Jennifer van der Kleut (formerly Jennifer McBride) was born and raised in the southern San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California. She graduated from the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at San Jose State University. She was a full-time writer for Silicon Valley Community Newsgroup from 2004 to 2006, writing for newspapers such as the Los Gatos Weekly and Saratoga News, among others. She wrote the weekly history column Los Gatos: Now and Then for the Los Gatos Daily News throughout 2007, and was a contributing editor at South Bay Accent Magazine from 2008 to 2009. She has also lent her voice to many other publications such as the Los Gatos Weekender and the online Brizzly Guide.
Jennifer was one of the very first freelance writers to contribute to many of the first Bay Patch sites in the Bay Area when they first launched in the fall of 2010. After contributing for more than a year and a half, Jennifer was hired on as an official Patch employee in May of 2012. She is very excited to be a full-fledged member of the Patch family.
In California, Jennifer served as the interim editor for Milpitas Patch in the South Bay, an associate editor for the San Mateo and Foster City Patch sites on the Peninsula, and then served as the head local editor for RedwoodCity-Woodside Patch, before transferring to the east coast in April of 2013.
Jennifer is now the local editor for both Herndon Patch and Fairfax City Patch. She loves being a part of these two communities and getting to know her new home in Northern Virginia.
Jennifer currently lives in the Clifton/Centreville with her husband, Alex and her two sons, Connor, born in Sept. 2007, and Oliver, or Ollie, born in May 2010.
Virginia Commonwealth Attorney's Office investigating man who allegedly praised Boston Marathon bombings and wrote Paul VI High School in Fairfax City would be next.
Shows this weekend and next.
The last day to vote in person at City offices as an absentee for the upcoming Democratic Primary is June 8.
Jody Carlson tried for seven years before she finally got the call she had been dreaming of.
Authentic period music, demonstrations, balloon aeronautics, hayrides, and even cannon firings - it's an event like no other, for the 150th anniversary.
Nearby residents may see unusual police activity in Bready Park during these times, but it is no cause for alarm, the department said.
Fairfax City Police said the department is taking an anonymous online threat 'very seriously.'
Nine high schools along the Peninsula made the Washington Post's list of most challenging high schools in the country.
Junior Ethan Griffith, 17, died Tuesday. People are encouraging each other to wear orange in his memory Thursday.
Everyone loves a good sandwich - and probably even more so when it's only $1. Today is Customer Appreciation Day at Jimmy John's.
The mural is located in the Municipal Center downtown.
Fairfax school officials confirm death of 17-year-old Ethan Griffith.
Bank-owned homes for sale among Fairfax County and City real estate listings.
Town kicks off annual Yard of the Month contest.
At least three lanes are blocked.
Man told police he had planned 'to shoot as many people as possible and smear Chick-fil-a sandwiches in their faces' because the organization opposes gay marriage.
Parts of Main Street will be closed.
The program trains high school students for today's skilled workforce.
Also, several arrests for public drunkenness and assault.
The annual three-week festival began Friday and runs through May 6, showcasing all Fairfax City has to offer in the way of art and culture.