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Key Middle School

GPS Coordinates: 38.7800010, -77.1621756
Closest Address: 6402 Franconia Road, Springfield, VA 22150

Key Middle School

Here follows a history of the school as published on the Fairfax County Public Schools website:

Key Middle School opened its doors to students for the first time on February 1, 1971. Prior to that day, classes were held at what was then called Robert E. Lee High School (now John R. Lewis High School).

Key Middle School was built beginning in November 1969, by general contractor L. F. Jennings, Inc. at a cost of $3,039,550.

In September 1968, in anticipation of the opening of a future intermediate school in the vicinity, an eighth-grade class was organized at Robert E. Lee High School under the leadership of then Assistant Principal John M. Martin. Initially called Lee Intermediate, the school expanded to include seventh graders in September 1970. In November 1970, at the suggestion of students, the new building under construction was named Francis Scott Key Intermediate School by the Fairfax County School Board.

Built for a capacity of 1,400 students, some 950 students were enrolled at Key during the 1970-71 school year. John M. Martin continued to serve as principal until 1981.

A Look Back
In 1997, Key Middle School was the subject of the FCPS cable television channel series “Profile.” The Red Apple 21 crew spent several days at Key, gathering interviews with teachers and classroom footage. The resulting 30-minute documentary provides a fascinating snapshot of Key in the late 1990s.

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:

Key Middle School and Key Center in Springfield are named for Francis Scott Key, an American lawyer, author, and poet. Francis Scott Key was born in 1779. He grew up at Terra Rubra plantation in what is today Carroll County, Maryland, and studied law at St. John’s College in Annapolis. During the War of 1812, Key was aboard a British prison ship in the harbor and witnessed the attack on Fort McHenry by the British during the Battle of Baltimore. As the sun rose the following day, Key was able to see the American flag waving above the fort. The sight inspired him to write a poem entitled The Defense of Fort McHenry, which was later set to music and, in 1931, became the United States’ national anthem, the Star-Spangled Banner. A slaveholder, Key became a founding member of the American Colonization Society in December 1816, which sought to recolonize free blacks and emancipated slaves in Africa. With the support of the U.S. federal government, the society founded a colony on the west coast of Africa, which became the country of Liberia in 1847. Key was also active in the American Bible Society, and once served as its vice president. In 1843, Francis Scott Key died at the home of his daughter, Elizabeth Howard, in Baltimore, and was buried in a family plot at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Frederick, Maryland. Many schools, monuments, and institutions throughout the United States are named in his honor.


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Here follows an excerpt from the Spring 2009 edition of the "Franconia Legacies" newsletter published by the Franconia Museum and written by Jim Young:

FIGHTING THE COLD WAR
FRANCONIA’S AAA GUN SITE
By Jim Young

Yes, it may be hard for you to remember, or even believe for that part, but an Anti-Aircraft Artillery (AAA) Gun Site did exist in Franconia. The Gun Site was located where Frances Scott Key Intermediate School is now located, next door to the Ogden’s (Herbert, Flossie, Herbie and Kathryn) home at 6412 Franconia Road.

At first the site had four 90mm (millimeter) AAA guns. Later even larger 120mm guns were installed. They were aimed by radars and a computer; and were part of the air defense protection of our nation’s capitol against a possible Soviet air attack. The guns protected the southern air approaches to the Capitol. Other gun sites protected the east, west, and northern approaches to the city.

The AAA gun site land was leased by the Federal Government from the Ogden family in 1950, in response to the Communist Soviet threat. The Cold War started around 1950 with the beginning of the Korean Conflict. Both Communist China and Russia supported North Korea, and both were hostile to United States interests. Russia had developed the atomic bomb, and the United States feared a Soviet air attack on our cities, especially the Capitol. America’s response was to ring our cities with AAA guns.

