McNair Elementary School, opened September 4, 2001, was named after the McNair family, members of the Herndon community since the 1700s. For over two centuries, the McNair family has demonstrated their commitment to the community through participation in civic organizations and community projects. The McNair family’s devotion to community and civic pride are character traits for McNair Elementary School students to emulate.

McNair Elementary School is one of the largest elementary schools in Fairfax County. The building is approximately 99,000 square feet with 15 acres of campus grounds. The building design includes flexible classroom space for large and small group instruction, team teaching, inclusion of students with special needs and equipment for computer assisted instruction.

Kindergarten and first grade student’s phonics, phonemic awareness and reading skills are reinforced and assessed through the Waterford computer system. In addition to the 30-station computer lab, each classroom has the capability of being converted into a technology center. Classroom computers are linked to the worldwide web and can be augmented by two 20-unit wireless Dell computer stations allowing every classroom to become a computer lab. Chalkboards are equipment of the past. Classrooms have Dry-Erase boards that are capable of being transformed into interactive presentation touch screens for instructional purposes. Students are taught how to demonstrate curriculum competencies through incorporation of images from digital cameras, digital camcorders, digital microscopes and web research into power point presentations. Teachers also assess student understanding using the LearnStar Multimedia Interactive Learning System of curriculum based questions. Sixth grade students are taught poise, oral presentation and media techniques as they present the “WMcN” morning news show from the modern television studio.

McNair Elementary School educates a diverse population of students including English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), special education, gifted and talented, and general education students. In addition to the content curriculum, McNair students are taught how to learn in order to function successfully in a rapidly changing technological age. Research into sound educational practices as well as use of state-of-the-art hardware and specialized software facilitate the educational process.