Few people in the storied history of the City of Falls Church have made such an important impact on the Little City in the course of only an eight year history as retiring Falls Church City Pubic Schools Superintendent Dr. Peter Noonan.
Noonan will be departing his post here on the last day of this month, but don’t think you’ve seen or heard the last of him.
At only 57, the rooted City resident (with a daughter still in the school system here that he’s contributed so much to) now parked in the Tollgate part of town, will be seeking a lot of challenges ahead and after a vacation and hiatus will be going after them.
He does not rule out a run at public office at some point, he told the News-Press in an exclusive interview this week.
Noonan came to Falls Church at a point when talk of a new high school was seen mostly as “pie in the sky,” when the existing school sported a different name, before any of the tough decisions associated with the Covid-19 epidemic were thought about at all, before collective bargaining was ever seriously contemplated, and before the City’s schools, while always touted as excellent, advanced to become one of only three school divisions in the entire nation to be certified with a full pre-school through 12th grade International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum.
Though educators are notorious for avoiding comparisons with their professional colleagues, it is cannot go without noting that Meridian High School has been ranked No. 1 in the entire Commonwealth of Virginia for seven years running by Niche.com, a website set up to help students and their families find and apply to the best schools they can.
In his departing essay published in this week’s edition of the News-Press, Noonan credits the commitment of the entire community for the successes of its schools. “All of these achievements were made possible not by one person or position, but by the collective will of a community that believes in its schools. I have been extraordinarily fortunate to work with a team of dedicated professionals — in our classrooms, central office, school board, and city government — who always put students first. I’ve also had the privilege of engaging with a parent community that’s thoughtful, informed, and unafraid to advocate for what is best for kids,” he writes.
He expresses particular pride in celebrating this year “a record-breaking number of International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme candidates, 72, the highest in FCCPS history. The IB program, renowned worldwide for its rigor and global perspective, represents the very best that public education has to offer. That more of our students than ever are choosing this path speaks volumes about their ambition and the support they receive from our incredible educators and their families.”
The IB curriculum, he said provides, a more global context for learning that challenges students to be risk takers, and that provides value contexts. Another advance in the IB program here under Noonan has been the adoption of the IB career related C-Prep Program specifically developed for students who wish to engage in career-related learning while gaining transferable and lifelong skills in applied knowledge.” Seventeen Meridian students are enrolled in that this year.
All the way through his tenure here, Noonan has couched his practical initiatives in a context of wider and deeper humanist values. Asked about the roots of such an outlook, he credits his upbringing in New Mexico by a single mom, his reliance on free and reduced lunches, his self-employment to pay his way through college, his ability to meet the challenges he set before himself and his empathy toward others facing similar situations. “I always look to see the best in people,” he said. “I practice kindness, which is not the same as being nice,” he quipped.
He also singled out a book of spiritual essays by civil rights leader, U.N. ambassador, congressman, former two-term Atlanta mayor and ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, Andrew Young, entitled “Way Out of No Way.”
He said he views his time in Falls Church in three buckets, pre-Covid, Covid and post-Covid. He said he is proud of the decisions he took around the Covid crisis, in particular as it zeroed in to the hours around 11 p.m. on his birthday December 29, 2020 when the decisions had to be taken about moving back to in-person teaching after the winter break.
“It really matters to have a community behind you,” he added, and said that good friends, as well as all the relevant parent-teacher and other groups meant a very great deal.
As he leaves, Noonan told the News-Press that he is deeply concerned for the future of public education in the current political climate, which may have something to do with his notion that, after completing a manuscript for publication with former F.C. school board member Justin Castillo, a “field guide”’ on how to improve relations between school superintendents and school boards, after some consulting, being out and about in the community more here, and vacationing in Halifax, he will be jumping back into the fray in some new capacity.
