Thompson Elementary to Take Students to New Heights

When classes begin Aug 25, students will bA e walking into the halls of Elaine E. Thompson Elementary School in Arcola for the first time.

The school is about 113,600 square feet and is built on 13 acres. It has an anticipated capacity of 960 students and will be the first three-story school in the county. It is also the first Loudoun County elementary school building to have solar panels built into its design, providing 40% of the school’s power needs.

Principal Tim Sparbanie said the building is “phenomenal.” In addition to the solar panels on the roof, he said the main level has four solar tubes that funnel natural light to the main floor. He said as you walk in and look up you see a bright round light and automatically think it’s a big fluorescent bulb, but it’s really light from outside.

He said the solar panels will provide about a $65,000 savings in energy costs to Loudoun County taxpayers. 

The school, along with Hovatter Elementary School, was recently recognized in the Environmental Protection Agency’s national Decarbonize Your Design Challenge. The schools were two of four national level award winners. The challenge recognizes new construction projects that are achieving ENERGY STAR certification for energy efficiency and preventing carbon dioxide emissions. Elaine E. Thompson Elementary won the challenge for commercial new construction. The project earned an ENERGY STAR score of 99. Hovatter Elementary was named an Honorable Project. It earned a perfect ENERGY STAR score of 100. The design elements lead to a 67.8% reduction in energy use and carbon emissions.

Sparbanie said his favorite part about the new school is the collaboration centers. 

Each level of the school has two grades: the main level houses kindergarten and first grade, the second level houses second and third grade and the third level houses fourth and fifth grade. At the heart of each of the grade’s classrooms is a collaboration center. He said because the school is pulling kids from three elementary schools, many of those students have established friendships. He said the collaboration centers will allow those established friendships to continue to blossom as well as provide opportunities for new friendships to grow.

“Seldom in this day do you find people working alone. They usually work on teams and now that we have these centers we can really emphasize and teach them those skills at a young age,” Sparbanie said.

Sparbanie said there will be about 110 staff at the school, including 37 teachers. There will be six kindergarten classes, seven first grade classes, six second grade classes, seven third grade classes, six fourth grade classes and five fifth grade classes. Sparbanie, who started the roll as principal Jan. 10 said he’s been hiring since he started. He said it’s been an unusual year for hiring in the county.

“Normally, we are hiring tons and tons of people out of state or outside of the school system or hiring new graduates. But this year we had to wait a bit because there were a lot of transfers within the division itself and we had to wait to see how the transfer process was going to shake out,” he said. 

Sparbanie said, despite the wait, he’s been able to interview and hire everyone he wanted, and they are all excited.

“During the interview, I told them we get to build our own culture and climate at the school,” he said. “What do you want to see?” 

He said there is an overall feeling of excitement from the students and staff. They’ve been doing tours of the school for a couple of months.

“Everyone is getting a chance to get in and see the site and its jazzing everyone up. It’s really neat to show it off and show the kids where their classes will be,” he said.

Sparbanie also highlighted the remarkable story that surrounds Elaine E. Thompson, the woman for whom the school was named.

The longtime Hamilton resident served as an educator, historian and writer. She was a founding member of the Thomas Balch Library’s Black History Committee. Of particular note was her decision to donate her great-great-great grandfather’s freedom papers to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Thompson died Oct. 9, 2016, from a rare blood disease called paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, or PNH. Only about 500 people in the United States are diagnosed with PNH each year. 

The School Board unanimously voted to name the school after her in February 2020. It’s the second Loudoun school named in honor of a Black female community leader and educator. The first was Rosa Lee Carter Elementary School.

“She was a huge advocate for education, learning and history. She had this blood disorder that she was able to overcome. Having talked to her family and friends, that is a part of who she was as a person. She was one of those people who could take on a challenge and face it head on and thrive and overcome and go on to inspire others,” Sparbanie said.

He said as time goes on some of the truly great historical figures in Loudoun County are disappearing and sometimes being forgotten.

“Had the school not been named after her then hundreds of thousands of people living here would not have known her story,” he said. “Her legacy will now thrive and live on and that’s what I love about her story.”

He said it has prompted him as an educator to bring some of the significant historical figures back to life through projects and lessons at the school. 

“By naming schools after them we regain some of the knowledge about these historical figures in our county. Elaine Thompson is a terrific example. These figures will no longer be lost to history,” Sparbanie said. 

This is Sparbanie’s sixth year as a principal in Loudoun County. Before that he was an assistant principal at Sugarland Elementary School and Lowes Island Elementary School. He began his teaching career in 1994 at Emerick Elementary School.

Assistant Principal Lynette Sprouse was the former assistant principal at Buffalo Trail Elementary School and before that at Legacy Elementary School.