne munity Center. Attendees Polito, Chairman’s Award. Jim Wordsworth of JR’s Custom Catering ac- nibbled on offerings from • Spring Studio, New cepts the Greater McLean Chamber of Com- local restaurants, sipped Business of the Year. merce’s Outstanding Business Citizen Award samples of whiskey and • Giant Food, Retailer from Lynn Heinrichs. wine proffered by area of the Year. vendors, visited informa- • Dal Grano Homemde Terri Markwart (left) acceps the Greater McLean Chamber of Commerce/Ro- tion booths staffed by local Pasta & More, Restaurant tary Citizen of the Year Award from Lynn Heinrichs and Deborah Jackson dur- groups and then headed of the Year. ing the chamber’s annual “Suits & Sneakers” event, held Oct. 3 at the McLean out to the back patio for • Computerware, Small Community Center. See a slide show of photos at https://sungazette.news. the awards ceremony. Business of the Year. This year’s award win- • The Arc of Northern ners included: Virginia, Non-Prot of the • Terri Markwart, Year. Greater McLean Chamber • The late Terence of Commerce/Rotary Citi- O’Connor, Mary Kingman zen of the Year. Pillar of McLean award.