Annandale High School

Here follows the school history as published by Fairfax County Public Schools on their website:

Opening Date: September 1, 1954

Annandale Neighborhood:
The Annandale community derives its name from a Scottish town and an English lord of the same name. For many years it was a toll station on Little River Turnpike. Until the late 1940's, it was the terminus of Columbia Pike and Gallows Road and the beginning of rural Fairfax County.

Today, Annandale, though not a city, town, or village of any description, is a thriving community of several shopping centers, many churches, the central campus of Northern Virginia Community College, and approximately 40,000 people. Annandale is not only known for its friendly and progressive people, but also for the high school that bears its name.

What's in a Name?
Learn about the origin of our school's name in this video produced for Fairfax County Public Schools’ cable television channel Red Apple 21.

Annandale High School, named for the community of Annandale, opened in 1954. The first documented use of the name Annandale in Fairfax County is found in the records of the U.S. Post Office Department, which indicate that William Garges was appointed the first postmaster of the Annandale Post Office in 1837.
Originally from Pennsylvania, Garges had purchased land in Fairfax County in 1820, near the present-day intersection of Columbia Pike and Little River Turnpike. Shown here is a sales advertisement placed by Garges in the Alexandria Gazette in 1841, in which he referred to his property as Annandale Farm. Whether Garges named his farm for its location near the Annandale Post Office, or the post office took its name from Annandale Farm is unknown. Historians speculate the name Annandale was derived from the name of a valley and town along the River Annan in Scotland. Annan, Scotland, is famous for its connection to Robert the Bruce, who was active in the struggle for Scottish independence. The first public school in the village of Annandale was established in the 1870s. At that time, public education was limited to grades one through seven. The first publicly-funded high schools in Fairfax County opened in 1907, but, due to racial segregation in public education, these schools only admitted white children. There was no public high school for African-American children in Fairfax County until the opening of Luther Jackson High School in 1954. Because of the poor quality of area roads, and Annandale’s distance from the high schools at Bailey’s Crossroads, Fairfax, and Falls Church, it wasn’t until the 1930s that the majority of white children living near Annandale continued their education beyond the seventh grade. From 1935 to 1954, area children were bused to Fairfax High School until Annandale High School opened. Annandale’s nickname, the Atoms, harkens back to the Nuclear Age of the 1950s. Like other schools built during that era, Annandale High School once had a bomb shelter located on the school grounds. Today, Annandale High School is the oldest continuously occupied public high school building in Fairfax County. When Annandale opened, it was an all-white segregated institution. Today, Annandale proudly boasts one of the most racially diverse student bodies in the county.

Annandale Alma Mater:
For truth and beauty in our life, to Annandale we praise.
The overcoming of our strife, to this our hearts we raise.
Your teachings of honor, of wisdom and love,
Will guide us, dear Annandale, e’er as the sun above.
Amid the meadows and the trees our school will proudly stand,
And ever watch her children marching out into the land.
So as we grow older, and think upon our ways,
Our high school, dear Annandale, will call to mind its days.
-- As sung by the Annandale HS Marching Atoms, October 2015

Annandale Fight Song:
Fight on for Annandale
Wave the red and white,
Grab that ball and watch ‘em go
For Annandale tonight.
Go, Atoms, and knock ‘em cold,
Fight and never die;
Victory will be our goal!