History of Our School

The original Barrett School was built in 1943 at the same time as Shirley Highway (now Interstate 395) was bulldozed through forestland to connect the brand new Pentagon with Fort Belvoir. It was built as a temporary prefab by the Federal Works Agency, and consisted of six classrooms and a kitchen. It was designed to serve the children that were living in Parkfairfax, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company's new townhouse development built to relieve the wartime housing shortage in Washington, D.C. The school is named for Major General Charles Dodson Barrett, USMC, an Alexandrian who was killed in the South Pacific on October 8, 1943.

1943:
The school opened with desks and chairs borrowed from other schools. The school served forty children, in grades K-7, and employed 4 teachers. Miss Mary Boylan served as principal of the school for 25 years. Volunteer mothers prepared and served lunch out of the school's "soup kitchen".

1949:
The permanent red brick building was constructed. It cost approximately $400,000. It was officially dedicated in March of 1950.

1968:
The classrooms and library were renovated and enlarged and furniture was replaced. Seventh graders were moved to local junior high schools.

1971:
A new kindergarten "pod" structure was added to the main building and dedicated on Nov. 5, 1971. The original schoolhouse was then demolished. Mr. Randall R. Vosbeck, architect, received the Metropolitan Washington Board of Trade Award for Excellence in Architecture for the "Pod's" design.

1976-77:
A parking lot, gymnasium, and landscaping were added. Recreation Department began afternoon and evening programs.

1994:
The playground was updated with new equipment.

1995:
Major renovations were done to windows, auditorium seating and carpeting, classroom remodeling and painting during this year.

1996:
The building was wired to support state of the art technology. All classrooms have phones, computers, and the capacity to connect to a local LAN and the Internet. The school houses approximately 300 students and 50 staff members.

1998:
A new multimedia center opened in January, 1998. In addition to a book collection and reading room, this state of the art facility includes a 25-station computer lab and a video production studio.