About Our School

Fairfield Elementary is a study in contrasts. It is a 30-year-old "traditional" school where windows still open and floors still shine. Housed within this semi-obsolescing physical plant is a staff uniquely determined to remain committed to the values that have successfully served Fairfield Elementary's students in the past, while simultaneously moving forward. We are continually seeking out the opportunities and resources that will equip our students to take their place as responsible, prepared, and productive citizens in the 21st century.

    Fairfield Elementary has taken part in a major restructuring effort within the school division. September, 1991 saw the emergence of site-based management and shared decision-making, with the subsequent evolution of our School Planning Council and Principal's Advisory Committee. These committees, comprised of staff, community members and parents prioritize needs, make decisions, and propose solutions.

   During September 1992, the boundaries of Fairfield Elementary changed, causing our student population to encompass a much wider spectrum of diverse socio-economic patrons. Following that shift was a dramatic change in reading and mathematics curriculum by the Virginia Beach City Public School System. Consequently, we have implemented many  programs to meet the needs of ALL students--at-risk, special education, gifted and "average."

   We are especially proud of two Fairfield initiated and implemented programs CARE and WEE Falcons. A collaborative education model known as Coordinating A Responsible Education (CARE), emerged here in the 1992 academic year.  The program has three major goals: to identify at-risk students in the academic areas of reading, math, and oral and written language; to identify the at-risk child in the social or emotional arena and to provide classroom teachers with a repertoire of instructional strategies to use with low-achieving students. The development of CARE was more than just a paradigm change, for it signaled a significant challenge for general educators to open their classroom and share their students and ideas with special educators who are their colleagues.

   The WEE Falcons program is a community outreach program designed to identify and provide activities for parents of children 0-5 years of age.  These evening activities are planned to involve the children and parents in educationally relevant activities.  The program provides an early childhood library for check-out and a chance for parents to network with other parents in our community.

   Fairfield Elementary was built in 1975, in the now densely populated Virginia Beach borough of Kempsville. The school is currently home to about 530 students, in grades K-5, with approximately 20% of the population considered minority students.  The socio-economic status of our population has undergone many changes within the past 20 years; from agrarian, to upper-middle, to our present state of middle-class.

   Physically, Fairfield Elementary resides in one large building where two main hallways intersect at a cross between the primary- and upper-grade corridors. The cafeteria also serves as an auditorium and the Library Media Center and computer lab are two of the most frequently visited locations in the school.  The entry foyer was refurbished at the beginning of the 1996-97 academic year, with cheerful white wicker furniture donated by the Parent Teacher Association.    The technology needed for Internet access was installed in all classrooms during the summer of 1996.  All of our classrooms have at least two computers, most have four.

   Fairfield Elementary is fully accredited by the Virginia Department of Education and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.