Congratulations to the marching band for their excellent performances in two competitions on Saturday!
Here is a summary of the results for both events:
USBands Westminster Regional Championship
1st Place in Class 6 Open
Best Visual Performance
Best Music
Best General Effect
Highest Score Overall – Grand Champions
USBands Music in Motion Regional Championship
1st Place in Class 6 Open
Best Visual Performance
Best Music
Best Guard
Best Percussion
Best General Effect
Highest Score Overall – Grand Champions
Congratulations to the following students on their acceptance into this year’s Northern Virginia Regional Orchestra:
Violin: Masato Chang, Tashi Gyatso Minseon Kim, Maxence Mouries
Viola: Charlie Tucker
Cello: Steve Han
Trumpet (1st alternate): Alex Simons
Hundreds of students from more than 20 high schools in the Northern Virginia area auditioned, so it is a great honor to be accepted into such a special honors orchestra. These students will have the opportunity to audition for the Virginia All-State Orchestra later this year.
Congratulations to McLean’s eleven National Merit Scholarship semifinalists! Semifinalists are selected based on the scores they received on the 2015 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).

Back row: Catherine Zysk, Caryln Kranking, Lucy Zheng, Noah Huffman, Anna Duval. Front row: Melanie Pincus, Rebecca Bennett, Lauren Hassi, Alexander Simons, Rahul Mani. Not pictured: Andrew Yang.
Members of the class of 2016 will be attending these selective schools, which are only a few of the 150 different colleges and universities they have chosen to attend.
Brown Georgetown
Columbia Georgia Tech
Cornell Harvard
Dartmouth Us Air Force Academy
Davidson US Naval Academy
Duke
Our graduates will also attend colleges in Japan, Korea, Nepal, the UK and Canada.
Several will attend art and music schools, including RISD, SCAD, FIT, Cleveland Institute of Music and Julliard.
The total percentage of college-going seniors is the same as last year—96%—but the proportion has shifted in favor of community colleges:
Class of 2015 85% 4 yr 11% 2 yr
Class of 2016 81% 4 yr 15% 2 yr
McLean HS Class of 2016 Student Outcome Statistics Summary
Outcome |
Number |
Percentage |
2 year colleges |
79 |
15% |
4 year colleges |
419 |
81% |
Career Education |
7 |
1.5% |
Employment |
3 |
.5% |
Military |
2 |
.5% |
Other* |
7 |
1.5% |
TOTAL |
517 |
100% |
*Includes 5 students planning to return to MHS as post grads
For a more complete list of where our students will be heading next year, check out the senior edition of The Highlander newsmagazine: https://issuu.com/the_highlander/docs/final_senior_edition
Congratulations, Class of 2016!
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American Association of University Women
McLean Branch Math Achievement Award: Lauren Hassi
McLean Branch Science Achievement Award: Caroline Lewis
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Law in Society Essay Contest: Claire Dozier
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National Merit Scholarship: Kathryn Howley & Alexander Yuan
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President’s Volunteer Service Awards: Jessica Scarano & Maya Lezzam
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Student Peace Awards of Fairfax County: Michelle Ma
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Scholastic Art and Writing Awards: Gold Medalist Min Choe & Silver Medalist Kiel Posner
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Science and Math Award: George Washington Medal – Lucy Zheng
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Science and Math Award: National Academy of Future Scientists and Technologists – Xiyou Wang
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Science and Math Award: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Medal Award – John Hudson
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Math Department Award: Anna M. DeConti Award – Rachel Ho
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Math Department Award: Edith M. Elliot Award – Mae Harris
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Math Department Award: Sue S. Farmer Award – Jeesoo Yoon
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Math Department Award: William L. Fey Award – Andrew Yang & Alexandra Babyak
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NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing – Vanessa Barlow
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Rochester Institute of Technology Computing Medal – Crystal Cheung & Marcus Hill
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World Language Award: Nancy Lancaster Lindjord Memorial Scholarship – Hope Sullivan
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Raudenbush Spanish Award: Spanish 1 – Gabriella Williams
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Raudenbush Spanish Award: Spanish 2 – Amanda Sherman
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Raudenbush Spanish Award: Spanish 3 – Katherine Kelleher
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Raudenbush Spanish Award: Spanish 4 – Omar Allabadi
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Raudenbush Spanish Award: AP Spanish – Azita Peters
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Michele Shoemaker-Liebel French Awards: Love of French – Magen Lee & Academic Excellence – Benjamin Mardiks
McLean High School Awards Photos May 2016
Posted on June 20, 2016 by Ellen Reilly

