A new principal has been chosen for the Mount Vernon Community School (MVCS) and George Mason Elementary School.
At a School Board meeting last night, Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt announced that Jen Hamilton, the ACPS dual language coordinator, was picked to be the new principal of Alexandria’s largest elementary school.
Hamilton will be replacing Principal Liza Burrell-Aldana, who resigned earlier this year just a few months after being named Washington Post’s 2023 Principal of the Year. Burrell-Aldana had been the principal of the school since 2017 and got a new job in neighboring Arlington Public Schools.
Hamilton was an assistant principal at MVCS from 2018 to 2022. The 800-student school is known for its dual language program, a program Hamilton said she wants to continue building on.
“I’m not a candidate who is seeking a principalship somewhere,” Hamilton said at an early Q&A. “I’m a candidate who is seeking a principalship here specifically at Mount Vernon, which is a school that I’ve served at for the last five years and where I feel a commitment to and a passion for the students, staff, community and program.”
At the same meeting, it was announced that Christopher Finan would be taking the helm of George Mason Elementary School.
Finan comes to ACPs from New Mexico where he’s been an elementary school principal for the last two years.
According to ACPS:
Mr. Finan comes to ACPS from Albuquerque Public Schools in New Mexico where he has served as an elementary school principal since July 2021. Prior to that, he was an elementary school principal at the Community Day Charter Public Schools in Lawrence, Massachusetts and previously served as a principal intern within Boston and Framingham Public Schools. Mr. Finan was a curriculum facilitator at New Haven Public Schools in Connecticut and also served as a fellow of the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he was a school operations manager with Teach for America. He also served as a Teach for America corps member and taught seventh and eighth grade science at Clinton Avenue School (K-8) in New Haven, Connecticut.
Mr. Finan received a bachelor’s degree in biology and Hispanic Studies at Boston College. He has a master’s in school leadership from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. He studied Spanish language and literature at Universidad Complutense de Madrid in Spain and is fluent in Spanish.
Image via Google Maps
Recent Stories
A major redevelopment of deteriorating townhomes on upper King Street in Old Town is heading to the Planning Commission. Dechantal Associates LLC wants to convert the five dilapidated townhouse properties…
The Office of Historic Alexandria will celebrate Marquis de Lafayette, the acclaimed Hero of Two Worlds, with a concert and lecture marking 200 years since the city first threw its…
It could’ve been curtains for all those free prom dresses this year at Alexandria City High School.
Good Tuesday morning, Alexandria! ⛈️ Today’s weather: Showers and possible thunderstorms after 2pm, with patchy fog clearing by 9am. Mostly cloudy, high near 80, with a calm easterly wind around…
Finding a gift for moms can be difficult. Google “Mother’s Day gifts,” and you’ll scroll through endless lists of beauty products, candles and fuzzy robes. Sure, those are sweet, but sometimes it’s fun to surprise loved ones with something a little more, well, practical!
Here’s one idea: Give her a gift certificate for a home cleaning from Well-Paid Maids. It’s the perfect “thank you,” “I love you” or “you’ve got this” for any mom. She can schedule the home cleaning at her convenience and breathe easy knowing she has one less thing to do.
Our cleaners will take care of everything, including vacuuming and mopping as well as cleaning and dusting countertops, tables, mirrors, appliances and more. Sinks, toilets, showers and appliance exteriors also get a good scrub.
Plus, when you buy a gift certificate from Well-Paid Maids, you’re supporting a living-wage cleaning company. That means cleaners get paid a starting wage of $24 an hour and get access to benefits, like 24 days of PTO and health insurance.
Good news, D.C. area. You can save money on your next home cleaning with Well-Paid Maids. It’s easy!
We offer a discount when you set up recurring cleans — and the discounts just increased this week!
For weekly cleans, get $30 off each cleaning.
Alexandria NAACP, Shiloh Baptist Church, DPC to hold City Council…
The Alexandria Branch of the NAACP, Shiloh Baptist Church, and The Departmental Progressive Club to hold the City Council Candidate Forum for ALL Candidates in the City of Alexandria Virginia. The event is Free of Charge and Open to The
