Katherine Johnson Middle School
Katherine Johnson Middle School
Principal: Dr. Tammara Silipigni
Social Media: @kjms_fcps
Enrollment 1020
Grades 7-8
Katherine Johnson Middle School was built in 1960 and, like most Fairfax County middle schools, is named after a poet or writer of distinction when it was named after Sydney Lanier, a poet who fought for the Confederacy. In 2020, the City of Fairfax School Board voted to rename the school after Katherine Johnson, a NASA mathematician. The name was officially changed to start the 2021-2022 school year.
KJMS staff members and community members strive to ensure our school is a supportive, nurturing and encouraging environment which teaches students to become critical and creative thinkers, active problem solvers, effective communicators, and contributing citizens. We value and support the social, emotional, and academic successes of all students.
Students are assigned to a team of approximately 130 students who share the same English, science, and social studies teachers. Each team has a school counselor who is closely involved in weekly team meetings and parent conferences. They, along with department based professional learning communities work collaboratively to assess, plan, instruct, and support student learning. The intent is to provide rigorous, targeted and engaging learning, as well as enrichment and remediation opportunities for all children. These efforts work to close achievement gaps and advance students to higher levels of proficiency.
As a middle school, we realize that we have two critical years with students. As a result, we have made it a priority to consistently communicate and collaborate with our feeder elementary schools and Fairfax High School to ensure that student transition and learning from one school to another is a seamless process. Forging positive and productive partnerships with parents is also very important to us. Our approaches to learning are responsive to and respectful of the individual needs of middle school students.
