George Washington Middle School in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of downtown Washington, D.C. In 2020, the population was 159,467. ...

, is located at 1005 Mount Vernon Avenue, part of

Alexandria City Public Schools Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) is a school division which is funded by the government of Alexandria, Virginia, United States. Administration Superintendent The superintendent of Alexandria City Public Schools is Gregory C. Hutchings, ...

. Named after the nation's first president, it originally opened in 1935 as a

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

; it consolidated the city's two previous schools, Alexandria and

George Mason George Mason (October 7, 1792) was an American planter, politician, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, one of the three delegates present who refused to sign the Constitution. His writings, including ...

. The Tulloch Memorial Gym was built in 1952. As many as nine classes at a time are now held each period in the gym or the classrooms connected to it. In 1971, the city's school district moved to a 6-2-2-2 configuration, and reassigned its three high schools from four-year to two-year campuses. The newest, T.C. Williams, took all of the city's juniors and seniors, while Francis C. Hammond and George Washington split the freshmen and sophomores. Both became junior high schools in 1979, with grades 7–9, and

middle schools A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

in 1993, with grades 6–8. Beginning in the 2009–2010 school year, both were split into several smaller schools with George Washington split into the two schools, George Washington 1 and George Washington 2 and Francis C. Hammond split into Francis C. Hammond 1, 2, and 3. Superintendent Morton Sherman believes that smaller schools will provide, "...personalization, engagement, and customization for higher levels of achievement for all students." However, this change was later revoked, and George Washington and Francis Hammond are both united schools now. Both middle schools also began to follow the

International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme The International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (MYP) is an educational programme for students between the ages of 11 to 16 around the world as part of the International Baccalaureate (IB) continuum. Middle Year Programme is intended to pr ...

curriculum. This was also changed, and now only Jefferson-Houston School follows the

curriculum.

Demographics

*(as of 9/5/2017) *Enrollment 1392+ *African American 21% *Hispanic 33% *White 41% *Other 5% (Asian, Pacific Islander, American Indian)

AFL preseason game

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in for a full term ...

, GWHS hosted a pre-season

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

game on August 7, between the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The ...

and

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 a ...

. It was a charity benefit sponsored by Kena Temple, the local Shriners organization, and was wrapped into the city's annual "Alexandria Days" summer festival,—and was known for being the professional debut of

Joe Namath Joseph William Namath (; ; born May 31, 1943) is a former American football quarterback who played in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the New York Jets. He played college fo ...

Notable alumni

* Francis Hammond, class of 1949,

posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award - an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication Posthumous publication refers to material that is published after the author's death. This can be because the auth ...

awarded the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of val ...

in 1953 for his actions during the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{ ...

. A new high school in Alexandria was named for him in 1956, now a middle school *

Willard Scott Willard Herman Scott Jr. (March 7, 1934 – September 4, 2021) was an American weather presenter, radio and television personality, actor, narrator, clown, comedian, and author, whose broadcast career spanned 68 years, 65 years with the NBC br ...

of NBC's ''The Today Show'', class of 1951 * John Phillips, the Mamas & the Papas, class of 1953 *

Cass Elliot Ellen Naomi Cohen (September 19, 1941 – July 29, 1974), known professionally as Mama Cass and later on as Cass Elliot, was an American singer and voice actress. She was a member of the singing group the Mamas & the Papas. After the group brok ...

, the Mamas & the Papas, class of 1961 *

Jim Morrison James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, poet and songwriter who was the lead vocalist of the rock band the Doors. Due to his wild personality, poetic lyrics, distinctive voice, unpredictable and err ...

the Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential rock acts ...

, class of 1961 * Guy Gardner, astronaut, class of 1965 *

Skeeter Swift Harley Edward "Skeeter" Swift Jr. (June 19, 1946 – April 20, 2017) was an American professional basketball player. A 6'3" guard from East Tennessee State University, Swift was selected in the third round (31st pick overall) of the 1969 NBA draf ...

, pro basketball player, class of 1965

References

External links

*
George Washington High School
- nostalgic site {{Alexandria, Virginia Public middle schools in Virginia Educational institutions established in 1935 Schools in Alexandria, Virginia 1935 establishments in Virginia