We are honored to be The Katherine Johnson Middle School
Renaming Ceremony - June 4, 2021
The City of Fairfax School Board celebrated the renaming of its middle school to Katherine Johnson Middle School today with community leaders, guests and family members of Katherine Johnson at a renaming ceremony at the school.
"Like what you do, and then you will do your best"-Katherine Johnson
The Journey to Katherine Johnson Middle School
On November 2, 2020, the City of Fairfax School Board voted unanimously to change the name of Lanier Middle School to Katherine Johnson Middle School. In the coming weeks and months, we will engage with our students, community, City School Board, and Superintendent Pajardo about a variety of ways that we can celebrate and share our new school name. We look forward to helping our students learn about the important contributions Ms. Johnson has made and why her name was selected from so many deserving candidates. This message contains a short biography and additional links about Ms. Johnson.
Though our name has changed, much of what makes our school special will remain the same. We will continue to wear Blue and Gold with pride, and our mascot is still the Eagle. Our Eagle mascot is quite fitting as City School Board member Jon Buttram noted in the meeting when speaking about Ms. Johnson:
“Her contributions continued to serve the nation and helped ensure that the ‘Eagle had landed…and landed safely’. So, I think it appropriate that the name Katherine Johnson for our middle school will inspire new generations of ‘Eagles’ for our community, and I look forward to watching them fly.”
Though the name Katherine Johnson Middle School will not be used in an official capacity until July of 2021, you may see students and staff unofficially using the name as early as this week - we are already so excited to be Eagles learning and working at the “Future” Katherine Johnson Middle School!
As we now SOAR into the clouds and beyond to the moon and stars, we thank you for continuing with us on this journey. Like Katherine Johnson chartered new territories in the fields of math and science, your children continue to need your guidance and support in these unchartered virtual days.
Students Learn About Katherine Johnson in Teacher Advisory
On December 9th, students had the opportunity to learn about our school's namesake, Katherine Johnson, and her contributions to NASA and the STEM community as a whole! See the lesson below!
Learn About Katherine Johnson
Read about Katherine Johnson's life in NASA's biography of her!
"I like to learn. That's an art and a science." - Katherine Johnson