Jermantown Elementary School opened on September 3, 1957. The school was built, beginning in July 1956, by Allen C. Minnix & Sons at a cost of $460,751. Jermantown’s first principal was William C. Waters.

The Jermantown Elementary School PTA invites the public to its first – and it is hoped – annual western roundup on April 19 from 2 p.m. to sundown. Featured will be pony rides, a huge midway, rummage and bake goods sales, square dance exhibitions by the students, contests, races, and a chuckwagon dinner from 4 to 6 p.m. A real Western good time is promised all who attend. There will be a nursery to care for toddlers. Proceeds from the event will be used to purchase playground equipment for the school. ~ The Fairfax Herald, April 4, 1958

Growth and Change

During the late 1950s, Fairfax County elementary schools educated children in grades 1-7, and high schools educated students in grades 8-12. During the 1958-59 school year, Jermantown Elementary School also housed eighth-graders from Fairfax High School. Fairfax High School had an enrollment of about 2,100 students in the fall of 1958, which was twice the capacity of the building, so 529 eighth-graders were shuttled back and forth to Jermantown on half-day shifts until an addition to Fairfax was completed.

Overcrowding at Jermantown and Fairfax eased in the fall of 1960 with the opening of Sidney Lanier Intermediate School. After the transfer of Jermantown Elementary School’s seventh grade classes to Lanier, Jermantown housed children in grades 1-6 until 1968, when Fairfax County expanded elementary-level education to include kindergarten.

In the fall of 1963, Jermantown Elementary School also housed students from Mosby Woods Elementary School while construction of that building was completed. First and second graders attended school on half-day shifts until the opening of Mosby Woods on December 5, 1963.

From its founding in 1870 until the mid-1960s, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) operated a racially segregated “dual school system” with separate schools for white and Black children. Originally an all-white school, Jermantown desegregated by 1963. A desegregation report prepared by FCPS shows that even though Jermantown had desegregated, only one Black student was enrolled at the school from 1963 to 1965.

A School for Sale

In 1961, the Town of Fairfax incorporated as the City of Fairfax. Shortly thereafter, the city established its own School Board. However, all the public schools within the boundaries of the newly formed city were owned and operated by FCPS. The Fairfax City School Board and the Fairfax County School Board entered into an agreement which stipulated that the city must buy or build any additional elementary schools required for city school children. In 1967, with the city’s school-age population on the rise, several joint school board meetings were held to negotiate the sale of Jermantown Elementary School to the City of Fairfax.

The increase in the city’s student population necessitated either the purchase of Jermantown or the construction of a new elementary school. If Jermantown is purchased, it will be the third such city elementary school. The other two are Fairfax Elementary School and John C. Wood Elementary School. ~ Fairfax City Times, July 20, 1967

In September 1967, the two school boards agreed to the sale of Jermantown Elementary School for $520,000. The total purchase price was later revised to $605,813, after additional land and the equipment within the building were factored into the sale.

Declining Enrollment

From 1975 to 1979, enrollment at Jermantown Elementary School dropped from 470 to 295 students. Like other schools that had seen rapid growth during the post-World War II baby boom, Jermantown was suddenly faced with an abundance of empty classrooms. From 1977 to 1986, the City of Fairfax lost 50-percent of its school-age population as its children aged out of the public school system. This led to the closure of John C. Wood Elementary School in 1983.

In 1986, construction began on a combination gymnasium/multi-purpose room, additional storage space, and an elevator at Jermantown Elementary School. In the 1990s, Jermantown had nine classrooms for children in grades 4-6, six classrooms for children in grades 1-3, one kindergarten classroom, a music room, computer lab, media center, and a special education classroom.

A Look Back

In 1992, Jermantown Elementary School was the subject of the Fairfax County Public Schools cable television channel series “Profile.” The Red Apple 21 crew spent several days at Jermantown, gathering interviews with teachers and classroom footage. The resulting 29-minute documentary provides a fascinating snapshot of Jermantown in the early 1990s.

Becoming Providence

In 1997, Fairfax City voters approved a $25.6 million school bond issue to improve the city’s schools. Most of the money was earmarked to consolidate the city’s four elementary schools into two renovated and expanded buildings, namely Jermantown and Layton Hall.

Officials say that the student-teacher ratios in the new schools would remain the same as in the existing, smaller schools and that both would offer full-day kindergarten. The schools would expand space for curriculum enhancements, including special math, science, language arts, technology, and communications labs. Also, the two schools would have full-time teachers for music, art, and physical education, compared with part-time teachers now. Improvements proposed in the bond referendum are to be completed by September 2000. ~ The Washington Post, October 30, 1997

In anticipation of the closing of Westmore Elementary School and the reassignment of its students to Jermantown, in the spring of 2000 the City of Fairfax School Board gave Jermantown a new name – Providence Elementary School.

Memories of Jermantown

During the 1950s and 1960s, Jermantown Elementary School had several Quonset huts behind the building for use as overflow classroom space. The structures were purchased by FCPS from World War II military surplus suppliers. One Quonset hut remained in use at Jermantown until the mid-1970s. At that time, the hut served as teacher Margaret Mauck’s physical education classroom. Jermantown alumni recall playing crab soccer and indoor bowling and learning how to square dance in the hut.

Alumni who attended Jermantown between 1968 and 1974, when Mary W. Hinson was principal, recall attending pool parties at their principal’s home after their sixth-grade graduation ceremonies. Alumni also fondly remember Mrs. Clark, who was the school’s librarian in the 1980s. If a class read enough books, Mrs. Clark would reward them with a Mississippi Mud Cake.

The Principals

The principals of Jermantown Elementary School were William C. Waters (1957-1958), McTurner Waid (1958-1968), Mary W. Hinson (1968-1974), Floyd W. Worley (1974-1976), Merlin G. Meadows (1976-1981), Robert B. Marshall (1981-1983), Alfonso Migliara, Jr. (1983-1987), Carol L. Pope (1987-1989), Brian M. Hull (Acting, 1989-1990), Carol L. Pope (1990-1994), Janet Mitchell (1994-1998), and Susan Kane (1998-2000).