McLean High School

Fairfax County Public Schools purchased a 22-acre tract for $32,443 for the future McLean High School on August 6, 1952.[4] McLean High opened its doors September 6, 1955 with an enrollment of 1031 students from grades 8 through 11 with Principal Craighill S. Burks.[5] At the time, McLean was the newest high school in Fairfax County, and the only high school located in McLean since the Franklin Sherman School, originally built in 1914, ceased to function as a high school in the late 1930s.[5] McLean High celebrated its 50th reunion in 2005.[6]

The town of McLean received its name from John Roll McLean, an Ohio native who was the owner and publisher of the Washington Post and one of the founders of the Washington and Old Dominion Railways. A railroad stop named after McLean was once located at the intersection of Old Dominion Drive and Chain Bridge Road, about a mile from the high school's current location.[7] The McLean community combined two existing villages, Lewinsville and Langley.

In the 2019–20 school year, McLean High School had 2350 students and its student body was:

• 53.5% White
• 25.7% Asian/Pacific Islander
• 11.5% Hispanic
• 3.1% Black
• 6.1% Two or More Races[8]
• 47.8% Female
• 52.2% Male[9]

Due to the school's growing enrollment, which has increased by over 550 students since 2006, the Fairfax County School Board has been considering a boundary change to move some of McLean's students to rival Langley High School, which received a significant expansion during the school's recent renovation, even though Langley has not experienced similar enrollment growth. The boundary study has been delayed, however, first when parents realized that FCPS had not included the feeder middle schools for McLean and Langley (Longfellow Middle School and Cooper Middle School) within the scope of the original boundary study, and then by the COVID-19 crisis.[10] As a result, McLean remains one of FCPS's most overcrowded high schools.[11]

McLean High School is a fully accredited high school based on the Standards of Learning tests in Virginia. The average SAT score for McLean's Class of 2018 was 1308 (including both Critical Reading and Writing and Math), the third-highest among Fairfax County's 25 high and secondary schools.[12] In addition, the participation and success rates of McLean students on Advanced Placement exams typically are among the highest in Fairfax County Public Schools.[13]

The school plays in the Liberty District and the Group 6A North Region. Their mascot is the Highlander, a soldier in a Scottish regiment from the Highlands. Their primary rival school is Langley High School, which is also in McLean. Other rival schools include Marshall High School in Falls Church, Madison High School in Vienna, and Yorktown High School in Arlington.

McLean's band program is currently conducted by Chris Weise, who took over the direction of the band at the beginning of the 2008–2009 school year. Jim Kirchenbauer, who had been the conductor since 1982, was forced to step down from his position early because of serious health concerns. Under Mr. Kirchenbauer, the McLean band was awarded many honors, such as the Sudler Flag of Honor, an award granted by the John Phillip Sousa Foundation for consistent superior musical performance, in 2000, and again in 2018 under the direction of Chris Weise. McLean remains one of only seven bands in the country who have earned the award twice. The band also traveled to the Midwest Clinic in 2006, one of the most prestigious performances a high school band can achieve.

Mclean's concert band program is divided into three main ensembles: the Concert Band, the Wind Ensemble, and the Symphonic Band (the school's premiere band). McLean also has two award-winning jazz bands under the direction of Scott Weinhold and a chamber winds program led by Deidra Denson, which performed at Music For All's 2018 Chamber Music National Festival in Indianapolis. McLean High School also has a marching band. Once the annual show is determined and created, the marching band practices for over 250 hours to achieve a final product. In both 2016 and 2017, the McLean Highlander Marching Band won the title of Virginia State Champions.

McLean's Choral program is currently conducted by Linda Martin. Under Martin, the McLean chorus is ranked 9th in the nation as of 2009, the only non-performing arts school in the top 10. Chorus has also received many high-level awards and honors at local and national competitions. The chorus program consists of four separate choruses: Women's, Men's, Armonia, and the Madrigals.

The McLean Orchestra program is currently conducted by McLean High School alumni Starlet Smith. It consists of four separate orchestras: Concert, Symphonic, Sinfonia, and Philharmonic. McLean belongs to District XII of the Virginia Band & Orchestra Directors Association. The McLean High School Philharmonic Orchestra has participated in a musical exchange program with sister school, Grabbe Gymnasium, located in Detmold, Germany for over 20 years. In alternating years, musicians from the Grabbe Gymnasium travel to McLean and collaborate on a joint concert with McLean High School's Philharmonic Orchestra, while McLean Philharmonic musicians travel to Detmold for a similar experience with their German counterparts.

The school considered itself "The Eagles" before becoming "The Highlanders". Girls' sports teams were known as "The Bald Eagles". The mascot was changed to its current form today in 1958 after a school-wide vote to instead reference 'the Scottish heritage' of McLean, Virginia, with boys teams being called The Highlanders, and girls The Lady Highlanders. However, the area is not known for having any significant Scottish settlements during its history. It is more likely that the name was inspired by the Union forces of the 79th New York "Highlanders", who fought a minor battle during the Civil War at nearby Lewinsville Park.[25] The Highlander, whose picture appeared at midcourt of the gym until recent years when it was changed to an 'M', was named 'Angus'.

