Gunston Middle School

2700 South Lang Street

School District

Arlington County Public Schools
Grade

6-8
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:13
Type

public

School Map for Arlington County Public Schools

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by student on February 19, 2025

This school is good, but not great if you have a different option pick that, this school is just inconsistent some teachers are amazing and assign the perfect amount of work but still fun while others say you have 1 week to draw a poster, write an essay and make a playlist about that short novel you read.(this is not an exaggeration this literally happened) also if you get caught up in any sort of trouble the principal takes away the ability to SUBMIT YOUR WORK. Overall the school is not bad, but the few times when it is bad its really bad
Submitted by student on September 06, 2024

It is great! I go here and I don’t regret it :)
Submitted by parent on May 15, 2023

It is an amazing middle school to go to.
Submitted by parent on December 01, 2022

I am on the verge of removing my son who is a 7th grader from Gunston Middle school. I have had several issues with the administrative staff, some teachers, and even some students. This school in my opinion needs to clean house including the principle. I am already looking to pull my son out of the public school system as a whole. I do not want my son being indoctrinated and taught anything that goes against our Christian Morals and values.
Submitted by student on June 16, 2022

As a student, gunston was a place where I found my best friends, it’s easy to bond with random people because of all the problems at the school, you can literally start a conversation about anything, its entertaining, almost like a tv show, but it’s so easy to get good grades, that you could do anything during class. Overall, its a fun experience and really toughens you up, as long as you keep it real, the school feels like a home where the students rule and teachers can’t do much.
Submitted by parent on February 08, 2022

Excessive fights; drugs in bathrooms; so many discipline problems that the kids who behave and just want to learn lose out to all resources being allocated for the kids who are there to just act out; administrators blame everything on access to cellphones and not the actual issues; too much focus on equity instead of standards of leaning; kids feel unsafe
Submitted by parent on December 07, 2018

Fair experience - I was extremely worried about this school. I used to attend Gunston back in the 70s and it was slowly going down hill back then. Of course, we are still in the neighborhood and thought that we would send our child to Gunston and so we did. However, I am not sure we did the right thing by sending her to Gunston. #1 - Lack of communication is #1 problem for parents. Communication between the office staff and parent is almost non-existent. Recording attendance is not a positive outcome to parents. Children are marked UNEXCUSED even in notification has been sent via email; phone calls; etc. This is not acceptable - isn't acceptable in the workforce and should not be acceptable in school. We have had, thus far, 3 issues in which we notified the school and our child was still marked UNEXCUSED until we got a phone call and then had to sit on hold until the attendance coordinator responded. #2 - Stress and Anxiety issues have been overwhelming for our child. Coming from a school that did not have a homework policy to a school that stated that they have minimal homework but the homework has turned into long hours is not having a good effect. More and more children are experiencing an upgrade in Anxiety, Panic Attacks and Stress over the workload. Not sure if we will remain at Gunston or not at this rate.
Submitted by student on September 19, 2018

I have not had the best experience at Gunston. I have developed fairly bad anxiety, mainly because of this school. I spend 2 years in the immersion and disliked it a fair amount. I did not handle the workload well, especially in 6th grade, but I have improved in math class a lot. I like how diverse our school is but we are EXTREMELY “clicky”, only hanging out/ talking to our close friends. Along with all time they don’t let us use our phones during lunch, which is frustrating because I would text and call my mom whenever I would feel sick ( once a month if you know what I mean ) and one of the main arguments I have for this is that kids verbally fight a lot more. In conclusion I kind of hate this school, but that’s just my experience.
Submitted by parent on July 29, 2017

Since we recently moved from Gunston to an overseas international school, with extremely high standards, I was initially worried that my daughter would face some hardship going from the American curriculum to the much stronger International one. Instead, I was pleasantly pleased to discover that the education she received at Gunston was on par with what she started doing here. One major bonus of Gunston (which won't last) is this it was/is not overcrowded, like the other Arlington middle schools, highly diverse student population, lots of interesting programs to try (my daughter loved the elective wheel in 6th grade, which allowed her to try many different classes). While there are certainly challenges at Gunston, overall our 2 years there were positive. I personally think that Gunston is the hidden gem of Arlington, and the education received there helped my daughter thrive at her new school.
Submitted by parent on January 23, 2017

Gunston is an OK school, at best. I've had several kids in this school because of the Spanish immersion program and I am not impressed. Arlington parents think the school is great because their kids are coming home with good grades, but are they really deeply learning and starting to apply critical thinking? The homework situation is a mess, some teacher give assignment via Google Classroom, others via Blackboard, some via email, others via written notes - it is impossible to get a good overview on tasks at hand - and the administration enforces no consistency. Advanced math is pretty good but the rest of the gifted/advanced programs are pretty much non- existent. Bullying, drug use and sex going on, but I guess that is par for the course in a middle school these days. On the plus side: there are some very good and dedicated teachers at Gunston, but the quality is uneven. Some teachers are really committed and work long hours + stay after school to help the kids. Other pluses are the Spanish immersion program and diversity. Overall, I cannot help to think that this school could and should be so much better.
Submitted by parent on July 20, 2016

The Principal, Dr. Wiggins, is an excellent Administrator and leader of a diverse and professionally skilled academic and support staff. I was delighted that she has the added training of being fluent in Spanish which gives her 'a tremendous edge' in reaching out more to Gunston's Spanish-speaking students and parents. Our Gunston experience as a family was exceptional in having our needs met holistically. Our son was successfully promoted to 9th grade and the team approach to supporting him was definitely instrumental to his learning. I highly recommend this school and its programs. The Kleins
Submitted by other on April 12, 2016

Poor communication with parents. Unwelcoming Principal that does seem foreign to the community. Foreign language lacks support from Principal .Some good teachers made it a bit tolerable. C- grade to this school
Submitted by parent on January 25, 2015

Best Middle School in Arlington County!!! My Child is half way through Gunston (its the middle of 7th grade) and I can't say enough good things about this school and its many wonderful teachers. Where I have heard through friends about bullying and cliques of entitled kids in the North Arlington Schools, Gunston has cultivated a positive culture and stresses constant academic achievement. As one teacher said during conferences, Gunston is the best kept secret in Arlington...
Submitted by parent on April 02, 2014

Great staff and teachers. Wonderful school for my daughter to transition to! Student body was very accepting.