George Washington Middle School

George Washington Middle School in Alexandria, Virginia, is located at 1005 Mount Vernon Avenue, part of Alexandria City Public Schools. Named after the nation's first president, it opened in 1935 as a high school; it consolidated the city's two previous schools, Alexandria and George Mason. The Tulloch Memorial Gym was built in 1952. As many as ten classes at a time are now held each period in the gym or the classrooms connected to it. In 1971, the city's school district moved to a 6-2-2-2 configuration, and reassigned its three high schools from four-year to two-year campuses. The newest, T.C. Williams, took all of the city's juniors and seniors, while Francis C. Hammond and George Washington split the freshmen and sophomores. Both became junior high schools in 1979, with grades 7-9, and middle schools in 1993, with grades 6-8.