Langston Hughes Middle, 11401 Ridge Heights Road, Reston: grades 7-8, 995 students in September 2026, rated Distinguished. Office: 703-715-3600.

Last checked Oct. 20, 2026. Sources: Langston Hughes Middle School, the FCPS school profile, the Virginia Department of Education’s School Quality Profile and the federal NCES school directory.

Langston Hughes Middle School is the middle school for most of Reston. Of the roughly 24,200 addresses inside Reston’s Census boundary in Fairfax County’s address file, about 80% fall in its zone on the county’s 2026-27 attendance maps. North Reston goes to Herndon Middle instead. Hughes sits on Ridge Heights Road next to South Lakes High and Terraset Elementary. Its students shared the South Lakes building in its first years, until the separate middle school building, designed by architect Douglas Carter, was finished, according to the school’s history page. It is named for the poet Langston Hughes. A $42 million renovation from January 2019 to late 2021 added a two-story front wing with a new main office, library and science classrooms.

Who to call

  • Main office: 703-715-3600, open 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
  • Attendance: 703-715-3636
  • Registering a new student: FCPS Student Registration, 703-204-6740
  • Buses: FCPS Transportation Services, 703-446-2000
Address 11401 Ridge Heights Road, Reston, VA 20191
Grades 7 and 8
School day 7:30 a.m. to 2:15 p.m.
Website hughesms.fcps.edu
Division Fairfax County Public Schools, Region 1, South Lakes High pyramid

Principal

Principal Dr. Herman Mizell, according to the school’s website.

Enrollment and teachers

  • FCPS count: 995 students in September of the 2026-27 school year, on the division’s school profile.
  • State count: 1,001 students in fall 2025, against 1,016 in 2024 and 1,008 in 2023, in the School Quality Profile.
  • Federal count: 1,001 students in the 2023-24 school year, with 71 full-time-equivalent teachers, according to the NCES directory. That works out to about 14 students per teacher.

State report card

Virginia rates each school two ways on its School Quality Profile. Accreditation shows whether the school meets the state’s Standards of Accreditation. The School Performance and Support Framework gives each school a score and one of four performance levels: Distinguished, Meets Expectations, Approaching Expectations or Needs Intensive Support.

  • Accreditation, 2025-26: Fully Accredited
  • Framework score: 90.17, rated Distinguished, in the FCPS division summary

Standards of Learning pass rates (share of tested students who passed):

Subject 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26
English reading 77% 80% 83%
Math 72% 74% 77%
Science 69% 73% 77%

The full profile breaks the results down by student group and grade and also reports attendance, spending and teacher data.

Attendance zone

Enter an address in the FCPS boundary locator to see its assigned schools. On the county’s 2026-27 attendance area maps, the whole Hughes zone lies inside the South Lakes High zone, so every Hughes student goes on to South Lakes High. The elementary zones that feed Hughes are:

FCPS’s comprehensive boundary review, approved by the School Board in January 2026, set the zones that took effect this 2026-27 school year, according to the FCPS boundary review page. The locator shows each address’s current assignment.

Calendar and bell times

From the FCPS 2026-27 school year calendar, as the school lists it on its calendar page:

  • Friday, Oct. 30: end of the first quarter, two-hour early release
  • Monday, Nov. 2, and Tuesday, Nov. 3: student holidays (Nov. 3 is Election Day)
  • Nov. 25-27: Thanksgiving break
  • Dec. 21 to Jan. 3: winter break
  • Thursday, Jan. 28: end of the second quarter, two-hour early release; Jan. 29 and Feb. 1 are student holidays
  • March 22-26: spring break
  • Wednesday, June 16, 2027: last day of school, a two-hour day for middle school students

Hughes runs a blue day and gray day schedule. Classes run 7:30 a.m. to 2:15 p.m., buses depart 2:15 to 2:25 p.m. and the after-school program runs 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., according to the school’s bell schedules and calendar page, which lists every blue and gray day for 2026-27 and the two-hour delay and early-release schedules.

Programs

Programs the FCPS school profile lists include the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme, a full-time Advanced Academic Program center, a foreign language partial-immersion program, career and technical education, multilingual learner and special education services and Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. Special features it names include AVID, Algebra for All in eighth grade, a block schedule, an advisory period, the after-school program, the National Junior Honor Society and the Student Council Association.

More on Reston schools

Frequently asked questions

What grades does Langston Hughes Middle School serve?

Grades 7 and 8. FCPS counted 995 students at the school in September 2026.

How is Hughes Middle School rated by the state?

It is Fully Accredited for 2025-26. In Virginia’s School Performance and Support Framework it scored 90.17 and is rated Distinguished.

Which high school does Hughes Middle School feed into?

South Lakes High School. Every part of the Hughes zone is inside the South Lakes zone on Fairfax County’s 2026-27 attendance maps.

Which elementary schools feed Hughes Middle School?

Sunrise Valley, Lake Anne, Dogwood, Hunters Woods, Terraset and Forest Edge, plus part of Crossfield Elementary.

What time does Hughes Middle School start?

Classes run 7:30 a.m. to 2:15 p.m., and buses depart 2:15 to 2:25 p.m., according to the school’s bell schedule.