Somebody in Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) is making the proper sacrifices to the snow gods: Alexandria students and teachers will have another snow day tomorrow (Friday).

Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt said the school system will have another snow day tomorrow — i.e. no virtual learning will take place — after getting one earlier this week on Tuesday. With MLK Day on Monday, ACPS students only attended classes on Wednesday and Thursday.

“Due to the inclement weather forecast, all Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) schools and offices will be closed on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024,” Kay-Wyatt said in a release. “All in-person activities are canceled. This is a traditional snow day and no virtual learning will take place for students.”

All afternoon and evening programs on ACPS grounds will also be canceled.

True to the legacy of the titan Prometheus, Alexandria City High School’s Titan Robotics team is celebrating ten years on the cutting edge of discovery and innovation.

Titan Robotics kicked off its tenth season earlier this month.

Titan Robotics is a student-led organization that started at ACHS in 2014. The group participates in the FIRST Robotics Competition and participates in various science and mathematics-focused outreach programs.

The team consists of around 40 ACHS students working, over eight weeks, to design, manufacture, build and program a robot. This year, the teams are working on creating a robot capable of moving foam rings across a field the width of a full-size basketball court and shooting them into goals before time runs out.

The competitions are as much about collaborating and strategizing as a team as testing the team’s scientific know-how.

According to a release from the team:

Teams plan and practice individually or collaboratively, and then at the tournaments, teams compete in random alliances with other teams for qualification matches. Each match sets three teams against three others. For qualification matches, teams often end up playing against their former alliance partners. As the tournament progresses, 30 teams form eight alliances to move from qualification matches to the elimination rounds.

Titan Robotics will take their creations to a district competition on March 2 and March 3 in Ashland, then in a second competition on March 23 and March 24 in Falls Church.

Photo via Titan Robotics/Facebook

After years in development, the School Board will vote Thursday night on a new logo for Alexandria City Public Schools, and Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt is recommending Logo 1, according to a staff presentation.

“After careful consideration by the ACPS leadership team and consideration of the community input, the superintendent recommends that the School Board accept Logo 1 as the new logo and brand to represent Alexandria City Public Schools,” ACPS said in the presentation. “Some logo elements may be refined when finalizing the final logo version.”

The preferred option depicts the George Washington Masonic National Memorial, which was initially designed to resemble the lighthouse in ancient Alexandria, Egypt.

“The new logo incorporates the George Washington Masonic National Memorial which was inspired by the lighthouse of ancient Alexandria, Egypt, and designed to reflect the lighthouse in Ostia, Rome,” said ACPS. “The idea was to spread knowledge, which is symbolized by light, a fitting nod to ACPS. The design also incorporates the water that surrounds Alexandria and translates into a pencil to symbolize learning at the tip of the shield.”

The second option combines a school house with a person, with shaded pieces coming together to form the whole student, according to ACPS.

The last time ACPS tried to get their logo changed was in 2022, when the School Board voted 7-2 in denial of several options.

ACPS says that 362 responses from an online forum were important in Kay-Wyatt’s endorsement of Logo 1, along with “careful” consideration by ACPS leadership. The approved logo will be effective following approval by the School Board and implemented throughout 2024.

The forum responses:

Logo 1

• 55.5% believe it represents ACPS
• 30% believe it does not represent ACPS
• 14.4% somewhat believe it represents ACPS
• 64.4% believe it has image appeal
• 44.5% believe it has color appeal
• 27.1% believe it has no appeal

Logo 2

• 16.3% believe it represents ACPS
• 57.2% believe it does not represent ACPS
• 26.5% believe it somewhat represents ACPS
• 20.2% believe it has image appeal
• 30.4% believe it has color appeal
• 61.3% believe it has no appeal

As of Tuesday afternoon (Jan. 16), the ACPS Facebook post on the logos had more than 130 comments, many of which are negative. Many online commenters wrote that the logos represent misplaced priorities by a school system experiencing a staffing crisis.

Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) announced at 6:15 p.m. on Monday that schools and offices would be closed on Tuesday, with students getting a ‘traditional snow day’ rather than switching to virtual learning.

After previously considering switching to virtual classes on any school days that might be closed due to snow, the ACPS website noted that the school division would also consider having some snow days off for students and teachers.

