Back in the mid 1980's, 1985 is our best estimate.  Jan Kurtz, who was a teacher here for many years, requested a nature trail in the woody area around the school.  Sandy Pierpoint, who was a Dale City ES Icon for many years, put her family to it and her husband Roy and son Todd got to work.  They cut into the woods just above where the stairs now sit, using a family friend's backyard as the entry point.  They used pickaxes and cut the stairs out of the hill side one step at a time eventually dragging the lumber in and building the stairs that still exist today. 

The trail was cut in both directions from there, West to the creek and to the East to Brook drive.  Interestingly enough, the new entrance is very close to the original entrance.

More work was done in the early 2000's to update the trail boarders and build the Ampitheater.  It is unclear if this is when the entrance by the fence was set up.  But it does seem like the walkway up the back hill was laid at that time.  This walkway is now being diverted and rebuilt by the Keep Prince William Beautiful volunteers and Mr. Beaumont's team.  There are photos of the 2000s era update in the 50^th photo albums in the library.  We are still digging through information on that update.

There are still many improvements to come, including 3/4 classroom areas.  We are also working to partner with Scounts in the area for service projects.