ACPS | ALXnow

ACPS to restore bus service for eligible students by Oct. 5 after walk zone pushback

Published September 28, 2026 at 3:45PM

School bus at Alexandria City High School (staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria City Public Schools started responding to families wanting school buses to return to their neighborhoods last week, and any eligible students will be able to ride on a bus starting by Monday, Oct. 5.

That was the message relayed to the Alexandria City School Board last Thursday night (Sept. 24) by Clinton Page, the school system’s chief accountability and research officer. Page said that ACPS started sending out their decisions on walk zone requests on Wednesday, Sept. 23 and will respond to all families by Wednesday, Sept. 30.

News

ACPS targets intersections across Alexandria in rush to resolve bus dispute

By James Cullum

Published September 16, 2026 at 9:15AM

School bus outside Alexandria City High School (staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria City Public Schools staff are evaluating potential road hazards across the city this week as families await answers on how they can get school buses returned to their neighborhoods.

That was the message relayed at Monday night’s (Sept. 14) Joint City Council and School Board Subcommittee meeting. With a looming Sept. 30 deadline to respond to parent requests to reinstate bus service, city and ACPS staff laid out a process of evaluating public complaints.

News

‘We did not get it right’: ACPS promises response to parents on bus route cuts by Sept. 30

By James Cullum

Published September 11, 2026 at 3:45PM | Updated September 14, 2026 at 3:20PM

School bus at Alexandria City High School (staff photo by James Cullum)

Amid a surge of complaints, Alexandria City Public Schools says it will respond to requests to reinstate bus routes by the end of the month.

The school system is under fire for its new walk zones associated with new school boundaries. In the city’s heavily Latino neighborhood of Arlandria, a number of parents complained to the Alexandria City School Board on Thursday night (Sept. 10) that the changes have left kids without school buses in unsafe areas.

News

ACPS superintendent search on track as School Board reviews candidates

By Emily Leayman

Published August 31, 2026 at 11:45AM

The Alexandria School Board at its meeting on Aug. 27, 2026 (staff photo by James Cullum)

The superintendent search remains on track as the Alexandria City School Board discusses candidates.

On Thursday (Aug. 27), the School Board held a closed session to discuss prospective candidates and their “qualifications, experience, references, suitability, potential appointment, compensation, and other terms and conditions of employment.”

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Acting superintendent says ACPS has ‘more work to do’ on bus eligibility as parents speak out

By James Cullum

Published August 28, 2026 at 3:45PM

Acting Superintendent Grace Taylor at the Alexandria School Board meeting on Aug. 27, 2026 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Families are decrying new walk zones for Alexandria City Public Schools, saying the changes force their children off school buses to walk along unsafe roadways.

A number of parents denounced the walk zones during the public comment period at the Alexandria City School Board meeting on Thursday night (Aug. 27). ACPS provides bus transportation for students living more than a mile from their elementary schools and more than a mile-and-a-half from Alexandria City High School.

News

ACPS receives $240K in donations, including funds for locking phone pouches at ACHS

By James Cullum

Published August 28, 2026 at 1:45PM

The Alexandria School Board at its meeting on Aug. 27, 2026 (staff photo by James Cullum)

The Alexandria City School Board unanimously accepted $240,100 in donations to the city’s school system on Thursday night (Aug. 27).

Along with school supplies and donations for meal debt, the gifts include a $158,000 donation to buy phone pouches with magnetic locks for every student at Alexandria City High School. With more than 4,500 students getting accustomed to a new bell-to-bell phone ban, Principal Michael Burch told ALXnow that the donation will buy enough pouches to last the school for several years.

News

ACPS leaders tout SOL testing gains, but some student groups lag behind

By James Cullum

Published August 26, 2026 at 3:45PM | Updated August 26, 2026 at 4:15PM

School bus outside Alexandria City High School (staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria City Public Schools officials are touting improvements in standardized testing results from the Virginia Department of Education.

VDOE’s annual SOL standardized test results showed ACPS improved across all content areas divisionwide in the 2025-26 school year, increasing 9% in history (to 71%), 5% in mathematics (to 59%), 3% in science (to 56%) and 1% in reading (to 63%).

News

Alexandria school meal prices jump more than usual this school year

By James Cullum

Published August 25, 2026 at 1:45PM | Updated August 26, 2026 at 9:53AM

Packed lunches at T.C. Williams High School (now Alexandria City High School), March 16, 2020. (staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria City Public Schools is increasing the cost of breakfast and lunch at the elementary and middle schools that charge for meals.

Starting this school year, the cost of breakfast will rise by 25 cents (to $2.35 for all grade levels), and lunch will jump 50 cents (to $3.75) for students in kindergarten to fifth grade, and will cost $3.95 for students in grades 6 to 8, according to ACPS.

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Three ACPS naming ceremonies scheduled for September and October

By Emily Leayman

Published August 20, 2026 at 2:45PM | Updated August 27, 2026 at 4:46PM

The Parker-Gray Stadium Field at Alexandria City High School King Street Campus (via ACPS)

Three Alexandria City Public Schools facilities that the School Board voted to rename will be dedicated in the next two months.

The Alexandria City School Board voted in December 2025 to name Keith Burns Field at Alexandria City High School’s Parker-Gray Memorial Stadium after a 1990 T.C. Williams High School graduate who had an NFL career. The athletic field complex at the high school’s Minnie Howard Campus will be named after the late Alexandria Mayor Kerry Donley, and a media center at Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School will be named after Jean Reid, who taught at various ACPS schools.

News

Speed cameras to resume enforcement as school year begins in Alexandria

By Emily Leayman

Published August 18, 2026 at 9:15AM

A school zone speed limit sign near the Minnie Howard Campus (via Google Maps)

Alexandria City Public Schools will be returning to school on Monday, Aug. 24, and that means speed cameras will also be reactivated to enforce school zone speeding violations.

The City of Alexandria said enforcement of school zone speed cameras will begin on the first day of school following testing of the school zone flashers and camera systems on Aug. 21. The cameras will automatically issue tickets for speeding violations when school zone signs are flashing.

News

Here’s when the 2026-27 school year starts in Alexandria, and more key dates

By James Cullum

Published August 3, 2026 at 2:45PM

George Mason Elementary School Principal Christopher Finan with students on the first day of school, August 21, 2023 (staff photo by James Cullum)

The start of the 2026-27 school year is just around the corner in Alexandria.

The first day back for most Alexandria City Public Schools students is Monday, Aug. 24. That’s not the case for students and staff at Samuel W. Tucker Elementary, which started on July 27. Still, below are some important dates to be aware of, as the school system gets back into the swing of things.