According to a release from ACPS:

Due to the inclement weather forecast, all Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) schools and offices will be closed on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. All in-person activities are canceled. This is a traditional snow day and no virtual learning will take place for students.

For more information on our revised instructional plans, please visit the ACPS winter weather decisions webpage.

Please note that due to the school closure, all afternoon and evening activities on ACPS school grounds are also canceled. This includes programming that is provided by community organizations or the City of Alexandria in ACPS facilities or on school grounds, as well as any ACPS athletic, band or other extracurricular activities or community events. Families may want to check with their community service provider to get an update on their changes in operations due to the expected inclement weather. Schools will send information to families regarding any make-up days or new event dates.

All essential personnel, including building engineers, custodians, maintenance shop employees and security staff must still report if safe to do so. Please contact your direct supervisor for reporting instructions.

(Updated 1/10) Data in a new report shows a geographic and racial divide between which Alexandria students receive out-of-school services.

The Alexandria City Youth Report noted that the city’s out-of-school programs “tend to be clustered at schools and recreation centers, with fewer programs offered in the West End.”

Alexandrians in the West End, particularly along the Van Dorn corridor, said they see the gaps in programming in their communities. The report said one of the key findings is a need for further study of geographic distribution of out-of-school activities.

“The data collection efforts showed clear discrepancies in the availability of after-school services in the west end versus the east end of the City,” Mayor Justin Wilson wrote in his monthly newsletter. “It also showed wide variation in the types of services offered to youth as well as the grade levels that the programs serve.”

The report also noted that one-third of survey respondents participated in out-of-school programs. Roughly 42% of participants are white, despite white students only comprising 26.6% of the Alexandria City Public Schools’ student body.

The report said Alexandria families face multiple hurdles to accessing out-of-school services.

According to the report:

• The need for unified transparency about program availability was flagged as a high priority across all family listening sessions.
• Students and families from historically marginalized communities do not feel welcome – they feel stigmatized.
• For those that cannot afford the fees and do not qualify for free/reduced programs, cost can be
  an issue.

Wilson said he and City Council member Alyia Gaskins added funding in October to allocate some of the city’s reserve funding — $340,000 — to ACT for Alexandria to develop a ‘program locator’ and a pilot program to try and enhance the quality of out-of-school programs.

“This important report brings together an assessment of the services available in our community, the gaps that exists, as well as a set of recommendations for how we move forward,” Wilson said. “I’m hopeful that we will be able to advance policy changes that will fully leverage our investments in after-school activities to improve the academic outcomes for our kids.”

Louis Kokonis, an Alexandria City High School math teacher who worked in the school division for over 60 years, died yesterday.

Kokonis, 91, was renowned for his devotion to the students. A CBS article last year noted that Kokonis, who had no wife or children, offered free tutoring on Saturdays and was often the first to arrive at the school each day.

“Mr. Kokonis’ passing on Jan. 4, 2024, is not only a difficult loss for the Titan community but also a significant loss for the City of Alexandria,” said Principal Alexander Duncan in a letter to the school community. “Indeed, he was loved by all who were fortunate enough to know him and will be sorely missed.”

Kokonis was the longest-serving teacher in the history of ACPS. He taught all levels of math, but primarily taught AP Calculus AB and BC, DE Calculus III and Differential Equations.

According to the letter from Duncan:

Mr. Kokonis’ service in ACPS was nothing short of legendary and was recognized beyond our immediate community. For his many accomplishments, he was celebrated in 2019 by the Virginia General Assembly in Joint House Resolution #727. To honor him, this resolution stated, “Louis Kokonis has imparted his passion for lifelong learning to his students, many of whom went on to become physicists, engineers, doctors and professors.” Additionally, Mr. Kokonis was featured last year in a CBS News story that highlighted his extensive career and commitment to serving his students and the ACHS school community.

The Louis Kokonis Teaching Legend Scholarship, offered through the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria, honors Kokonis’ work and the family asked for expressions of condolences to be shared through his scholarship. Holy Cow Del Ray’s ‘Burger of the Moment‘ is also ‘The Mr. Kokonis” in honor of the teacher.

Two longtime members of the city’s Budget and Fiscal Affairs Advisory Committee (BFAAC) resigned earlier this month after severely criticizing the leadership of Alexandria City Public Schools Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt during a meeting.