McLean also has an award-winning newspaper, The Highlander. The Highlander has existed since the school opened. In 1956, it was named the Hilltop Highlights, but was changed in 1958 to The Highlander.

In 2006, The Highlander was inducted into the high school newspaper Hall of Fame after ten consecutive years of being an "All American".[26] Since the paper's first publication, it has gone from a newspaper format to a news magazine format. In 2012, the newspaper also launched a website publication, The Highlander Online.[27]

In 2017, The Highlander was one of 49 high school publications nationwide to be named a finalist for the National Scholastic Press Association's "Pacemaker" award.[28] Repeating that honor in 2020, The Highlander was one of 28 high school publications nationwide to be named a finalist for the "Pacemaker" award.[29] In 2019, The Highlander was also a finalist for the Columbia Scholastic Press Association's "Crown Award" for student journalism.[30] Individual articles that have received recognition have addressed topics such as refugees in Northern Virginia, gender identity, and student athletes with concussions.[31]

The Clan was the original name of McLean's award-winning yearbook. In 2004, The Clan was inducted into the National Scholastic Press Association Hall of Fame after ten years of consecutively being "All American".[26] The yearbook's name was changed to Caledonia in 2019.

In 2006, seven members of the senior class, calling themselves the Committee For Students' Rights, staged a protest against the plagiarism detection service Turnitin. The committee argued that the use of Turnitin was a violation of their intellectual property rights, put them in a situation where the guilt of all parties was assumed, and also violated student privacy as specified in FERPA. The students were interviewed for three articles in the Washington Post, received the services of an intellectual property attorney, and one of them, Ben Donovan, was featured on NBC's The Today Show. On March 27, 2007, four high school students, two from McLean, filed legal action against iParadigms LLC, the parent company of Turnitin.com. The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, the jurisdiction where McLean lies. iParadigms counterclaimed, alleging one of the students hacked into its service. Approximately one year later, the district court granted summary judgment in favor of iParadigms and against the students based on the doctrine of fair use, and against iParadigms on their hacking claim because they failed to prove any monetary damages. Both parties appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. On April 16, 2009, the 4th Circuit court affirmed the district court's judgment against the students in favor of iParadigms, and reversed and remanded the judgment against iParadigms on the hacking claims.[32]

Notable McLean High School alumni include:

• Sharyn Alfonsi (1990), Correspondent for ABC News. Reports and appears on World News with Charles Gibson, Good Morning America and Nightline.[33]
• Aldrich Ames (1959), CIA officer. He was convicted in 1994 for spying for the Soviet Union. Ames' story has been widely told in novels and movies and was also featured on the March 7, 1994 cover of Time.[34]
• Rose Arce (1982), CNN producer[35]
• Elizabeth Cheney (1984), former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, and current member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wyoming's at-large district. She is also the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney.[36]
• Mary Cheney (1987), daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney.[37]
• Eric Dorsey (1982), led McLean to a 10–1 season in 1981. Went to Notre Dame on a football scholarship and then got drafted 19th in the NFL draft by the New York Giants. Dorsey went on to start in Super Bowl XXV for the New York Giants.[38]
• Duff Goldman (1992), baker, cake designer. He opened a bakery in Baltimore, Maryland and became the star of his own Food Network show, Ace of Cakes. He considers his McLean art teacher, Jeffrey Meizlik, his biggest inspiration.[39]
• Seth Greisinger (1993), baseball player, played in 1996 Olympics (bronze medal), with Yomiuri Giants in 2009.[40]
• Luke Kruytbosch, race track announcer at Churchill Downs.[41]
• Giuseppe Lanzone (2001), member of the US Olympic rowing team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Lanzone sat 3 seat of the Men's Four w/o.[42]
• Jared Leto, Oscar-winning actor and lead singer of band Thirty Seconds to Mars, attended MHS for two years
• Marcia McDermott (1983), soccer player and coach[43]
• Ann Sommovigo Moore (1968), CEO, Time, Inc.[44]
• William F. Readdy (1970), astronaut. He has flown three missions during his career.[45]
• Luis Felipe Restrepo (1977), federal judge. United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.[46]
• Josh Sborz (2012), baseball player, drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers and named College World Series Most Valuable Player in 2015 while attending the University of Virginia [47]
• Sam Stitt (2000), member of the US Olympic rowing team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Stitt sat 2 seat of the Men's Quadruple Sculls.[48]
• Tom Udall (1966), current United States Senator from New Mexico.[49]
• Vern Yip (1986), interior designer who has appeared on design show Trading Spaces. He currently hosts the HGTV show Deserving Design.[50]

• Official website