Alexandria City Public Schools is seeing a shortage of classroom monitors, bus monitors and substitute teachers.
Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr. told the School Board last week that ACPS’ Human Resources Department is working to hire more, and that staffing levels were impacted by hybrid learning last year.
“This has been happening since the late spring of last year when many school divisions went into that hybrid approach,” Hutchings told the Board. “We’re currently working to examine school-by-school what some of the trends are in our buildings so we can begin to come up with some solutions on how we’re going to be able to manage this over time.”
Hutchings said the school system has upped substitute teacher interviews to twice a week, that ACPS has started a virtual learning orientation class and has converted on-boarding paperwork to an online format. He also said that 50 classroom monitor applications are pending because of background checks, and that the hours for classroom monitors have been expanded to full-time.
Hutchings also thanked City Council for their recent decision to reinstate school resource officers through the end of the school year to Alexandria City High School and the city’s two middle schools.
“It has been great to see our SRO’s back,” he said. “We’re just thankful that we have this time to work with the School Board as well as the City Council and our community to explore the many resources on reimagining policing in our schools and practices in our schools.”
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If you had a chance to enhance a child’s future with a time commitment of less than 2 hours a week, how would you respond? You have that opportunity right now to join over 200 Alexandrians as a reading tutor volunteer with the Alexandria Tutoring Consortium (ATC).
ATC tutors work with one child in kindergarten, first, or second grade in Alexandria public schools who need extra help with reading. Tutors meet with their Book Buddy 1-2 times each week for 30 minutes October-May at school, during school hours. Many struggling readers only receive one-on-one instruction through this program, and it makes all the difference. Last year, ATC served 195 children, of whom 82% ended the year reading on grade level and 96% made substantial reading gains. But the need is great, and we are still seeing learning lags from the pandemic.
This year, ATC plans to significantly increase the size of the program to reach over 250 students and to serve every elementary school in Alexandria. This is very exciting news, but we will only succeed if we can recruit more tutors. ATC trains you, matches you with a child, and provides ongoing lesson materials and support.
If you have been thinking about buying your first home or haven’t owned one in the last three years, THIS IS FOR YOU!
In the DMV area, it can be difficult to save the downpayment necessary for you to get into your own home. We have a solution. The Funder’s Summit!
We have assembled a summit with different municipalities to tell you how to access their funds for your home purchase.
Family Fun Fall Fest
Mark your calendars and join us for the Family Fun Fall Fest on Saturday, October 7, 2023, from 11am – 2pm!
This FREE in-person event will be held at the Shoppes at Foxchase, located at 4641 Duke St, Alexandria, VA
2023 Alexandria Fall Festival
Food trucks, bounce houses, pony rides, magic shows and more at the 2023 Alexandria Fall Festival, an Alexandria Living event presented by The Patterson Group. Join us at River Farm on Sunday, Nov. 5 from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
