Terraset Principal To Retire in June

Ellen Cury, principal of says she will retire at the end of the 2011-12 school year.

Cury has been at Terraset for 12 years - two as assistant principal and 10 years as principal. The Fairfax resident, 62, has been an educator for 40 years, 35 of them with Fairfax County Public Schools.

With test scores rising, quality teachers on board and plans for ashe says "Terraset is in a really good place right now."

"I started to think about retiring last year," she said on Wednesday. "But I love the community, the school and the kids. My leadership team was very influential in convincing me to stay. But someone new can come in now and bring us to the next level."

Cury said she is proud of the school's achievement since she has been there. The school has shown tremendous academic growth, she says, even with obstacles such as a 43-percent free-and-reduced lunch population (an indicator of poverty) and a high rate of student mobility.

"Every year, our test scores have gone higher and higher," Cury said. " We have had very little staff turnover. This makes it a very consistent learning environment for the kids. The teachers here work hard to meet the needs of every child."

There will be a community meeting at the school on Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. Citizens can meet with FCPS cluster representatives to offer their input on what they would like to see in a new principal.

Cury's last day will be June 30. She says she plans on working in her garden all summer, but come September, she will miss going "back to school."

She says she hopes the new principal will "take what is already wonderful here and make it bigger and better."

"The big thing is to respect what our staff has done over the years and grow from that point," she said.