The Fairfax County (Virginia) district has spent $150 million to acquire a private school that is shutting down later this month and plans to open it as a public high school.
FFX Now reports that King Abdullah Academy, an Islamic school south of Herndon, will cease operations this summer. The Fairfax County School Board voted in June to acquire the 30-acre campus.
Officials say the acquisition ends a years-long search for a high school site in the western part of Fairfax County.
King Abdullah Academy had an enrollment of 1,030 students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The school announced in January that it would close at the end of the 2024-25 academic year after the Saudi Arabian government ceased funding and no “viable financial path to self-sustainability” emerged.
A proposal for a public high school in the area has been part of Fairfax County's capital improvement program since 2015. But rising property and construction costs have jacked up the project’s price tag from about $120 million in the 2016-20 capital improvement plan to over $431 million in the 2026-30 capital improvement program.
Because the school is generally in “fantastic condition,” no significant construction should be needed, School board member Mateo Dunne says.
The property and its extensive amenities — including an indoor swimming pool, three gyms, a theater, and ceramics and robotics studios — could be ready for temporary use in the coming school year and become fully operational for fall 2026.
Dunne says the district had to pursue the acquisition “below the radar” to avoid jeopardizing its chances in the competitive bidding process.
“We expect that the superintendent will bring a project plan in the near-future to kind of lay out the timelines for determining the best use for the high school,” Dunne said. “I have no doubt that we will be seeking community input throughout that process.”
