Stratford Junior High School Explained

Stratford Junior High School
Designated Other1:Virginia Landmarks Register
Designated Other1 Date:December 3, 2003[1]
Designated Other1 Number:000-9412
Designated Other1 Num Position:bottom
Location:4100 Vacation Ln., Arlington, Virginia
Coordinates:38.9°N -77.1122°W
Architect:Burket, Rhees Evans Sr.
Builder:Wise Contracting Co.
Architecture:International Style
Added:February 26, 2004
Refnum:04000110

Stratford Junior High School is a historic junior high school building located in the Cherrydale neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia. It was designed in 1949, and built in 1950. An addition was built in 1995. It is a two- to three-story, concrete post-and-beam building clad primarily in buff brick and sandstone veneer. The building is in a high-style International Style architecture. It features a two-story, three bay projecting portico of exposed concrete on four tapered concrete columns. Other features include a flat parapet roof, decorative minimalism, and the strong horizontal qualities of the building emphasized by the use of finishing materials and banded windows.

In 1959, Stratford Junior High School became the first public secondary school in the Commonwealth of Virginia to desegregate with the admission of four African American students. From 1978 to 2019, it housed the H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program.[2] [3] [4] It is now the site of Dorothy Hamm Middle School, with a new addition started in 2019, and finished in 2021. In 2023 the current student attendance is 851 students including 15 ESL.

The building was listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register in 2003.[3] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. It was designated as a local Historic District by the Arlington County Board in 2016.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Virginia Landmarks Register. Virginia Department of Historic Resources. 2013-05-12.
  2. Web site: National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Stratford Junior High School. Carrie E. Albee and Laura V. Trieschmann . April 2003. and Accompanying four photos
  3. Web site: About Dorothy Hamm Middle School. Dorothy Hamm Middle School.
  4. Web site: School Board Names New Middle School for Dorothy Hamm, Ditches Any Reference to Stratford School. December 21, 2018.