Four facilities at Alexandria City Public Schools are getting new names to reflect beloved figures in the city, including a former mayor and a longtime teacher.
The Alexandria City School Board voted last night (Thursday) to rename the athletic field complex at Alexandria City High School’s Minnie Howard Campus, ACHS’ Parker-Gray Stadium field, the Media Center at Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School and the courtyard at the Early Childhood Center. These are the newly approved facility names and their community namesakes.
Kerry Donley Athletic Field Complex
It took more than a year of work for a group of friends to get the field named after Donley, who died unexpectedly in 2022 at the age of 66. Nearly 500 signatures were collected in a petition to name the complex after him.
“We spent so many hours on that field watching our girls,” Donley’s wife, Eva Shamblin Donley, told ALXnow. “So, for me, that was really personal. It had to be sports-related. Kerry lived and breathed sports.”
Donley served on City Council for 18 years and was mayor from 1996 to 2003. After a two-year stint as the chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia, he was hired as the athletic director at ACHS, a position he held from 2005 to 2008.
Keith Burns Field at Parker-Gray Stadium
Burns is a 1990 graduate of the school and 13-season NFL linebacker. He started the first-ever free NFL camp for youth in the city and started the KB Foundation, donating Thanksgiving baskets for families, back-to-school backpacks, football cleats to the ACHS Titans football team and more than 200 tickets for kids to attend NFL games.
School Board Vice Chair Chris Harris said he was lucky enough to see Burns play in high school.
“I luckily had the chance to see him play, and hysterically, I saw him knock someone out,” Harris said. “It changed a lot of my teammates. After seeing that, they decided they didn’t want to play football anymore.”
The Jean B. Reid Media Center
The Board approved renaming the Naomi L. Brooks Media Center with the proposed name of the “Jean B. Reid Media Center” after the late Reid, a longtime teacher at ACPS. She died in 2005.
Reid worked for ACPS as a reading specialist for 30 years before retiring in 2001. Her name was one of the three finalists considered in the renaming of Matthew Maury Elementary School to Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School in 2021.
“Jean Reid, the reading teacher, was never without a book,” the petition to the Board said. “In fact, she always had one in her purse to read while waiting in line at the grocery store, the bank, or to vote.”
Owen’s Place at the Early Childhood Center
The Board voted to rename the Early Childhood Center’s courtyard in honor of the late Owen Michael Wagner, the son of the first ECC principal Heidi Haggerty, who died in 2016.
According to the petition:
Owen loved listening to music, watching and attending sporting events with his father and working at his mother’s elementary school. His professional goal was to follow in his mom’s footsteps and become a teacher. Owen was dedicated to helping children. A memorial fund in Owen’s name was established to help offer opportunities for children in the Metro DC area who might otherwise not be able to afford them. Some of the funds were used to purchase equipment, furniture, and toys to create a meaningful outdoor learning space for the students of the Early Childhood Center. The courtyard is affectionately called Owen’s Place by the ECC community and we would like to request this become its official name in loving memory of Owen Wagner and in honor of the first principal of the ECC, Heidi Haggerty.
ACPS estimates the following costs to make these name changes, according to a presentation.
- Athletic Field Complex: $1,100 (installation of polymetal signs, banners and update to existing “Minnie Howard Fields” sign)
- Field at Parker-Gray Stadium: $3,850 to $9,900 (Option includes scoreboard, installation of polymetal signs and update to existing signs)
- Media Center: $990 (plaque above library door, includes installation)
- Courtyard: No estimate sought. An existing plaque bearing the name “Owen’s Place” is on hand and would be installed by ACPS carpenters.
Photo 4 via Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School/Facebook.
