History, Mission, & Core Values
History
The McLean School Story
1954
Delbert and Lenore Foster founded The Euclid Street Nursery School in Washington, DC. It was a Montessori school serving students in preschool through grade 3.
1957
The Nursery School moved and became known as the McLean Gardens School, expanding through grade 8. It offered a Mainstream Program and a Catch-Up Program.
1962
The Fosters purchased Inverness School and Camp, a 40-acre wooded campus at Democracy and Falls Road in Potomac, Maryland, adding grade 9. The program served the diverse learning needs of all students.
1978
The Fosters sold Inverness Campus and closed McLean Gardens School. A group of parents and faculty assumed control, renamed it McLean School, a non-profit, and moved to the former Tuckerman Lane Elementary School on Lochinver Lane in Potomac.
2000
McLean School expands from K-9 to K-12.
2003
First Senior Graduating Class
2019
The Upper School expanded to accommodate 200 students with the addition of a new building.
2023
McLean expands to a second campus, Falls Road Campus, serving only K-4 students at 11810 Falls Road in Potomac, Maryland.
Mission
McLean School’s mission is to make education accessible, stimulating, and meaningful to a broad range of bright K-12 learners. We understand each student’s unique strengths and challenges, and support both in a way that fosters intellectual growth as well as confidence, self-advocacy, empathy, and connection. At McLean, students succeed because they learn how to learn in an inclusive, conscientious community of caring teachers and peers.
Core Values
McLean School is an inclusive community dedicated to fostering confidence, empathy, and academic achievement for each individual student. At McLean, the teacher-student relationship is fundamental.
Creativity, Innovation & Intellectual Curiosity
By presenting opportunities for exploration and expression in an atmosphere where all community members flourish
Inclusiveness
In the academic, social and professional environment as a fundamental ingredient to the full development of the individual
Flexibility
To adapt our curriculum and teaching methods to the strengths and challenges of the individual learner
Respect
Through attentiveness to attitudes, behaviors, thoughts, words, and interactions
Wellness
In a safe and nurturing environment that promotes physical, social, emotional, and academic well-being
A Welcoming Community
In which students, faculty, administration, and parents work collaboratively to improve the overall quality at McLean
Discover the McLean Experience
It’s critically important for a child to be in a school that respects them for who they are, and supports their academic strengths and challenges. This has always been true for McLean.