McLean High School

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McLean High School is a public secondary school located in McLean, Virginia. It is located on 1633 Davidson Road and is part of Fairfax County Public Schools.

According to the school's home page, McLean High School "provides a supportive environment for the whole student—focusing on student achievement, while encouraging participation in sports, the arts, clubs, publications," and other co-curricular and extracurricular activities. As it is located four miles outside of Washington, D.C., McLean is "home to a highly educated business and professional population, including employees of the federal government, as well as international business and government professionals". McLean High School has an "award-winning fine and performing arts program, with orchestral, choral, and instrumental levels suitable for the beginner or the expert performer to a preschool program in [its] early childhood education classes".^[1]

According to Newsweek magazine's 2008 list of the top US high schools, McLean was ranked 97, down 24 positions from 2007.^[2]

[edit] Demographics

McLean High School's student body is 70% White, 4% Black, 7% Hispanic, and 19% Asian.

[edit] Test scores

McLean High School is a fully accredited high school based on the Standards of Learning tests in Virginia. The average SAT score in 2006 for McLean was 1,755 (583 in Critical Reading, 602 in Math, and 570 in Writing).

[edit] Athletics

The school plays in the AAA Liberty District and the Northern Region. Their mascot is the Highlander, and their primary rival school is Langley High School, also in McLean. McLean's football team went to districts in 2001, and in 1995 played Virginia powerhouse Hampton High in the State playoffs. Recently, in 2007, the McLean Women's volleyball team won their district game against Thomas Jefferson High School, and advanced to the regional playoffs.

[edit] State championships and runner-up finishes

McLean has won two state championships, which were in AAA girls field hockey in 1986 and in AAA girls lacrosse in 1996.

McLean has made four runner up finishes, which are:

• two in wrestling (one in the now defunct IA Division in 1970, and one in AAA in 1971).
• one in AAA boys soccer in 1995
• one in AAA girls field hockey in 1982

McLean has also finished 1st place in the AAA Wachovia Cup for Academics in the 1999-2000 year.

[edit] Band

McLean's band program is currently conducted by Jim Kirchenbauer, who has been the conductor since 1982. Under Mr. Kirchenbauer, the McLean band has been 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. The band also traveled to the Midwest Clinic in 2006, one of the most prestigious performances a high school band can achieve. McLean High School also has a marching band, complete with four Bagpipers and a Color Guard. There is also a McLean Pep Band that plays at away games. For more information on the history of the McLean band, visit http://mcleanband.org/history.html.

[edit] Chorus

McLean's Choral program is currently conducted by Linda Martin. Under Martin, the McLean chorus is ranked 11th in the nation as of 2007, the only non-performing arts school in the top 15. 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. Visit the McLean Choral website for detailed information about the McLean Choral Program.

[edit] Mascot

The school considered itself "The Eagles" before becoming "The Highlanders". Girls' sport 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.

[edit] Newspaper

McLean also has an award winning newspaper, Highlander. In 2006, Highlander was inducted into the high school newspaper Hall of Fame after ten consecutive years of being an "All American". The paper can also be seen at its website [1].

Two writers from the paper won "National Story of the Year" awards while attending the school. The first was a feature story about the underage drinking that occurs at Friday parties in student homes. The other was a sports story that revealed that tobacco was being chewed on school grounds by some coaches and their players.

Highlander has existed since the school opened. In 1956, it was named the Hilltop Highlights, but was changed in 1958 to The Highlander. Since the paper's first publication, it has gone from being a newspaper to a news magazine and back to its current state, a newspaper. 2007 is the year of volume 52 of the Highlander.

[edit] Yearbook

The Clan has been McLean's award-winning yearbook since the school's first year. In 2005, The Clan was inducted into the high school yearbook Hall of Fame after ten years of consecutively being "All American". The 2006 yearbook placed seventh in the national Best of Show competition at the Journalism Education Association/National Scholastic Press Association November 2006 convention for books pages 275-324. The 2007 book placed sixth in the Best of Show competition at the November 2007 convention and fifth in the Best of Show competition at the April 2008 convention.

[edit] Notable alumni

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Notable McLean High School alumni include:

• Aldrich Ames (1959), CIA agent. He was convicted in 1994 for spying for the Soviet Union. Ames' story is widely told in novels and movies, and was also featured on the March 7, 1994 cover of Time.

• William F. Readdy (1970), astronaut. He has flown three missions during his career.

• Duff Goldman, who attended McLean during his sophomore year. 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, Jeffery Meizlik, his biggest inspiration.^{[citation needed]}

• Elizabeth Cheney (1984), currently Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. She is also the daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney.

• Mary Cheney (1987), daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney.

• Vern Yip (1986), interior designer who has appeared on design show Trading Spaces. He currently hosts the HGTV show Deserving Design.

• Eric Dorsey, 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 Giants.

• Seth Greisinger, baseball player.

[edit] References