The Sydenstricker School in Springfield VA was the last one room school house in operation in Fairfax County. It closed in 1939 but the building is still used today as a community meeting hall. The belfry contains the original school bell purchased in 1920's from the Sears Roebuck store in Alexandria. The school was named after the first minister of the original Sydenstricker Church next door built in 1909. Rev. Syndenstricker was also the uncle of Nobel Prize Winner Pearl Buck the author of The Good Earth.
The school house is located on Sydenstricker Road and the Fairfax County Parkway just at the edge of the Orange Hunt Estates neighborhood.
Schools in Springfield VA and Fairfax County have come a long way since the Syndenstricker school closed. Today you will find over 175,000 students enrolled in Fairfax County Schools. Per the Fairfax County School website the country schools are comprised of "139 elementary schools (grades K-6), 19 middle schools (grades 7 and 8), 3 middle schools (grades 6-8), 4 secondary schools (grades 7-12), 21 high schools (grades 9-12), 8 special education centers, 2 alternative high schools, and 46 alternative programs. Three of these schools are magnet schools: Bailey’s Elementary School for the Arts and Sciences, Hunters Woods Elementary School for the Arts and Sciences, and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology."
Not a one room school house in the entire system today.
New to the Springfield or Fairfax County area? Make sure you check out the Fairfax County Public School Website for information for the 2010-2011 school year.
Need to know which school your children will attend? Enter your address in the Fairfax County School Boundary link to find out.
If you are still looking for a home in the Springfield VA area or anywhere in Fairfax County give me a call at 703-346-2213. Not only did I attend Fairfax County Schools from kindergarten through high school graduation so did my children. Let me show you the neighborhoods that meet the needs for your family.
You can search for your new home by school on our automated search tool. For example Homes in West Springfield HS boundary*
Not all listings may appear as some agents may not have identified the appropriate school. Always check the information with the official Fairfax County School Boundary information.
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I did not know about the Pearl Buck connection! I learn something new every day on AR.
Hate to tell my age, but I remember going to a one room school in the first grade. Grades 1 - 12.
A little red school house...how sweet! I'm a sucker for these and for old white country churches. I'd love to convert one into a living space. It's always such fun to see one that's been so well cared for.
I love it when historical prorperties like this school are well maintained. Fairfax County is very good about keeping up with their historical treasures.
Love to see community stuff like this. Reminds me of Little House on the Prairie :)
Hey Cindy, I hope they keep this one room school in tacked, it is history kept alive and would be a shame to let it fall away. Thanks for sharing :)
Susan-I do too!
Kay-thanks for stopping by and there is no way you attended a one room schoolhouse.
Ralph-I'd like to convert one to a home as well. You can sleep by the hearth when I"m done.
Anne-we are fortunate in this area to have a historic buildings that still stand.
Renee-yes it does.
Laura-I don't think this little schoolhouse will be going anywhere for a long time.
Cindy:
Thanks for posting this. I grew up in an area of Michigan that had a similar schoolhouse located at the center of every 36 square mile township in the county. Unfortunately many were razed for farmland or home sites, but a few were converted to single family homes. I've always wanted to live in an old schoolhouse. Thanks for the reminder!
Richard-I'm torn between and old school house and a small white clapboard church :-) Interesting that you would have had one every 36 square miles. Wonder what they history was behind that decision.