Michael Burch, the ACHS lead administrator for operations and student support, has been hired as the next principal of Alexandria City High School.
Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt made the announcement at tonight’s School Board meeting. With approximately 4,500 students and hundreds of staffers spread across four campuses, Burch will will lead the largest public high school in Virginia starting on July 1.
“I am overwhelmed,” Burch told the School Board. “I look forward to continuing all the great work and all our important work and collaborating with all of you as we serve this city.”
Burch has been in his current job for three years and was hired by the school system in 2010. He was an assistant principal at the King Street Campus for three years and also worked as an ACHS substitute administrator, summer school administrator, assistant director of student activities and as a health, physical education and driver education teacher, according to ACPS. A U.S. Army veteran, he received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from Virginia Tech, and a post-master’s certification in educational leadership and administration from George Washington University.
Burch was chosen after a national search. The salary range for the position is $120,672 to $180,518, according to the job listing.
Since last August, Lance Harrell has been acting executive principal at ACHS, succeeding Alexander Duncan III, who left June 30, 2025 after two years to become principal at Washington-Liberty High School in Arlington. Harrell was previously the lead administrator of operations and student support at the ACHS Minnie Howard Campus for two years.
ACPS posted the job description March 16, after which Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt said the principal position will no longer carry central office duties, allowing the principal to focus solely on leading the high school’s four campuses. The four campus administrators will also be renamed campus principals.
