The Alexandria City School Board on Thursday (July 9) unanimously elected new leadership for the next year.
Without opposition, School Board Member Christopher Harris was elected as chair, and Alexander Crider Scioscia was elected vice chair. Both are graduates of Alexandria City High School (when it was T.C. Williams High School), and the one-year appointments went into effect in the beginning of Thursday night’s meeting.
With the start of the school year around the corner, Alexandria City Public Schools is asking for donations of backpacks and school supplies.
For the second year in a row, the school system has set a goal of filling 3,500 backpacks in its annual backpack and school supply drive between now and Aug. 10.
As outgoing Alexandria City Public Schools Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt takes an unexpected leave, the School Board has designated three administrators to handle her duties.
School Board Chair Michelle Rief announced in an email to ACPS families and staff that Kay-Wyatt is going on leave due “to a matter that arose unexpectedly.” On Tuesday night (June 23), the School Board appointed ACPS Chief of Staff Grace Taylor, Chief Accountability Officer Clinton Page and Chief Academic Officer Pierrette Finney as designees of the division superintendent.
Public safety leaders and their counterparts from around the region reaffirmed a commitment to mutual aid today (Thursday) at the Alexandria Police Department’s Public Safety Summit.
The three-hour event was held at Virginia Theological Seminary, and attended by Mayor Alyia Gaskins, Sheriff Sean Casey, Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter, City Manager Jim Parajon, Fire Chief Felipe Hernandez, Jr, as well as officials from Alexandria City Public Schools and other city departments. Speakers included Arlington County Police Chief Andy Penn, Prince William County Police Chief Peter Newsham, and Stanley Meador, the Virginia Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security.
After invalidating the officer elections for the local Alexandria teachers union, the Virginia Education Association has set a timeline for new elections that it will oversee later this month.
VEA President Carol Bauer informed Education Association of Alexandria (EAA) members of the new election timeline in an email on June 12. VEA’s decision to reject EAA’s union officer elections came after the elections were postponed from May 18 to May 21, and candidate for EAA president David Paladin-Fernandez was disqualified less than 12 hours before the elections.
Eleven residents at the Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center in Alexandria’s West End marked a significant milestone as they were presented with their high school diplomas today (Wednesday).
The graduation event was attended by family members, NVJDC residents and staff, as well as City Councilwoman Sandy Marks and Alexandria City School Board Chair Michelle Rief. The jail’s state-operated school is managed by Alexandria City Public Schools, which provides licensed staff to teach 10-to-18-year-old children brought in from across Alexandria, Arlington County and the city of Falls Church.
Alexandria City Public Schools will continue providing free meals to students this summer.
The school system is giving away free breakfast and lunch for children and teens 18 and under as part of its 2026 Summer Food Service Program. The program runs Mondays through Thursdays, from June 22 to July 16, at six schools across the city. School-age kids can get free meals at any of the sites and do not need to register in advance.
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.
One of Alexandria City High School’s largest graduating classes walked the stage at George Mason University’s EagleBank Arena to get their diplomas on Saturday (June 6).
Outgoing Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt said that the 962 graduates are walking into an increasingly complex world.
The Virginia Education Association (VEA) has invalidated last month’s officer elections held by the local Alexandria teachers union and will oversee a new election.
In an email sent this week to members of the Education Association of Alexandria (EAA), VEA said that it conducted a review of its Alexandria affiliate to see “whether the recent EAA officer election complied with the legal requirements established under the federal Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act.” The news comes after an EAA’s union officer election was postponed from May 18 to May 21, and EAA presidential candidate David Paladin-Fernandez was disqualified less than 12 hours before the election.
Alexandria City Public Schools is officially searching for a new superintendent ahead of Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt’s resignation on Oct. 1.
The search process launched Monday (June 1), about two months after Kay-Wyatt submitted her resignation. The Alexandria City School Board has brought on executive search firm Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates to lead the recruitment effort.
