Middle Schools of Arlington County, Virginia

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There are currently five middle schools in Arlington County, Virginia, administered by the Arlington Public Schools.

Contents 1 Gunston Middle School 2 Kenmore Middle School 3 Swanson Middle School 4 Jefferson Middle School 5 Williamsburg Middle School 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Gunston Middle School

Gunston Middle School is located at 2700 South Lang Street. Its current principal is Ms. Margaret Gill and is administered by the Arlington Public Schools system. As of 2006-2007, there are 605 students enrolled and over 69 teachers (41 of whom have their Master's Degree). It is accredited through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Gunston's athletes are so named the Hornets and wear the colors teal and violet.

Gunston's curriculum includes the continuation program for students who attended the Key Elementary Spanish Immersion program or the Claremont Elementary Spanish Immersion program. Students in this program take three classes each day taught entirely in Spanish: Science, Social Studies and Spanish Language Arts. About 1/3rd of the incoming 6th graders come from the Key or Claremont programs.

The school was closed in 1978 after a major decline in enrollments. It reopened in 1994 to address overcrowding in other area schools. After the re-opening in 1994, it subsequently went through a major renovation, funded by the 2000 bond package. Construction was completed in 2003. It was built as a two story building with a public recreation center and public auditorium. Upon entering the building, there is one main hall with smaller halls and classrooms on either side of the building. The gym can be accessed from the outside as well as inside.

Demographics [1]
Ethnicity	2006
American Indian/Alaskan native	n/a
Asian/Pacific Islander	07.9%
Black	25.1%
Hispanic	43.8%
White	22.5%
Unspecified	n/a
ESL Students	112

State Testing
Average % Passing (school vs. state)
Grade 6
Subject	2006
Reading	76%	83%
Mathematics	21%	51%
Grade 7
Subject	2006
Reading	76%	81%
Mathematics	27%	44%
Grade 8
Subject	2006
Reading	66%	72%
Writing	89%	87%
Mathematics	68%	76%
Science	76%	87%

Source: Virginia Department of Education ^[2]

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[edit] Kenmore Middle School

Kenmore Middle School is located at 200 South Carlin Springs Road. Its current principal is Dr. John A. Word, Sr. and is administered by the Arlington Public Schools system. As of 2006-2007, there are 723 students enrolled and over 79 teachers (51 of which have their Master's Degree). It is accredited through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Kenmore's athletes are named the Cougars and wear the colors green and gold.

After a long process, Kenmore's new building was completed for the 2005-2006 school year. The new building is state of the art, and contains a vastly larger auditorium, cafeteria , art studio, and library/media center. It also has several floors unlike the previous building. The previous building was used for 50 years, first as an elementary school and later as a middle school. It was decided that a new building was needed after the old building started to show signs of old age.

Demographics[3]
Ethnicity	2006
American Indian/Alaskan native	n/a
Asian/Pacific Islander	12.9%
Black	18.8%
Hispanic	43.8%
White	23.9%
Unspecified	n/a
ESL Students	120

State Testing
Average % Passing (school vs. state)
Grade 6
Subject	2006
Reading	76%	83%
Mathematics	68%	51%
Grade 7
Subject	2006
Reading	68%	81%
Mathematics	33%	44%
Grade 8
Subject	2006
Reading	66%	72%
Writing	89%	87%
Mathematics	58%	76%
Science	74%	87%

Source: Virginia Department of Education^[4]

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[edit] Swanson Middle School

Swanson Middle School is located at 5800 North Washington Boulevard. Its current principal is Ms. Chrystal Forrester and is administered by the Arlington Public Schools system. As of 2006-2007, there are 745 students enrolled and 59 teachers (46 of which have their Master's Degree). It is accredited through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Swanson's athletes are named the Admirals and wear white and champagne.

Swanson first opened its doors in 1940 as a 7th through 9th grade junior high to relieve crowding at nearby Washington-Lee High School. As the oldest "junior high" in Northern Virginia, and one of the oldest in the state, Swanson takes pride in its history and traditions, a legacy begun by the school's first principal, it's leader for over a quarter century. Because of its unique contribution to education in Virginia as well as its beautiful Georgian architecture, inspired by then recently restored Colonial Williamsburg, the school is currently pursuing its listing on the National Register of Historic Places. In recognition of the school's history, the Virginia State Legislature passed a resolution on Swanson’s 50th anniversary in 1990 proclaiming Swanson as Virginia’s first junior high school. ^[5]

It was constructed with WPA funds on the site of the old Torreyson farm in the growing Westover community. One of two North Arlington junior highs targeted for closure in 1977 due to declining enrollment, Swanson reopened as an intermediate school the following year, and the 9th graders were transferred to W-L and Yorktown. Stratford Junior High, although a newer facility, closed it doors. In the fall of 1990 it once again housed three grades as a middle school. It has undergone several renovations, with the most recent in 2005.

