nia
Presgraves and Joseph Beard, respectively, and a talk on the promising
future for farmers by Professor Walter Newman of VPI which the local
paper described as "worthy of the attention of any farming community in
our state." These formalities were followed by musical selections,
including a duet by Gilbert Presgraves and Joseph Beard, who sang the
school song, "Our Old High." Next came the presentation of diplomas "in
a most pleasing fashion." Wrote the _Herndon News-Observer_: "Each student
was complimented on his success while his classmates were roused to
great hilarity by some well-directed humor."[248]

[Illustration: A maypole dance held at the Floris Elementary School in
1923. Celebrations of this sort were held each May 1. Miss Katie Grok is
the teacher on the right. Photo courtesy of Margaret Mary Lee.]

[Illustration: A 1910 photograph of the Floris Elementary School, built
in 1900. The building was replaced by a two-year high school the next
year. Copy of photo in Virginiana Collection, Fairfax County Public
Library.]

Floris Vocational High School graduated its last class in 1930. The
previous year the school board had voted to consolidate the county's
schools. The school consolidation movement was aimed principally at
small one and two-room schoolhouses; by combining these local
institutions, better facilities could be afforded and, consequently,
teachers of high caliber attracted. The county's farm families had
clamoured for just such a reorganization for many years, but the measure
was contingent on the availability of good roads because rural children
would have to travel some distance to the new district schools. The
purpose of the judgment as passed did not really pertain to the Floris
School, yet it came under the school-board's jurisdiction and
consequently the Floris High School pupils were moved with those of
Forestville to join Herndon High School.[249]

Agriculture courses were also offered at Herndon High School, for
example, in 1933, 43 boys were enrolled in farm-oriented programs. Yet,
the closing of the Vocational High School was a decisive loss for
Floris. The school had been built and maintained by local money and
labor and was thus a strong focal point in the neighborhood. It had
encouraged community self-esteem and the area's pride had been reflected
in the strong academic programs the school produced. The district high
schools were less personal in nature and broader in scope;