Danielle Goldstein was presented with her William J. Foreman Memorial Scholarship on May 26 at Gatehouse. The scholarship is in memory of an 18-year-old who died in a car accident only seven days after he graduated from high school. In addition to the $2,000 scholarship, Danielle received a backpack with school supplies and a 7” tablet. Congratulations, Danielle!
Five students have been recognized by the McLean Citizens Association as having demonstrated outstanding character through their contributions to the community. They are: freshman Bryce Liquerman, for his coaching of adult Special Olympic teams; freshman Sara Vavonese, for her work helping foster children participate in gymnastics; junior London Russell, for his enormous contributions to McLean SHARE Technology; senior Leena Raza, for her work in raising awareness of cardiac health in teens; and senior Emma Chamberlayne, for her work as co-chair of Relay for Life. All of them have demonstrated respect, responsibility and citizenship through their work and are examples for other teens.
They are among the students who will be recognized on Saturday at McLean Day with a certificate presented by a member of the FCPS Board. Congratulations!

Student journalists from the yearbook and newsmagazine staffs celebrate their Crown Awards at Columbia University in March.
It’s been a busy spring for McLean’s publications staffs!
McLean’s Clan Yearbook was recognized by the National Scholastic Press Association with the Pacemaker Award. The Clan was one of just 42 high school yearbooks to earn this distinction. The Clan was also awarded a Silver Crown from CSPA.
McLean’s Highlander Newsmagazine was recognized by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association with a Gold Crown. The Highlander was one of just 16 magazines in the world (one of the winners was from Hong Kong) to earn CSPA’s top prize. The Highlander was also an NSPA Pacemaker Finalist.
At the Virginia Association Of Journalism Teachers and Advisers J-Day on Saturday, April 23, McLean’s yearbook, The Clan, won first place in the yearbook Best of Show competition.
In the J-Day Write-Off Competitions, the following McLean students were recognized:
Broadcast
2nd place: Lama Al Rajih
Caption Writing
2nd place: Sania Shahid
Editorial Writing
1st place: Ashwin Dasgupta
Feature Writing
1st place: Liam Zeya
Infographics
1st place: Bryan Chung
News Writing
2nd place: Siddarth Shankar
3rd place: Melanie Pincus
Sports Writing
1st place: John Corvari
2nd place: Haru Kato
Photography
Honorable Mention: Samantha Taherian
The Department of World Languages congratulates the following students who earned gold and silver medals as well as certificates for their success on the 2016 National Latin Examination.
Perfect Score: Summa Cum Laude (Gold Medal and Special Certificate)
Howley, Caroline
Summa Cum Laude (Gold Medal)
Bjorksten, Annika
Bravo, Antonio
Chang, Jane
Chung, Grace
Cooper, Isabel
Femia, Isabella
Flaviani, Giorgia
Hashemi, Tina
Hedrick, Kaitlyn
Liu, Maria
Murphy, Ian
Ott, Lauren
Richards, Sophie
Sigel, Jeremy
Simons, Alexander
Simons, Emily
Sultana, Rosy
Taylor, Kimberly
Tripp, Madeleine
Vijayakumar, Nithin
Yu, Alexander
Zhang, Rachel
Zheng, Lucy
Zysk, Catherine
Maxima Cum Laude (Silver Medal)
Chun, Alice
Comer, Helenmarie
Cooper, Lillian
Cusey, Ava
Deatherage, Jade
Defay, Jordan
Gartner, David
Gartner, John
Jun, Jaeson
Kang, Sungmin
Maxima Cum Laude (Silver Medal) [cont.]
Kim, Justin
Kwon, Minjung
Longo, Julia
Martin, Michelle
Milstein, Ava
Nappi, Thomas
O’Malley, James
Oh, Ashley,
Pearce, Cate
Shobeiri, Sara
Sohn, Seoyen
Sullivan, Hope
Tufts, Graham
Waters, Robert
Weber, Abigail
Weinstein, Benjamin
Magna Cum Laude certificate
Aten, Jessica
Fontana, Monica
Harris, Rose
Lee, Da Hee
Lu, Emily
MacPherson, Jack
Mason, Hannah
Murray, Thomas
Mykitshyn, Emma
Park, Sarah
Signori, Lily
Thorson, Ann
Cum Laude certificate
Al-Khafagi, Amir
Chung, Jae Won
Gardner, Ann
Moncure, Anny Byrd

Jessica Boyer and Fatima Shahbaz went undefeated at regionals for Public Forum Debate on Saturday. They will move onto states in a couple of weeks. McLean Debate has won the district and regional Public Forum Debate competitions three years in a row, so they were proud to carry on that legacy. Congratulations!