Last week, Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) was blasted by parents and teachers at a School Board meeting over a decision to spread specialist teachers across multiple schools.

Music, art and physical education teachers are classified as encore teachers in ACPS. Currently, those teachers are assigned to individual schools, but under the new system some of those teachers could be made to float between different schools.


It’s a day of happiness in Alexandria, as more than 900 Alexandria City High School seniors graduated this morning at George Mason University’s EagleBank Arena.

Perhaps student speaker Lenhle Vilakati put it best when she said: “Today we finally break apart and become our own people. Today we finally have to go off into bigger things and be amazing.”


In some ways, it wasn’t a great week for shops around Alexandria.

Three Alexandria stores had drivers crash into them this week. At the Bradlee Shopping Center, a driver was hospitalized after she drove her car into Robcyns. The next morning, a driver crashed into Casa Rosada Artisan Gelato in Old Town.


Westbound drivers may want to avoid Duke Street near Landmark next week as construction will shut down part of the road.

The closures will affect the westbound lanes on Duke Street between the off-ramp to Van Dorn Street and South Walker Street. The westbound lanes are scheduled to be closed from 10 p.m. on Tuesday to 10 p.m. on Friday.


(Updated 6/5) Parents and teachers at a School Board meeting last night said the rollout of a new plan to split specialist teachers across schools has been an unmitigated disaster.

The change affects Alexandria City Public Schools’ (ACPS) encore teachers: teachers who run classes like music, art and physical education. A new change announced in an email earlier this week, without public discussion or meetings, would split these teachers across multiple schools throughout the district.


A popular tour at Alexandria’s Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum (105-107 S. Fairfax Street) is making a comeback next month: Poison at the Apothecary Museum.

The tour, recommended for ages 18 and older, explores different types of poisons and their application throughout history.


Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) is looking for suggestions from the public on how it should update its Student Code of Conduct.

The Student Code of Conduct — an 83-page document for this past year — governs everything from attendance and student rights to the expulsion of students.


Chadwicks (203 Strand Street) is about to get really busy.

From now until mid-August, it’s the strong season for the unpretentious Old Town staple that has graced the Alexandria waterfront since 1979. From the menu to decor, not much changes in the restaurant/bar (except a recent price hike) as owner Trae Lamond keeps his proverbial ship afloat through a gradually evolving seashore.


Potomac Yard’s microbrewery Hops Grill and Brewery didn’t live to see the new Potomac Yard Metro station open, but the Washington Business Journal reported the location at 3625 Richmond Highway could see new life as a bank.

The Business Journal reported that JPMorgan Chase & Co. has leased the microbrewery as part of a broader push throughout the region.


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