Gunston History / Overview

Gunston Middle School was originally called Brandon Junior High. In 1957 the school was renamed Gunston Junior High after Gunston Hall, the home of George Mason. George Mason was the author of the Virginia Bill of Rights, the basis for the first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States. In 1959, Gunston moved to its present location at 2700 S. Lang Street. It remained open until June 16, 1978, when Gunston Junior High closed due to declining enrollment.

In September of 1994, the doors of Gunston Middle School opened to a new generation of students. By January of 1995, Gunston’s new library was completed as part of a multi-phase renovation project. During the fall of 1996, a two-story classroom wing was completed, providing science, computer, technical education, family and consumer science, and art labs, as well as a television studio.

In the spring of 2000, construction began again, with renovation of the auxiliary gym and the locker rooms. During 2001, the final phase of Gunston"s renewal began with work on a new classroom wing, the theaters, sixth and seventh grade classrooms, the main gym and the cafeteria. All work was completed by January 2003, providing Gunston Middle School with state of the art facilities for instruction, technology, media and the arts.The first Principal of the newly opened Gunston Middle school was Mr. Greg Croghan (1994-2003). Our second principal, Ms. Margaret Gill, was here since the building opened, first as Director of Counseling and later as Assistant Principal. Ms. Gill served as Principal from 2003-2012.

 

Welcome Ms. Wiggins! ¡Bienvenida!

Gunston's  Principal as of July 2012 is Dr. Lori Wiggins. Dr. Wiggins comes to us with many years of experience at the middle school, high school and state administration level. Dr. Wiggins has been both a high school assistant principal and a middle school principal. She was a middle school Spanish teacher before going into administration. Dr. Wiggins has lived and worked in Barcelona, Spain, and in Pennsylvania, New York, California and West Virginia. We are very excited to welcome her to Arlington and to Gunston Middle School!