Reporter James Cullum has spent nearly 20 years covering Northern Virginia. He began working with ALXnow in 2020, and has covered every story under the sun for the publication, from investigative stories to features and photo galleries. His work includes coverage of national and international situations, as well as from the White House, Capitol, Pentagon, Supreme Court and State Department. He's covered protests and riots throughout the U.S. (including the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol), in addition to earthquake-ridden Haiti, Western Sahara in North Africa and war-torn South Sudan. He has photographed presidents and other world leaders, celebrities and famous musicians, and excels under pressure.
Despite mixed community reaction, the Alexandria School Board voted to convert Jefferson-Houston PreK-8 IB School into a middle school and Patrick Henry K-8 School into an elementary school.
Alexandria’s two middle schools are both well over 100% capacity, and as budgeted, the conversion of Jefferson-Houston won’t start for a few years. That means that the strain at George Washington Middle School and Francis C. Hammond Middle School won’t be eased unless the Board takes an immediate action.