BFAAC Vice Chair Kathy Stenzel resigned on Dec. 14 and Board Member Karen Graf resigned on Dec. 16 without providing a reason, according to the city. Graf was chair of the Alexandria School Board in 2013 and 2014, and was a School Board member for six years.

The resignations followed an adhoc Dec. 11 subcommittee meeting, where members were planning an upcoming joint session between city and ACPS staff. In that meeting, Stenzel, Graf and member Laurie McNamara said that Kay-Wyatt is “closed off,” and questioned her leadership style and how effectively ACPS staff work with city staff.

“I was very disappointed when they put her up as superintendent,” said Stenzel, who was on the committee since 2019. ” I think she runs a pretty closed book over at schools. I think it trickles down onto staff, on their comfort with being open on what they’re working on.”

Kay-Wyatt was hired as superintendent in May, after spending nearly a year as interim-superintendent. She was initially hired as the ACPS human resources director in 2021. She took over a post-pandemic school system that was heavily criticized for its poor collaboration with the city, increased safety concerns, teacher and staff retention, as well as learning loss and underperforming standardized test scores.

Kay-Wyatt declined to comment on the subcommittee meeting to ALXnow.

Graf accused Kay-Wyatt of micromanaging communications staff, and said that she was “stunned” last month when she and ACPS Chief Financial Officer Dominic Turner joined City Council’s annual budget retreat on Zoom instead of in person. In that meeting, Kay-Wyatt unveiled the school system’s priorities over the next fiscal year, with one of them being improved collaboration between ACPS and the city.

“I was stunned,” Graf said. “I guess I would be pissed if I was Council, too, because our (School) Board’s used to show up en masse. Definitely all of us were there because we want to show force; that we’re here. We believe in what we’re telling you about the school system.”

In that Nov. 4 meeting, Kay-Wyatt said that her priorities include building partnerships and collaborations with the city.

“We are truly working on building a collaborative energy and a collaborative spirit and relationship with the city moving forward,” Kay-Wyatt said.

McNamara said that criticism levied against Kay-Wyatt is unfair “in a way,” but that ACPS has been tone-deaf by rebranding itself with a new logo while struggling under an avalanche of criticism due to teacher vacancies and collective bargaining issues. She said that the social media comments on the logo change exemplify the issues many see with Kay-Wyatt.

“It is just the essence of tone deafness in this environment,” McNamara said.

Stenzel, Graf and McNamara did not respond to requests for comment.

The next BFAAC meeting is Jan. 16.

It’s the end of an era for Alexandria City High School’s drama program. After 20 years directing and producing dozens of theatrical performances, the partnership between co-teachers Hope Bachman and Leslie Jones will come to a close at the end of this school year.

Known informally as “Bach and Jones” to students, parents and staff, the pair were honored in a gala at ACHS last week. Bachman says that deciding to partner with Jones was one of the best decisions she ever made.

“Partnering up with Leslie was the second smartest decision of my life, with the first smartest being my marriage,” Bachman said.

Bachman is a 1998 graduate of Alexandria City High School (back when it was named T.C. Williams High School), and was hired in 2003 after she graduated from the University of Mary Washington. When hired to replace a retiring drama teacher, she was also put in charge of the drama program’s extracurricular activities.

“I was a brand new green baby teacher,” Bachman said. “I was drowning my first year. First year teaching is hard for everybody, but I had all the responsibilities of a first year teacher plus this entire program of afterschool things, which is incredibly time consuming to run.”

Jones, at that point, had been working at the school for eight years as an English teacher and cheerleading coach, and felt that she’d been passed over. It ended up taking a full year for the pair to come together, with Bachman swallowing her pride by asking Jones for help.

Jones said that once they started working together on the fall and spring productions that their relationship was no longer competitive.

“The nature of theater is collaborative,” Jones said. “At the end of the day, it’s about the production and about the product… because all along we want to teach our kids how to be good theater people, period.”

The pair say a secret to their success has been presenting a unified front.

“It’s a sisterhood,” Jones said. “Believe me, we have been through it all. We don’t always agree. Who does? But we work it out. We always have a mantra between the two of us — ‘Hey, we’ll duke it out behind closed doors and then when we walk out the door we’re a united front.”

