New Triangle Elementary Opens Doors
January 15, 2010

“Fantastic” is the best way to describe Triangle Elementary School’s ribbon cutting, ceremony, and tour held on January 14. A throng of 500 excited parents and children, former Triangle students and administrators, and elementary school principals from across the county filled the school gymnasium and two overflow rooms. Eager families began arriving well before 5 p.m. for the program which was scheduled to start at 6 p.m., many anticipating their first close look at the new building which replaced a structure built in 1959.

The ceremony inside, held after the ribbon cutting, was part nostalgia as speakers and a creative video touched on milestones in the school’s history. Among the many officials and former principals in attendance, one in particular stole the hearts of the crowd, Oless Gherke, the school’s first principal. Gherke was introduced by School Board member Betty Covington (Dumfries), well known to the Triangle community, and again by Principal Mark Marinoble, to great applause. Covington also introduced Gherke’s wife who was a teacher at Kilby when Covington was principal at that school. Covington recounted the history of the school’s renovations and the unanimous vote of the School Board to approve the construction of the new school. Former Triangle principals Wayne Ralston and Carolyn Haley were also introduced.

Those most excited were the children, who had already spent the entire day performing on stage under the direction of Music Teacher Alicia Boniakowski. For the first time ever, all of the students in the school could be in one room and enjoy performances put on by different grade levels. Fourth- and fifth-grade students performed during the evening program with gusto, equal to the opening of a World-Class school.

The Potomac High School Navy JROTC Color Guard opened the ceremony. Superintendent of Schools Steven L. Walts and School Board Chairman At-Large Milton C. Johns gave congratulatory remarks. Collin Davenport, aide to Congressman Gerald E. Connolly, presented Marinoble a flag that was flown over the Capitol; former Virginia Delegate Jeffrey Frederick and County Supervisor Maureen Caddigan gave the school state and county flags, respectively.

Carol Phillips, second grade teacher whose classroom was on the tour, said the parents “absolutely loved” the school and many said they wished they were back in the second grade. They were most impressed with the Smartboard and the bathroom in the classroom. “They were in awe,” Phillips said. Her students were streaming into the classroom with their parents and exclaiming, “Look, Mom, there’s the Smartboard!”

Second-grade teacher Elisa Jackson, who has seen several renovations and additions over her 21 years at the school, started out teaching in a doublewide trailer before new classrooms were added. She liked the closeness and the “family feel” of the old school, but loves the new school. Jackson told her students to “make the most of this; do your best and appreciate what you have been given.”

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