Leary School Job Site, Fairfax County Overview

The Leary School JobSite programs, initially begun during the 1986-87 school year, provides a selected group of students the opportunity to attend school in a very nontraditional manner. The students who are part of this program spend the entire day and receive all their instruction at a job site, where there is a complete staff assigned to the program, including a classroom teacher, a full time teaching assistant, and two vocational staff (including the jobsite coordinator). Each student spends half his day in academic instruction and works on the project house, learning the construction trades, during the remainder of the day. These students learn about carpentry, engineering, plumbing, landscaping, electrical wiring and all aspects of new home construction, not in theory or from a demonstration laboratory, but by actually building real houses. Individual and group counseling, along with physical education and case management are delivered onsite, as well as speech and occupational therapy.

Since the inception of this program, the students have completed three total house renovations and seven new house projects. As you will see in the accompanying pictures, the staff and students have completed homes in both the Bailey’s Crossroads area of Fairfax County (listed as Arnet Street) as well as three homes in Arlington County (listed as Culpeper Street). During the 1996-97 school year, several lots were purchased less than a mile from the Leary School of Virginia main campus. These houses, the first of which was begun in the fall of 1997, are somewhat smaller than the previous projects in order to conform to the zoning requirements of this area. To date, the JobSite staff and students have completed four new homes and one home renovation project on Holyoke Drive.

The students who are part of this program leave school with job skills, knowledge that they can be successful at work, and actual experiences in doing such. These students have successful learning and work experiences upon which a happy, productive adulthood and working life should follow.