Several community members braved the cold yesterday evening (Thursday) to voice their support for a petition to rename The Fields at Alexandria City High School after former Mayor Kerry Donley.
Eight out of thirteen speakers yesterday spoke in support of the measure during a public hearing on Alexandria City Public Schools’ considerations to rename four facilities across the district. Among them were Gayle Reuter, former U.S. Rep. Jim Moran and Kaitlin Donley, one of Donley’s daughters.
“My family is incredibly touched by the community members who proposed naming these fields in honor of my dad’s lifelong service to the city,” Kaitlin Donley, an ACPS alum, said. “We wholeheartedly support the proposal and see it as a very fitting legacy for one of Titan Athletics’ biggest supporters.”
Kerry 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 ACHS’ athletic director (formerly T.C. Williams High School).
Among his works, he is credited with leading the city through the tragedy of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and attracting the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to relocate to Alexandria. He died of a heart attack in 2022, at age 66.
“He was so proud of the Alexandria school system,” Moran said. “It’s funny, you know? This is nearing Christmastime, the holidays, and we all watch ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’ Banker George Bailey wasn’t really cut out to be a typical banker, because he cared too much about his family, the other families that make up his community. He was a generous soul, a loving soul — and that’s who Kerry Donley was.”
Reuter said the decision “is not just about honoring a remarkable individual,” and that she wants her granddaughters to know about one of the city’s “most caring and dedicated public servants.”
“It’s about inspiring generations to come by connecting our community’s values to the legacy of one of Alexandria’s finest public servants,” Reuter said, citing Donley’s service to multiple Alexandria nonprofits and community organizations.
Also last night, three speakers voiced support in renaming the courtyard at the Early Childhood Center at 5651 Rayburn Avenue as “Owen’s Place,” after Owen Michael Wagner, the late teenage son of the center’s first principal, Heidi Haggerty-Wagner.
Wagner aspired to be a social worker or teacher, and his memorial funds were used to help renovate the courtyard.
Molly McCabe, principal of Cora Kelly School for Math, Science and Technology, led the renaming petition process for Owen’s Place in 2022.
“It is an honor to be here tonight to reaffirm our community’s deep commitment to make this name official,” McCabe said. “If you visit ECC on any given day — and I encourage you to do so — you will see Owen’s Place bursting with joyful hands-on learning that defines high-quality early childhood education.”
School social worker Kelly Wintz read a statement last night on behalf of Haggerty-Wagner, who was attending a candle lighting ceremony with The Compassionate Friends at the time of the meeting.
“I want to say a sincere thank you for considering our request to memorialize my son, Owen, by naming our courtyard Owen’s Place,” Haggerty-Wagner wrote. “My family, friends and I are beyond grateful to ACPS and to our leadership for recommending that our naming project be approved.”
The Alexandria City School Board is expected to take action on facility renaming petitions during its meeting next Thursday, Dec. 18.
All four petitions, each with more than 100 community signatures, are listed below.
- Keith Burns Field at Parker-Gray Stadium (The Field at Parker-Gray Stadium, Alexandria City High School – King Street Campus)
- Kerry Donley Athletic Field Complex (The Fields at Alexandria City High School – Minnie Howard Campus)
- Jean B. Reid Media Center (The Media Center at Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School)
- Owen’s Place at the Early Childhood Center (ECC courtyard)