ACHS Executive Principal Alexander Duncan III thanked the duo for their work.

“How many teachers can say they regularly bring an auditorium full of people to their feet, either in tears or cheers, as well as having affected the lives and aspirations of countless students?” Duncan said. “We are so appreciative of the unwavering commitment that Leslie Jones and Hope Bachman have shown in their two decades of service to Alexandria City High School students and our school community.”

After a 33-year career teaching, Jones said she’s looking forward to retiring. She and Bachman are now prepping, their final work together, the 2024 spring musical Bring It On.

“This is our swan song,” Jones said. “Once the final curtain (falls) and we’re at the cast party, we’ll be sobbing.”

Bachman said someone will have to step in to help fill Jones’ shoes.

“Just just like Leslie and I had to at the beginning, I will have to learn her successor’s strengths and weaknesses,” Bachman said. “And that person will have to learn mine, and we’ll figure we’ll figure it out as we go.”

Alexandria City Public Schools has unveiled two new logos, both of which are getting skewered by parents on social media.

ACPS is asking students, families and staff to weigh in on the two options for “consideration in the superintendent’s final recommendation” by Dec. 18. Last year’s effort to redesign the logo were denied 7-2 by the School Board.

“The two logo options were created to represent the mission, vision and core values of our diverse ACPS community in an updated design reflective of ACPS’ Strategic Plan goals, including an equitable education for all here in our beautiful City of Alexandria,” ACPS said.

The first option depicts the George Washington Masonic National Memorial, which was initially designed to resemble the lighthouse in ancient Alexandria, Egypt.

“The design also incorporates the water that surrounds Alexandria and translates into a pencil to symbolize learning at the tip of the shield,” ACPS said.

The second option combines a school house with a person, with shaded pieces coming together to form the whole student, according to ACPS.

No ACPS staff or School Board Members commented online, however School Board District A Candidate Gina Baum said online that she couldn’t elaborate on the designs.

“I can’t – they both suck,” Baum wrote on Facebook.

As of Monday morning, the ACPS Facebook post on the logos had more than 80 comments, most of which were negative. Many online commenters wrote that the logos represent misplaced priorities by a school system experiencing a staffing crisis.

“Gosh I’m so glad we are focusing energy on a new logo when we don’t have teachers for core classes,” wrote one commenter. “Read the room, ACPS.”

We are redesigning the ACPS logo and invite you to share your input. The two logo options were created to represent the mission, vision and core values of our diverse ACPS community in an updated design reflective of ACPS’ Strategic Plan goals. https://t.co/A1L3KwxeSx

— Alexandria City Public Schools (@ACPSk12) December 9, 2023

Afghan students living in Alexandria will premiere an eight-minute documentary this Friday on their experiences during the 2021 evacuation from Afghanistan.

The eight-minute documentary “Desperate” was produced and directed by Zahra Rahimi, an Alexandria City High School senior who has gained notoriety over the past six months for her work helping her fellow Afghan students learn English. It will premiere this Friday at 6 p.m. at the Del Pepper Community Resource Center (4850 Mark Center Drive).

The documentary chronicles the story of three Afghan girls who fled their home country in the summer of 2021, as well as their challenges arriving in the U.S. Rahimi also tells viewers at the end of the documentary that special immigrant visas need to be processed faster by the U.S. State Department.

“My intention with this documentary is to be a voice for women and girls in Afghanistan who are not here right now,” Rahimi said. “Their rights are taken away from them and they are sitting at home every day. My other intention is for the visas to be processed faster, because there’s thousands of immigrants in other countries such as Pakistan or in refugee camps, still waiting for their visas to come to the United States.”

The film was also produced by Northern Virginia Resettling Afghan Families Together (NOVA RAFT), a nonprofit where Rahimi teaches English to dozens of children. Her work teaching English and founding an Afghan club at ACHS led to her being recognized earlier this year by First Lady Jill Biden as one of 15 “Girls Leading Change” around the country.

NOVA RAFT has helped hundreds of families transition to the U.S.

“Over the past two years, Alexandria has gained several thousand new residents who have made the city home after the tragic fall of their country to the Taliban,” NOVA RAFT founder Dan Altman told ALXnow. “The documentary and the presentation after is also a tribute to all those that incredible people who helped welcome them here; especially their teachers.”