Could Paul VI Catholic HS Be Moving to Loudoun?

By Rachel Hatzipanagos and Dusty Smith

The Archdiocese of Arlington on Thursday announced that it’s considering moving Paul VI Catholic High School from Fairfax City, where it has been since 1983, to a site the archdiocese owns in South Riding.

The decision came as disappointing news in Fairfax City, but was well received in Loudoun.

"I am very disappointed in the Archdiocese's decision," Fairfax City Mayor Scott Silverthorne told Patch. "I fought hard to try to get them to stay."

The Archdiocese of Arlington purchased a little more than 68 acres south of Braddock Road at Riding Center Drive for $2.2 million in May 2000, which could allow an expansion as envisioned.

“A new PVI campus would be a larger, state-of-the art school facility that would further strengthen its heritage as a leading Catholic high school," Sister Bernadette McManigal, Superintendent of Schools for the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, stated in a press release. 

"I welcome news that Paul VI High School may relocate to South Riding in the coming years,” said Loudoun County Supervisor Matt Letourneau (R-Dulles). “As a product of a Catholic high school myself, I am strong believer in Catholic education. Paul VI would provide Loudoun residents with a high quality educational opportunity and would be a valuable addition to our community.”

If the South Riding location is ultimately selected, it would come at a time when Loudoun County Public Schools continues to search for school sites to house its growing enrollment. LCOS is slated to open high schools in Loudoun Valley Estates and Lansdowne in 2015.

“The construction of Paul VI could also bring some relief to Loudoun's high schools, which face continued strains due to a growing student population,” Letourneau said. “I look forward to working with the Catholic Diocese of Arlington as they begin this process."

The new campus, wherever constructed, would replace the school’s existing Fairfax City facility on Fairfax Boulevard. It would not occur until about 2020.

The Fairfax City school is currently near capacity, and officials wrote in the press release that site expansion is not feasible at their current location.

The incoming PVI 2014-15 freshman class would be guaranteed four years of matriculation at the existing Fairfax City facility in the event of the school's move.

The good news is that the city has time to plan on the reuse of the existing site, he added.

"While the intention is to sell the property, the land is zoned both commercial along Fairfax Boulevard and residential," Silverthorne wrote in a statement. "Saving the building for adaptive reuse is an option I would like to encourage."

The assessment on the South Riding property was about $680,000 in 2000, climbing to $2.2 million by 2007 before it took a big jump to $6.8 million in 2008. The property currently generates more than $80,000 in taxes.