School History

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).

Photograph of Key Middle 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.

Photograph of a newspaper article describing the opening of Key Middle School. The article reads: Monday will be a special day for the 950 students of Fairfax County's Francis Scott Key Intermediate School. On that day the school buses instead of stopping at Lee High School where the Key students have attended classes this year will unload at the new Key building a short distance to the east of Lee on Franconia Road. As Key Intermediate Principal John M. Martin puts it, “This will be a great day for teachers and students alike. In order to make the move as smooth as possible we have taken all our students on tours of the new building. Also we have large signs indicating various areas in the building, and teachers’ names have been put over classroom doors to assist the students.” On hand to greet the students as they arrive on Monday will be school officials, and the Lee High School band and drill team. The construction contract for Key Intermediate was awarded on Nov. 13, 1969, to L. F. Jennings, Inc. The cost of the 1,400-student school, located on a 21-acre site, will be $3,039,550. The Key building is the first intermediate school building in Fairfax County designed specifically for a subschool organization. Last fall, two subschools were organized with about one-half of the seventh and eighth graders assigned to each. Mrs. Nancy Sublett, Key guidance director is principal of East Subschool, while the principal of West Subschool is Assistant Principal Stanley L. Fant. The fully air conditioned building features eight carpeted resource centers with five to seven classrooms built around each. The four centers in each subschool will be devoted to subject areas of English, history, mathematics, and science. Key Intermediate had its beginning as part of Lee High School at the start of the 1968-69 school year when eighth grade students began attending Lee. Principal Martin, then as assistant principal at Lee, was placed in charge of the new program. Key was organized as a separate school last fall with seventh grade students added for the first time. Housing the additional students at Lee has necessitated a late starting daily schedule for the Key students which will be eliminated with the move to the new building.
Northern Virginia Sun, January 29, 1971

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.