Three Alexandria City Public Schools facilities that the School Board voted to rename will be dedicated in the next two months.
The Alexandria City School Board voted in December 2025 to name Keith Burns Field at Alexandria City High School’s Parker-Gray Memorial Stadium after a 1990 T.C. Williams High School graduate who had an NFL career. The athletic field complex at the high school’s Minnie Howard Campus will be named after the late Alexandria Mayor Kerry Donley, and a media center at Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School will be named after Jean Reid, who taught at various ACPS schools.
In June, ACPS dedicated the Early Childhood Center’s courtyard as Owen’s Place. The name honors Owen Michael Wagner, the late teenage son of the center’s first principal, Heidi Haggerty-Wagner. According to ACPS, the teen had intended to follow his mother’s footsteps to become a teacher.
Next up will be the Kerry Donley Athletic Field Complex naming ceremony on Tuesday, Sept. 1 at the Minnie Howard Campus (3775 W. Braddock Road), according to the School Board’s schedule. The time of the ceremony has not yet been set.
Donley, a lifelong banker, served Alexandria as a member of City Council after his first election in 1988, before serving as mayor from 1996 to 2003 and vice mayor from 1994 to 1996 and 2009 to 2012. He also spent three years as the athletic director of then-T.C. Williams High School.
Among his works, he is credited with helping to advance school facility projects, including the construction of Samuel W. Tucker Elementary School and expansion of George Washington Middle School, Francis C. Hammond Middle School and T.C. Williams (now Alexandria City High School). He died in 2022 at age 66.
The Jean B. Reid Media Center naming ceremony is scheduled for 10-11 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8 at Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School (600 Russell Road).
Reid worked as a reading specialist at ACPS from 1971 until her 2001 retirement, teaching and holding leadership positions at six elementary schools.
The Keith Burns Field naming at Parker-Gray Memorial Stadium (3330 King Street) will be at a to-be-determined time on Oct. 16.
Burns had a 13-season NFL career mainly with the Denver Broncos and won back-to-back Super Bowls in 1997 and 1998. After his playing career, he worked as a special teams coach for the Broncos and later for the then-Washington Redskins. His Keith Burns Foundation, established in 1997, has supported the Alexandria community with essentials like backpacks, holiday gifts, children’s coats and Thanksgiving baskets.
