ACPS | ALXnow - Part 11

Alexandria City Council passes $956.5 million FY 2026 Budget amid ‘time of great uncertainty’

Published April 30, 2025 at 9:05PM

Alexandria City Council approves the Fiscal Year 2026 Budget, April 30, 2025 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Against a backdrop of political and economic uncertainty, Alexandria’s City Council unanimously adopted its $956.5 million operating budget.

City Manager Jim Parajon said it was challenging crafting a budget that keeps city services without increasing real estate or property taxes. The city’s budget grew 3.2% over the current fiscal year, with its largest line item being a fully-funded Alexandria City Public Schools, as well as significant stormwater management funding for the city’s $2.1 billion FY 2026 – 2035 Capital Improvement Program.

News

Community invited to ACHS Friday for screening of Oscar-nominated ‘To Kill a Tiger’ and panel discussion on preventing gender violence

By Ryan Belmore

Published April 29, 2025 at 12:30PM

To Kill A Tiger (via To Kill A Tiger)

Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) and Oscar-nominated documentary director Nisha Pahuja are hosting a special screening and Q&A session at Alexandria City High School on Friday (May 2). This event is part of a nationwide campaign to end gender-based violence.

Starting at 7 p.m., the event will show a modified educational version of Pahuja’s film “To Kill a Tiger,” followed by a panel discussion. Dr. Atul Gawande, a surgeon, New York columnist, and author of “Being Mortal,” will moderate the discussion.

Sports

Alexandria native Robert Longerbeam drafted by Baltimore Ravens

By Ryan Belmore

Published April 28, 2025 at 4:15PM | Updated April 29, 2025 at 7:58AM

Alexandria native Robert Longerbeam was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the 2025 NFL Draft (image via Baltimore Ravens)

The Baltimore Ravens selected Robert Longerbeam, a 24-year-old cornerback from Alexandria, in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL draft on Saturday (April 26). Picked 212th overall, Longerbeam is a graduate of T.C. Williams High School (now Alexandria City High School) and played college football for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights from 2020 to 2024.

At 5’11” and 175 pounds, Longerbeam is currently unsigned but shows promise as a draft pick for the Ravens. His college career demonstrates steady growth and improvement. In his first two seasons, he played 18 games, racking up 30 tackles, 10 pass deflections, and two forced fumbles.

News

New redistricting maps proposed for Alexandria City Public Schools

By Ryan Belmore

Published April 23, 2025 at 3:30PM | Updated May 12, 2025 at 8:43PM

The Square Plan (Elementary Boundaries) (via ACPS)

Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) has released new redistricting maps for elementary and middle schools.

The plans, now called Square, Circle, and Triangle, were presented at a Redistricting Hybrid Community Meeting on Tuesday (April 22).

News

School Board holds public hearing on Draft 2025-2030 Strategic Plan, no public comments made

By Ryan Belmore

Published April 23, 2025 at 2:30PM | Updated April 24, 2025 at 11:36PM

ACPS School Board Public Hearing on April 21 (via ACPS)

The Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) School Board held a public hearing on Monday, April 21, on the draft 2025-2030 Strategic Plan.

Despite encouraging the community to provide a final round of feedback on the plan, no community members signed up to speak, resulting in just a four-minute hearing.

Opinion

Letter to the Editor: Stop the division of Cameron Station in ACPS redistricting plans

By Katie Bilek

Published April 21, 2025 at 10:00AM

Alexandria resident and Cameron Station mother Katie Bilek has submitted the following Letter to the Editor regarding the Alexandria City School Board’s proposed redistricting plans.

Bilek argues that the plans unfairly target her neighborhood, Cameron Station, by arbitrarily dividing the planned community and redirecting half of its children from their walkable neighborhood school, Tucker Elementary, to Patrick Henry K-8.

Opinion

Letter to the Editor: School Redistricting should aim to minimize disruption on students, staff

By ALXnow.com

Published April 18, 2025 at 5:00AM | Updated April 21, 2025 at 1:01PM

Citing potential plans to move a small number of students from the newly rebuilt Douglas MacArthur Elementary – a school with projected capacity – into a school slated for swing space, a group of “Scroggins Triangle” parents contends in the following letter to the editor that minimizing student upheaval should be prioritized in the current ACPS redistricting process.

The letter is in response to our ongoing coverage of the ACPS redistricting efforts and process.

News

Notes: Meagan Alderton elected to lead Lyles Brothers Sports Foundation board

By Ryan Belmore

Published April 17, 2025 at 8:00AM

Meagan Alderton. (via Lyles Brothers Sports Foundation Inc.)

Good Thursday morning, Alexandria!

☀️ Today’s weather: Sunny, with a high near 65 degrees. Northwest wind around 7 mph. Increasing clouds tonight, with a low around 46 degrees. South wind 3 to 5 mph. It will be mostly sunny on Friday, with a high near 78 degrees. South wind 7 to 12 mph increasing to 13 to 18 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 22 mph.

News

200 Marathons, One Goal: Transforming Alexandria classrooms

By Ryan Belmore

Published April 14, 2025 at 2:15PM

Brooke Sydnor Curran, Move2Learn president and CEO, runs 200th marathon to champion movement in education. (Contributed photo)

Alexandria resident Brooke Sydnor Curran, founder and CEO of Alexandria-based nonprofit Move2Learn, just completed her 200th marathon.

Curran crossed the finish line at the Coastal Delaware Running Festival in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on Sunday (April 13), adding another impressive feat to her running resume. She’s now completed marathons in all 50 states, tackled all six World Marathon Majors, and raced on every continent.

News

ACPS redistricting process advances with release of two new proposed boundary maps

By Ryan Belmore

Published April 11, 2025 at 1:00PM

The Red Plan. One of the proposed redistricting plans. (via ACPS)

Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) has unveiled two new proposed boundary maps as part of its ongoing School Boundary Redistricting Process.

The Red and Indigo plans are now open for community review and input. A Green Plan, Blue Plan, and Purple Plan were also recently presented to the public.

News

10 Questions with Rozalia Finkelstein, cartoonist behind ‘West End Girls’ at Alexandria City High School

By James Cullum

Published April 10, 2025 at 3:50PM | Updated April 11, 2025 at 12:12AM

Cartoonist Rozalia Finklestein draws in Alexandria City High School (staff photo by James Cullum)

Life at Alexandria City High School isn’t easy, not even when you’re a cartoon.

Just follow the latest adventures of best friends Nyx and Soliana in the monthly West End Girls comic in the Alexandria City High School newspaper, Theogony. The cartoon is the creation of comics editor Rozalia Finkelstein, who won two awards for her work at last year’s National High School Journalism Conference.