Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School

Posted: April 25, 2026

Actually, I wrote the review about disabilities, and I think for this specific school I was overdoing it a lot. This school wasn't actually that bad.

Posted: April 25, 2026

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Posted: August 25, 2025

The middle school principal is a meglomaniac. If you are a teacher, avoid at all costs. Decisions have zero input from staff and principal has a strong need for control. Understands nothing about teaching and learning.

Posted: August 25, 2025

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Posted: April 10, 2025

This school has no help for me having bad grades for being disabled. The teachers are terrible at getting people’s attention and are too tough in grading. Just like the other middle school I went to, they lie about kids to parents. Again, I am disabled, for their ignorance and my birth i have no social life, every teacher is critical. I could go on and on. Just like the other middle school I went to (that actually got me in trouble for making a GreatSchools.org review.) I would not recommend this school.

Posted: April 10, 2025

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Posted: April 18, 2023

A lot of kids are racist, they don’t do anything another bullying or other school problems when addressed

Posted: April 18, 2023

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Posted: May 20, 2020

Horrible. The school is fundamentally flawed in more ways than one. Everyone in my grade agrees that the school makes everyone miserable, and we even joke about it being Hell. I want to go to a different school, and I have no clue why this school system is so highly praised.

Posted: May 20, 2020

To much homework, and it is all just review

Posted: May 20, 2020

They don't have control on what they teach, so you can't really blame them for that. However, when dealing with students, they often make students feel worse. I am speaking from personal experiance.

Posted: May 20, 2020

Their attempts at developing strong charecter in others, doesn't work.

Posted: May 20, 2020

Posted: May 20, 2020

I have a learning difference, and they do not handle it well. Although they claim they deal with it well, they do not. I still find it difficult to learn in the environment they have set up, and they have no control over the students.

Posted: May 20, 2020

Many of my friends have been bullied in the hallways, yet when we take things as far as to the principle, nothing changes. They instill false claims that they will fix things but they don't. Another thing is that the counselors will share information about drama that people request to remain private. That is a HUGE violation of peoples privacy, and often leads to bullying.

Posted: February 22, 2020

There is a good balance between on line work and more traditional homework

Posted: February 22, 2020

Overall excellent teachers including the best English teacher, Molly Greer, that my son has ever had.

Posted: February 22, 2020

Students are given a lot of independence and taught to develop initiative.

Posted: February 22, 2020

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Posted: February 22, 2020

We recently moved to the area after 10 years in Indonesia and have had a wonderful experience so far. The teachers are fantastic and the curriculum is challenging. I also like the close association with George Mason high school.

Posted: May 10, 2017

Two of my children went here for a combined total of three years. It was very safe and they both really liked it. It's quite small and the community is unusual with a lot of internationally based parents moving in and out of the district in about three year increments. This makes for a pretty accepting environment which is great for new kids. The academics seem fine. As always, if you have a motivated kid, they can excel, but I don't :) and they did just fine too! Administration is not perfect because of a lot of turnover, imo, but that's a small price to pay for a solid, middle of the road, safe middle school experience. Community seems very concerned about education and politics and seems to create unnecessary drama under the guise of trying to better a system that is already pretty great, but who knows, maybe that is why it's a good system in the first place! Many great teachers and staff. Lots of intelligent and empathetic and hard-working souls there.

Posted: May 10, 2017

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Posted: August 12, 2015

Teachers and staff set clear expectations for the students and give them a lot of independence to manage their workloads. This responsibility is important so that kids are ready for the rigors of high school and college. They are given opportunities to correct mistakes and get back on track, as well.

Posted: August 12, 2015

We transferred into MEH after school began and were nervous for our son. We chose Falls Church City for the smaller schools and community atmosphere, but sometimes that can mean new people have a hard time fitting in. Our experience could not have been better. The faculty and students welcomed him right away and made the transition smooth. Academically, the school is on par with what we'd experienced in private schools out-of-state.

