Joyce Kilmer Middle School
Encyclopedia
Joyce Kilmer Middle School is a school in the Fairfax County Public Schools System
in unincorporated
Fairfax County
, Virginia
, United States
, east of the city of Vienna
. Kilmer serves grades 7-8. It was named after the journalist and poet Joyce Kilmer
. Kilmer has a GT program for students who have been determined to be "Gifted and Talented."
, George C. Marshall High School
, and Langley High School.
s or hugs between friends were not allowed. The FCPS school system stood behind the rule and refused to rescind the rule. The issue was brought to light after a 13-year-old student was reprimanded for putting his arm around his girlfriend during a break, and his parents wrote to the Fairfax County School Board.
Fairfax County Public Schools
The Fairfax County Public Schools system is a branch of the Fairfax County government which administers public schools in Fairfax County and the City of Fairfax...
in unincorporated
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
Fairfax County
Fairfax County, Virginia
Fairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, east of the city of Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. Kilmer serves grades 7-8. It was named after the journalist and poet Joyce Kilmer
Joyce Kilmer
Alfred Joyce Kilmer was an American journalist, poet, literary critic, lecturer, and editor. Though a prolific poet whose works celebrated the common beauty of the natural world as well as his religious faith, Kilmer is remembered most for a short poem entitled "Trees" , which was published in...
. Kilmer has a GT program for students who have been determined to be "Gifted and Talented."
Feeder schools
This school feeds into Madison High SchoolJames Madison High School (Fairfax County, Virginia)
James Madison High School is a high school located in an unincorporated area of Fairfax County, Virginia, adjacent to the town limits of Vienna, and is part of Fairfax County Public Schools. Oakton High School is James Madison High School's main rival, although other rivals include Langley High...
, George C. Marshall High School
George C. Marshall High School
George C. Marshall High School is a public school in Idylwood, unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, and part of Fairfax County Public Schools . Newsweek ranked Marshall 159th on its 2009 list of the top U.S. high schools.-Name:...
, and Langley High School.
Demographics
Kilmer's student body in is 60% White, 22% Asian, 10% Hispanic, 5% Unspecified, 4% black, and less than 100% Native American.No contact rule
Kilmer Middle School, a school in the FCPS system, had a strict rule/policy of "no physical contact", meaning that contact such as high fiveHigh five
The high five is a celebratory hand gesture that occurs when two people simultaneously raise one hand, about head high, and push, slide or slap the flat of their palm and hand against the palm and flat hand of their partner...
s or hugs between friends were not allowed. The FCPS school system stood behind the rule and refused to rescind the rule. The issue was brought to light after a 13-year-old student was reprimanded for putting his arm around his girlfriend during a break, and his parents wrote to the Fairfax County School Board.
Test scores
Kilmer is fully accredited by the Virginia Department of Education. The following chart is for the 2006-2007 school year.| SOL Test | Percent Passing |
|---|---|
| Grade 7 English: Reading | 94% |
| Grade 7 Math | 73.2% |
| Grade 8 English: Reading | 90.8% |
| Grade 8 Science | 95.2% |
| Grade 8 English: Writing | 94% |
| Grade 8 Math | 86.2% |
Music program
Kilmer is known for its music program. The school received the Blue Ribbon Award for 2008, which is given to schools whose top performing groups from orchestra, chorus and band all receive Superior ratings at Festival, the highest rating possible. The Kilmer 2010 Symphonic Band played at the Virginia Music Educators Association (VMEA) Conference in Norfolk, VA.Teachers
48% of the teachers have a Bachelor degrees, 52% have Masters degrees. There is an average of about 19.5 students per teacher. There is a 97% attendance rate.GT center conversion controversy
In 2006, Fairfax County Public Schools decided that many Gifted and Talented students from Kilmer would be moved to Luther Jackson Middle School due to overpopulation. This created a controversy among Vienna parents, concerned with transportation issues and split-feeder schools - meaning that students would be split up from their classmates from elementary and middle school. This decision attracted media attention from the Washington Post, Fairfax Extra, The Connection and other local news. The School Board decided to open the new Luther Jackson GT Center in two stages. In its first year, only GT-eligible students in the base Luther Jackson district would attend, and Vienna students whose base middle school was Thoreau would attend the GT Center at Kilmer.Alumni
- Mike "Mud" Hindert, the bassist from the New York band The BraveryThe BraveryThe Bravery is an American rock band from New York City that consists of Sam Endicott , Michael Zakarin , John Conway , Mike Hindert , and Anthony Burulcich...
, attended Kilmer Middle school. - Barry Weeks, record producer and staff writer for Universal Music GroupUniversal Music GroupUniversal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
attended Kilmer Middle school in the mid 1970s. - Zachary Adam ChesserZachary Adam ChesserZachary Adam Chesser is an American man who pled guilty to aiding a terrorist organization. In April 2010, under the online username Abu Talhah al-Amrikee, he posted a "warning" to the creators of South Park suggesting that they would be killed for depicting Muhammad in their 200th episode...
, accused of aiding a foreign terrorist organization, attended Kilmer's GT program around 2003.