Gunston Elementary School

Here follows a history of the school as excerpted from the Fairfax County Public Schools website:

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:

Gunston Elementary School, named for George Mason’s historic estate, opened in February 1955. A wealthy statesman, planter, and slaveholder, George Mason was a contemporary and friend of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. He authored several important documents which heavily influenced the writers of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Key concepts found in the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights can be traced to two documents authored by Mason, namely the Fairfax Resolves, in 1774, and the Virginia Declaration of Rights, in 1776. The U.S. Constitution, with its separation of powers, was modeled on Virginia’s Constitution, which was authored in large part by George Mason. Born in Virginia, in 1725, Mason lived his adult life in Fairfax County, at a home he began construction on in 1754, which he named Gunston Hall. Located on what is known today as Mason Neck in southeastern Fairfax County, Gunston Hall was the central feature of a 5,500-acre tobacco and wheat plantation near the Potomac River. The dwelling was named after Gunstone Hall, spelled with an “e”, which was located in the small village of Gunstone in Staffordshire, England. The original Gunstone Hall was the ancestral home of George Mason’s great grandfather, Gerard Fowke. Today, Gunston Hall in Fairfax County is a National Historic Landmark owned by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Visitors to the estate and museum can learn about George Mason’s family, slavery, as well as gain insight into what life was like on a large Chesapeake plantation.