The Virginia Beach Technical & Career Education Center (Tech Center, 2925 N Landing Road, Virginia Beach, VA 23456) is celebrating its 50th anniversary with an open house reunion on Wednesday, March 29, from 6-8 p.m., for all students and staff both past and present. The Tech Center opened its doors in September 1972 to provide career-training opportunities for students in grades 11 and 12. Over the past 50 years, the Tech Center has maintained focus on career preparation and employability for its students and continues to evolve to meet the demands of the ever-changing workforce. Having served more than 40,000 students, the Tech Center currently has 682 students enrolled in programs for the 2022-23 school year.
Our School
The Hermitage Pledge
Interesting Facts
About Us
School Logo
Established
The original Hermitage Elementary opened its doors in November 1964 on 19 acres donated by the federal government. At that time, 970 students in 6th and 7th grade attended school in the unfinished building for the remainder of the term. In the fall of 1965, the completed building opened to serve students in first through seventh grade. In 1967, four special education classes added to the student population.
Expanded
By 1974, Hermitage had grown so much that eight additional classrooms were added, but we were not among the 1980's renovations elsewhere in the school system. Hermitage had a multipurpose "gymatorium" used as a gymnasium, cafeteria, and auditorium until 1995, when a new gym was added.
Relocated
The last few months of the 2002-2003 school year were busy ones as staff prepared for the impending demolition of the old to make way for the new. In Fall 2003, Hermitage students and staff found a temporary home in the "old Kemps Landing building" at 501 Kempsville Road. For about a year and a half, Kindergarten and pre-school special needs classes became part of Shelton Park Elementary while first through fifth graders brought new life to the aging building.
Rebuilt
In the summer of 2003, most of the original Hermitage Elementary structure was destroyed and ground broken for the new and improved school. Students moved in to the new Hermitage in April 2005 after Spring Break. Hermitage Elementary, a green school, boasts several environmentally savvy amenities, including special filters and air flow requirements to promote energy efficiency, recycled building materials, low water usage restroom facilities, higher insulation values, and a structural design that promotes abundant sunlight throughout the building. In addition, construction materials like paints and floor adhesives boasted minimal odor. The gym from the 1995 addition was "recycled" and subdivided into three areas: a music room, an art room, and a multipurpose room. The dedication ceremony for the newly opened $9.7 million school was held on November 15, 2005.