A private school that provides special education for students in first through 12th grade is looking to expand in Annandale (7010 Braddock Road).
The school is part of Phillips Programs, a nonprofit that provides education, family support services and advocacy for students with developmental disabilities and behavioral health needs.
With a rezoning application recently submitted to Fairfax County, Phillips Programs seeks to add more than 44,000 square feet to its Annandale school, constructing two new buildings for a greenhouse with an attached kitchen and an additional school facility.
The 13,680-square-foot greenhouse would employ and train about 12 people, and the 12,650-square-foot kitchen would employ about 24 people across two shifts in the kitchen, according to a statement of justification dated Aug. 27.
“The proposed greenhouse will offer employment opportunities to former Phillips students and will serve as a training site for current students enrolled in career and technical programs including agricultural sciences,” Sara Mariska, from the law firm Odin Feldman Pittleman, wrote in the statement. “The produce grown in the greenhouse will be used in the school’s culinary program and will be sold to local restaurants and wholesale buyers.”
The added school capacity would come in the form of a two-story building and enable Phillips to move its Fairfax school (11230 Waples Mill Road) to the Annandale site, per the statement. The Fairfax and Annandale locations are about 9.5 miles apart.
“The proposed school addition will be for approximately 72 additional students and 70 additional
staff members,” Mariska wrote. “No changes are proposed to the enrollment or operations of the existing school facilities.”
The Phillips School of Annandale was built after developers obtained a special exception in 1986. It expanded twice in the 1990s and can currently serve up to 198 students, according to the statement of justification.
The changes would require some of the property to be rezoned from a low-density to a medium-density residential district. As of publication, county staff was awaiting additional information to determine if the application will be formally accepted for review.
Screenshot via Google Maps
