School History

Deer Park Elementary School was established in September 1994. During our first year, because our school was still under construction, classes were held in the old Centreville Elementary School building now home to Mountain View High School. Our building on Carlbern Drive opened on the first day of school the following year, September 5, 1995, and was officially dedicated on May 19, 1996.  

Color photograph taken from the roof of Deer Park Elementary School during its dedication ceremony. We are looking down at a crowd of students gathered in front of the school as another group of students is participating in a flag raising ceremony.
Deer Park's Dedication Ceremony, May 1996.
That first year we actually worked in what is now known as Mountain View, on Spindle Court, while our building was being constructed. The original principal, Lynne Pope, gave us all a brick doorstop, from the original bricks used to construct Deer Park Elementary School. Prior to the first year, Lynne took the entire staff to Camp Hemlock to facilitate team bonding.

Donna Ford, School Counselor, Deer Park Elementary
Photograph of the brick doorstop described by Donna Ford. The color is a light reddish-brown. A small plaque, affixed to the top, reads Star Builder, First Deer Park Staff, 1994 to 1994. The brick is pentagonal, not rectangular, in shape.
Donna Ford’s brick doorstop.

What's in a Name?

During the planning and construction process, our school was referred to as the West Centreville Elementary site. On March 10, 1994, the Fairfax County School Board awarded the contract for construction of the West Centreville School to the Chamberlain Construction Corporation at a cost of $6.4 million. At its meeting on June 9, 1994, the School Board voted to officially name the building Deer Park Elementary School. Learn why that name was chosen in this video produced for Fairfax County Public Schools’ cable television channel Red Apple 21.

From Above

Explore the evolution of Deer Park Elementary School and the surrounding area from 1972 to 2017  in this series of aerial photographs courtesy of the Fairfax County Park Authority.

Animated series of aerial photographs showing overhead views of Deer Park Elementary School. The first aerial view is of the future site of Deer Park Elementary School in 1972. On the left the land is forested, on the right a new housing subdivision has been developed, and in the center is a bare patch of ground that will soon become a neighborhood ballpark. The second aerial view is of the future site of Deer Park Elementary School in 1990. The once bare patch of ground is now a ballpark with three baseball or softball diamonds. Surrounding it on all side are dwellings. The third aerial view is Deer Park Elementary School in 1997. The ballpark has been redeveloped into the school lot. The building has a blue roof. The fourth aerial view is Deer Park Elementary School in 2009. A large modular addition has been constructed in the rear of the building. The final aerial view of Deer Park Elementary School is from 2017. A new playground has been built next to the modular addition.
Photograph of the first two Deer Park Elementary School yearbooks from 1994-95, and 1995-96. The covers both feature student drawings of our mascot Bucky. On the 1994 cover, Bucky is high-fiving a student. On the 1995 cover, Bucky is standing in front of the new Deer Park School on a winner's platform wearing a medal that say number one, go for the gold.
The covers of our very first yearbooks.

A Glimpse Back in Time

In 1999, Deer Park 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 Deer Park, gathering interviews with teachers and classroom footage. The resulting 27-minute documentary provides a fascinating snapshot of our school in the late 1990s.

Our Principals

1994 – 2002: Lynne Pope
2002 – 2007: Douglass D. Brooks
2007 – 2018: Carol Larsen
2018 – Present: Bob D’Amato