City Students Can Now Show Their Spirit For Renamed Middle School

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — Students in the City of Fairfax can now update their spirt wear before their first day at the recently renamed Katherine Johnson Middle School in August.

The City of Fairfax School Board voted in September to change the name of Lanier Middle School. The school had originally been named in 1959 to honor Sidney Lanier, a Confederate soldier who in the decades after his death was embraced as the "poet of the Confederacy."

"I believe this is the right moment for this change," City of Fairfax School Board Chairman Carolyn Pitches said, after the renaming was approved. "We need a name that represents who we are and one that represents our entire community. I overwhelmingly heard from students that they want to be proud of their school."

In November, the school board voted to name the city's middle school in honor of Johnson, who was was one of three Black students to integrate West Virginia's graduate school in mathematics.

Johnson went on to become a mathematician who worked for NASA for 33 years. In 1962, she was part of the team that prepared for the orbital mission by John Glenn, controlling the trajectory of Glenn's capsule mission from liftoff to splashdown.

Students can purchase personalized T-shirts, sweatshirts, pants, and other items all emblazoned with the Katherine Johnson name and the school's eagle mascot online at Spiritwear Direct, according to a post on the City of Fairfax Schools' official Twitter account.

The new name for the middle school will go into effect starting in the 2021-22 school year.

— City of Fairfax Schools (@FairfaxSchools) April 21, 2021