Posted: August 12, 2015

We had great experiences with the teachers at the school, particularly in Math and History. There was excellent communication between the teachers and parents. One teacher even spent an hour talking with us on the phone well after school hours following up on a simple question I had emailed him. Amazing dedication to the students!

Posted: August 12, 2015

Homework lines up with college. Students have blocks of classes that meet either M, W, F or T, Th in a given week and homework is due the next time class meets. We liked this set up as it required our son to keep track of his workload and plan accordingly. He wasn't always successful, but those lessons came early and helped him get back on track.

Posted: October 29, 2014

My school has given me many opportunities to perform to my upmost abilities, whether through extra/co-curricular activities like T.S.A., and Science Olympiad, or opportunities to take advanced classes that I am ready for ahead of my technical grade level. Although it has been somewhat stressful, I have learned a lot in the past two years that I have been taking advanced classes, and have experienced many inspirational teachers. Unfortunately, I have experienced some teachers that don't even seem like they want to teach/dislike students in the past. This has made me quite frustrated, but the 7th grade team appears to be mostly strong, and unlike last year there are no core teachers that are truly incapable of providing inspiration to work hard.

Posted: July 18, 2014

MEH faculty really worked to understand my child and help her gain acceptance at her new school. Even though she hadn't been through the FCCPS system, they worked to help her fit in and keep up academically. You do have to ask a lot of questions when you are new to really understand the difference between this school and other non-VA schools in terms of academics. We should have enrolled our child in the higher level math but didn't understand the differences. So a little more help in that area, beyond the entrance test, would have been appreciated. Still, thanks for a great first year.

Posted: January 7, 2014

It's hard for me to assess this school because we've lived out of the country for much of my child's education. I can only say my child has not learned as much as I would have hoped and has been comparatively unhappy. As a parent, I have been unimpressed with communication. Speaking with anyone, teacher or administrator, requires a lot of effort and persistence, even for seemingly simple matters like getting assignments for child who's been absent . With a few exceptions, the teachers I have met seem disinterested, too. I have volunteered and overheard some talking about ways to "kill time" with their classes. I felt that summed up my child's experience over the last year: killing time rather than thriving. There is also an emphasis on technology in the classroom which has translated into students spending a lot of time in front of a screen rather than interacting with a teacher, which I think exacerbates this problem. Many parents I've talked to insist that despite its flaws, it's better than the surrounding schools. That may be so, but there is a lot of room for improvement.

Posted: May 9, 2013

I really like the new principal, but have some concerns. The school brought in a number of new teachers this year. So many of them act as if they don't want to be in the classroom. Given the rigorous academics, why wouldn't the school hire upbeat and motivating instructors? Seriously. I don't understand the choices. Also, as a parent who has dealt with my kids being bullied (not at MEH), I think the school needs a more clear and logical framework for determining when and who should be suspended. It seems that in their zeal to create tighter behavior standards for the kids, common sense and fairness get sacrificed. MEH is a wonderful school, but not without some problems.

Posted: May 1, 2013

I currently attend George Mason High School, and i attended MEH. I hated MEH with a passion, but I'll try to be objective here. MEH has great educational standards. My middle-school self was always learning new things and had to work for her grades. Like all the Falls Church schools it's competitive. I had some great teachers in sixth grade, a mix in seventh grade, and horrible teachers in fifth grade- I'm honestly sorry they're still employed there. My Spanish teacher was great, but on of the others is supposed to be horrible. From what I've heard and from my own experience, most students hate going there. It's academics might be great but it's a horrible place to attend. I was miserable for my entire three years. When I went there, the school had a huge bullying problem, which admin completely ignored; if you tried getting help with it, they wouldn't. I know from experience. I see they now have an online bullying- reporting form on their website, and if you get bullied, report it. Maybe the new principal is more helpful. Please send your middle schoolers somewhere private if you want your older kids at the high school. I wish I'd been able to go somewhere else for those years.