George Mason High School
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| George Mason | |
| Motto | Fully SOL accredited for 27 years |
|---|---|
| Established | 1952 |
| Type | Public |
| Principal | Robert Snee |
| Location | Falls Church, Virginia |
| Campus | 7124 Leesburg Pike |
| Enrollment | 967 |
| Faculty | 42 |
| Mascot | Mustang Sally |
| Colors | Red, Black, White, Green |
| Homepage | George Mason High School |
George Mason High School is a comprehensive public high school located in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia. The school serves all of the city of Falls Church.
The school serves more than 800 students in grades 8-12, making it one of the few 5-year high schools in the nation. The school is a part of the Falls Church City Public Schools.
The school is widely known for its International Baccalaureate program, which dates back to 1971. More than 50 percent of upperclassmen take courses in the IB curriculum, and 60 percent of those attempt to earn the IB diploma. 55 percent of students who attempt to do so succeed in earning the International Baccalaureate diploma.
The school has received attention in the past several years for its placement in Newsweek Magazine's ranking of the top high schools in the nation. The school has finished in the top 25 since Newsweek began its annual ranking, and has finished as high as 2nd.
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Colors and Mascot
The school's original colors are white and red. Recently, black and green were added to give sports teams more choices while choosing uniforms. The mascot is a mustang. The school owns a mustang costume, that is occasionally and unofficially referred to as "Mustang Sally." Generally sports teams just call themselves "The George Mason Mustangs" making no reference to Mustang Sally.
History
George Mason High School is constructed on the site of a one-roomed school house which burned down in 1857. After the fire, the land sat empty for years, until Falls Church was founded as an independent city in 1947 by residents interested in operating a school system independent of Fairfax County. George Mason High School, established in 1952, became the City's only institution. Its facilities and athletic fields are a hub of activity within the community. The school's campus is actually not in Falls Church, but in Fairfax County because the city sold a square mile of land to Fairfax in the early sixties. However, a corner of the campus, down by the intersection of Route 7 and Haycock is actually in the city. The school suffered from economic problems in the late 1980's, when over 47% of faculty were either fired or had their wages cut dramatically. Many of the remaining teachers retired or quit, leaving the school with lower quality education, and many students changed schools. They rebounded in the 1990's, due to many new technology instructors being hired from the dot com boom, beginning in 1996.
Sports and Activities
- VHSL Scholastic Bowl Team- District champion 9 years running, Regional champion 4 years running, and 3 time State Champion (2002, 2003, 2007)
- FIRST Robotics Team 1418- winner of 2004 VCU regional Rookie all-star. Winner of the 2007 Chesapeake regional "Delphi's Driving Tomorrow's Technology" award. 8th seed overall in Chesapeake 2007.
- Football-Bull Run district champs 2006
- Band- Earned "Superior" scores in the district 10 festival playing grade 5 music for the past 4 years.
Notable Alumni
- Ann Downer, author
- Paul Ebert, Prosecutor of sniper John Allen Muhammad, George Mason High School class of 1955, Prince William County’s Commonwealth’s Attorney. [1][2]
- Wendell Byrd, George Mason High School Class of 1971, Coach, South Lakes High School, Reston, Virginia, Grant Hill's Coach [3] [4][5]
- Yousef Abu-Taleb, actor
