IDI Moves Iconic Rock to New Paul VI Campus

Fairfax, Va., July 30 – As St. Paul VI Catholic High School moves from its storied Fairfax campus to its new Loudoun County location, an iconic piece of the past is coming with them: the rock. Since the 2008-2009 school year, the rock has been a visual representation of school spirit at Paul VI, highlighting upcoming events and performances, celebrating victories and awards, and even sporting the occasional “prom-posal.” The IDI Group Companies of Arlington, who are redeveloping the site into a new mixed-use community called Boulevard VI, today had the rock moved from the old site to the new.

“The Class of 2009 was instrumental in bringing the rock to PVI from a local quarry and it has been a fun way for students to express themselves for the past 10 years. We always knew that we wanted to bring the rock to our new campus and we are very thankful that IDI, John Moriarty and Associates, and B & M Steel made that possible. At 6.6 tons, it was no small task,” said Ginny Colwell, Head of School.

“Similarly, moving an entire school to a new location during a global pandemic was a huge undertaking, but with planning, teamwork, faith, and of course social distancing, we are in our new home. Our beautiful new campus will ensure that PVI continues to offer an extraordinary college preparatory Catholic education for generations to come, ” Colwell continued.

“We’re glad we were able to save this and other meaningful items from the school and its site for the Paul VI community to continue to enjoy,” said Patrick J. Rhodes, Jr., IDI’s project manager for Boulevard VI.

Paul VI first opened in 1983 after purchasing and renovating the former Fairfax High School building that had been built in 1936. Having grown from an original enrollment of 350 to its current size of approximately 1,000 students, Paul VI moved from 16-acres to a new 68-acre campus in the Chantilly/South Riding area of Loudoun County this summer. With its challenging academic curriculum, distinguished performance and fine arts programs, outstanding sports, and wide-ranging extracurricular activities, Paul VI has been recognized as one of the Top 50 Catholic High Schools in the U.S.

Paul VI will open for the 2020-2021 school year five days a week, utilizing a combination of in-person and virtual learning, with 50% of the students in the building and 50% joining in the class from home via Livestream on an alternating block schedule.

IDI purchased the Fairfax site from the Catholic Diocese of Arlington and will preserve the school building and its iconic lawn as the company develops the Boulevard VI mixed use community. Boulevard VI will include retail space along Fairfax Boulevard, with the 24,000-square-foot school as the focus, flanked by two 10,000 square foot buildings to be built perpendicular to the school, forming a horseshoe around The Lawn. Residential offerings will include The Flats, IDI’s four-story luxury condominium building, as well as three-and four-story townhomes, 15 of which will be live/work units with ground floor commercial along Fairfax Drive. You can track progress at BoulevardVI.com