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.
There are more than 50 power outage projects affecting more than 10,800 homes in Alexandria, after the city and region were battered by a severe thunderstorm.
As of 9:15 p.m., Dominion Energy reported 10,833 customers without power across 50 separate projects.
Good Thursday evening, Alexandria. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar.
The following articles were published earlier today — Jun 11, 2026.
Here are today’s most-read articles:
Here is what’s going on Friday in Alexandria, from our event calendar.
Expect showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 5 PM, with some severe storms possible. The high will be near 95, and the heat index could reach 103, with west winds at 3 to 8 mph. There’s an 80% chance of rain, with new rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, higher in thunderstorms. In the evening, showers and thunderstorms will continue until about 8 PM, with lows around 67 and west winds at 6 to 8 mph. The chance of rain remains at 80%, with similar rainfall amounts expected. See more from Weather.gov.
“Success is not how high you have climbed, but how you make a positive difference to the world.”
– Roy T. Bennett
Thanks for reading!
Regional transportation officials brought their quest for input on ways to rejuvenate the Route 7 (King Street and Leesburg Pike) corridor to Alexandria on Tuesday (June 9).
“This, combined with other conversations, it’s really helpful,” said Vikram Sinha, a Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) senior program manager who leads the Envision Route 7 initiative.
Alexandria welcomed the Croatia National Football Team on Wednesday as the FIFA World Cup begins.
The team is staying at Hotel AKA in Old Town North for the duration of the World Cup and will train at Episcopal High School. At Episcopal, Mayor Alyia Gaskins welcomed the team to town and City Council presented them with a commemorative ceramic bowl and a coin with the seal of the city. In turn, the team’s technical director gave the city a commemorative jersey, and then a crowd of hundreds watched as the players took to the field to practice.
The Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge will have a drawbridge opening with impacts on Capital Beltway traffic for the second time this week, the Virginia Department of Transportation says.
The drawbridge will open multiple times between 10 p.m. Thursday and 5 a.m. Friday for maintenance work. Drivers should expect intermittent traffic stops during that timeframe. VDOT recommends using alternate routes due to anticipated delays.
On This Day in Alexandria History — “On June 11, 1904, the two youngest children of Thomas Hayden found a shell filled with dynamite in a junk pile near their home on the south side of Duke Street, between Lee and Union. Not knowing what the shell contained, and ignorant of the danger, the children dragged the large shell back to the yard of their home and began to beat it with a hammer in hopes of separating the lead pieces. Without warning the shell suddenly exploded, sending fragments in every direction, blasting through nearby fences and sheds, and sending them skyward to land several blocks away. Amazingly, the Hayden children, both within close proximity to the lethal compound, escaped injury, and no other residents were hurt in the incident.” [Historic Alexandria]
Community Meeting on Proposed Parking Conversion to Park — “The City of Alexandria is proposing a new pocket park on Clifford Avenue in Del Ray by transforming an existing parking island into a welcoming neighborhood green space. The project aims to improve walkability, strengthen neighborhood connections, expand access to open space, and provide environmental benefits through added trees and green infrastructure. Join the community meeting to learn more and share your input on the park design and features.” [City of Alexandria]
Good Wednesday evening, Alexandria. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar.
The following articles were published earlier today — Jun 10, 2026.
Here are today’s most-read articles:
Here is what’s going on Thursday in Alexandria, from our event calendar.
Expect mostly sunny weather with a high of 96°F and heat index values reaching 104°F. There’s a 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms after 3 PM, with west winds at 5 to 8 mph. Thursday night will be mostly cloudy, with a low of 73°F and a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before midnight. Winds will calm to 5 mph. See more from Weather.gov.
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
– Theodore Roosevelt
Thanks for reading!
On Tuesday night, Police Chief Tarrick McGuire unveiled blueprints for the creation of the Alexandria Police Department’s new public safety plan.
McGuire told City Council the plan will be developed over the next year, and it includes the deployment of officers to crime hotspots identified by the city’s crime data. He said the plan is organized around five pillars — geographical policing and accountability, building relationships in the community, evidence-based strategies and enforcement, assessing crime data and using technology to reduce and enforce crime.
The Alexandria City School Board held a work session yesterday (June 9) to decide adds and deletes from the budget before final approval, but the state budget impasse leaves future funding for compensation and other items unresolved.
Several of the 38 add/delete proposals that had at least four co-sponsors received support to be added into the Alexandria City Public Schools budget. The School Board will vote on the final budget tomorrow (June 11).
Hotel AKA in Old Town North will transition into a Marriott Autograph Collection on June 17, according to the Washington Business Journal.
Electra American, which acquired the 180-room former Holiday Inn at 625 First Street in 2021, made the deal to change the hotel brand. The hotel was redesigned by Italian architect Piero Lissoni, then renovated and reopened as Hotel AKA in 2023.
