Send announcements or events, which are open to the public at no or minimal cost, to The Loudoun Connection, 7913 Westpark Drive, McLean, VA 22102 or e-mail <a href="mailto:loudoun@connectionnewspapers.com">loudoun@connectionnewspapers.com</a>. Deadline is Friday, two weeks before the event. Photos/artwork encouraged.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine announced that 162 Virginia public schools have earned the 2009 Governor’s Award for Educational Excellence. The award is the highest honor under the Virginia Index of Performance (VIP) incentive program created by the Board of Education to advance Kaine’s "competence to excellence" agenda to encourage advanced learning and achievement in the commonwealth’s public schools. Local schools that won include Dominion High, Horizon Elementary, Lowes Island Elementary and Potomac Falls High.