This was not the first time the government had leased the Ogden’s property; the first time was in 1940 at the beginning of World War II. The land adjacent to Fort Belvoir and the Ogden property were leased for the duration of the war, to train army engineers. The Young’s 40-acre farm, located next door to Anthony T. Lane Elementary School (7139 Beulah Road), was also leased in 1940. I remember the soldiers conducting map practice (land navigation) on our farm. The soldiers would ask me to pick up sodas and snacks for them at Miss Nellie Simms’ Country Store (front room at 7437 Beulah Road). They would give me money to purchase the items and a tip to deliver.

Life was pretty good back then. The Ogden property was also leased in 1940. Fort Belvoir used the Ogden property as a camping area. Soldiers would march to Franconia, pitch tents on the Ogden’s open field, spend the night, and march back to Fort Belvoir the next day. In summary, the Franconia site was leased to train soldiers at Fort Belvoir from 1940 to 1945, and then from 1950 to 1964 for the AAA Gun Site.

The active Army (regular) manned the AAA gun site from 1950 to 1954, and the Virginia National Guard (VANG) took over manning the site until 1964. That year they were moved to operate the two Nike (Ajax) Missile Sites, one at Lorton Reformatory, and the other site near Fairfax City, on Popes Head Road. The VANG could man the site with just forty full-time technicians, and support them with eighty part-time Guard volunteers. It took 120 full-time regular Army personnel to achieve the same AAA protection. The economy of resources was a major factor in the VANG taking over and manning the AAA gun and missile sites.

Organization of an AAA gun site consisted of three platoons or sections. The Headquarters Platoon had the administrators, cooks, vehicle drivers, mechanics, and security personnel. The Gun Platoon comprised the four gun crews and machine gun sections. The radar platoon included the two separate types of radar operators (acquisition radar and gun pointing radar, computer operators and maintenance personnel.

The administrative housekeeping part of the AAA Gun Site consisted of six to eight Butler Huts—10x30 prefab metal buildings like sheds erected on concrete blocks; a permanent modern well-equipped mess hall built on a concrete slab; and a large permanent latrine in a separate building also on a concrete slab. Sewage was handled by a septic system. Each site was surrounded by a six foot chain link fence with security lights. We often considered ourselves “concrete soldiers” because of our semi-permanent buildings, and the inability to readily move the equipment.

Yes, the Franconia AAA Gun Site area supported the War effort in both World War II and the Cold War. VANG soldiers manned the 90mm and 120mm guns from June 1954 to 1964. Local Guardsmen living in Fairfax and Prince William Counties, and Alexandria, Virginia protected the nation’s capitol against air attacks by operating the guns located on Franconia Road.

Thank goodness the Russian bombers never came, the Cold War eventually ended, the Russians did not employ nuclear weapons, and we now live in peace. A list of those who served in World War II and the Cold War is being compiled by the Franconia Museum. If you have information about veterans that live, or have lived in Franconia, please contact the museum.

Colonel James N. Young (retired), then a Captain with the VANG, was the first National Guard commanding officer of the AAA Gun Site (June 1954) at the intersection of Telegraph Road and Kings Highway. The property is now Huntley Meadows Park, owned by Fairfax County Park Authority. There is an exhibit at Huntley Meadows Park with pictures of the AAA Gun Site (Battery D, 125th Gun Battalion, and VANG.) Later he was the commanding officer of the Franconia AAA Gun Site until 1964. Colonel Young then became the first VANG Commander of the Popes Head Road Nike Ajax Missile Site, located near the town of Fairfax. Jim went on to serve over thirty years in the Army. He and his wife, Connie, now reside in the Monticello Woods subdivision which is adjacent to Franconia Road. Jim considers himself a lifetime resident of Franconia, and we thank him for sharing this story with the museum.

ABOUT ME

Award-winning local historian and tour guide in Franconia and the greater Alexandria area of Virginia.

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ADDRESS

Nathaniel Lee

c/o Franconia Museum

6121 Franconia Road

Alexandria, VA 22310

franconiahistory@gmail.com

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