Swanson Junior High School History

Demographics[6]
Ethnicity	2006
American Indian/Alaskan native	00.5%
Asian/Pacific Islander	09.9%
Black	06.8%
Hispanic	15.3%
White	67.1%
Unspecified	00.3%
ESL Students	58

State Testing
Average % Passing (school vs. state)
Grade 6
Subject	2006
Reading	95%	83%
Mathematics	45%	51%
Grade 7
Subject	2006
Reading	90%	81%
Mathematics	57%	44%
Grade 8
Subject	2006
Reading	85%	72%
Writing	92%	87%
Mathematics	81%	76%
Science	93%	87%

Source: Virginia Department of Education^[7]

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[edit] Jefferson Middle School

Thomas Jefferson Middle School -- Is an IB league school. IB stands for International Bachelorate World School. Thomas Jefferson is commonly referred to as "Jefferson" or "TJ"-- is located at 125 South Old Glebe Road. Its current principal is Ms. Sharon Monde and is administered by the Arlington Public Schools system. As of 2006-2007, there are 598 students enrolled and over 77 teachers (53 of which have their Master's Degree). It is accredited through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. As of March 6, 2007, Jefferson is authorized as an International Baccalaureate World School for the Middle Years. This program brings a focus on critical thinking, a rigorous curriculum and intercultural awareness to the students and staff here.

Jefferson's athletes are named the Yellow Jackets and wear the colors blue, gold, and white.

Thomas Jefferson Middle School opened as a junior high school in 1938 and was named after the third president of the United States.^[8] The original cornerstone was placed with George Washington's trowel.^[9] The current facility opened in 1971 and is located at 125 South Old Glebe Road in Arlington, Viginia. It is built as a rectangle with three individual corridors for each grade. Upon entering the main entrance of the school, the administrative offices are to the left and the library is further down the long hall. Here, the three corridors extend themselves to another long hall in which various classrooms are located. Also, three individual staircases are located that lead students to a lower level where lockers are located in individual lobbies. The sixth grade lobby is green, the seventh grade lobby is yellow, and the eighth grade lobby is blue. The sixth and seven grade lobbies are also used as cafeteria seating with the kitchen in the middle. These two lobbies also have small corridors that lead to the school gymnasium.

Jefferson was designed for use as not only a school but also for community recreation, with the second-largest gymnasium in the state and a community theater that can seat 715 people^[10]. The school district works with the local Division of Parks, Recreation and Community Resources to share the facilities.^[11]

The school's gymnasium is actually a part of the Thomas Jefferson Community Center. Indoors, a quarter-mile track runs around three basketball courts and past athletic equipment. Outdoors, a half-mile bike trail runs around two athletic fields, two baseball diamonds, two basketball courts and four tennis courts. With the very large space, Arlington County uses the area for the annual Arlington County Fair every August.^[12]

Demographics[13]
Ethnicity	2006
American Indian/Alaskan native	00.3%
Asian/Pacific Islander	12.4%
Black	28.8%
Hispanic	38.6%
White	19.8%
Unspecified	01.0%
ESL Students	60

State Testing
Average % Passing (school vs. state)
Grade 6
Subject	2006
Reading	78%	83%
Mathematics	28%	51%
Grade 7
Subject	2006
Reading	72%	81%
Mathematics	42%	44%
Grade 8
Subject	2006
Reading	62%	72%
Writing	92%	87%
Mathematics	70%	76%
Science	80%	87%

Source: Virginia Department of Education^[14]

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[edit] Williamsburg Middle School

Williamsburg Middle School is located at 3600 North Harrison Street. Its current principal is Ms. Kathy Francis and is administered by the Arlington Public Schools system. As of 2007-2008, there are 1282 students enrolled and over 77 teachers (53 of which have their Master's Degree). It is accredited through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Williamsburg athletes are named the "Wolves" and wear white and blue.

Williamsburg Middle School opened its doors for the first time in 1954 to relieve crowding at Stratford and Swanson. At the same time, the controversial decision was made to bus many of the matriculating high school students to the newly opened Wakefield High School in the southern portion of the county because of crowded conditions at nearby Washington-Lee. The original school was administered as a junior high school to only seventh through ninth grade students, but in 1978, the APS system acknowledged ninth graders as high schoolers and the school began serving only seventh and eighth grade students. In 1990, Williamsburg began admitting sixth graders and have done so since. A feeder school for both Yorktown and Washington-Lee High Schools until 2000, Williamsburg now sends most of its students to Yorktown.

The school was built as a U-shaped building with two long halls extending out of the ends of one main hall. At each end of the main hall are also the main gymnasium and auditorium. The main offices are in a separate wing broken off of the end of the main hall toward the main gymnasium.

Demographics[15]
Ethnicity	2006
American Indian/Alaskan native	00.1%
Asian/Pacific Islander	10.3%
Black	7.9%
Hispanic	09.8%
White	71.9%
Unspecified	n/a
ESL Students	50

State Testing
Average % Passing (school vs. state)
Grade 6
Subject	2006
Reading	94%	83%
Mathematics	54%	51%
Grade 7
Subject	2006
Reading	89%	81%
Mathematics	71%	44%
Grade 8
Subject	2006
Reading	92%	72%
Writing	97%	93%
Mathematics	87%	76%
Science	94%	87%

Source: Virginia Department of Education^[16]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Gunston Middle School official site
• Kenmore Middle School official site
• Thomas Jefferson Middle School official site
• Great Schools page on Thomas Jefferson MS
• Swanson Middle School official site
• Williamsburg Middle School official site

v • d • e The Arlington Public Schools System of Arlington County, Virginia Middle Schools Gunston · Kenmore · Swanson · Jefferson · Williamsburg High Schools Wakefield · Washington-Lee · Yorktown Alternative Programs H-B Woodlawn · Arlington Mill · Langston · New Directions · Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology