The test results are in. For the most part, Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) students did better on Standards of Learning (SOL) testing this year compared to the previous school year.
It’s a small but positive sign of progress at a time when the school division sorely needs some good news.
First days back at school are always bumpy, but Alexandria City High School had a particularly rough start with an evacuation first thing in the morning.
Fortunately, the evacuation didn’t last long, but students and staff were outside of the building for around 25 minutes on their first day.
School is back in session, and this year Alexandria City Public Schools wants to make sure kids go to class.
That was the message from outside George Mason Elementary School (2601 Cameron Mills Road) this morning, where Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt and School Board Chair Michelle Rief joined teachers and staff in welcoming back students. Kay-Wyatt said her priorities this year are on improving the welcoming culture within ACPS, academic achievement and absenteeism.
After years in development, Alexandria leaders and students cut a blue ribbon and toured the rebuilt Douglas MacArthur Elementary School today.
“It feels like I’m floating through the school and marveling at each and every new feature that has been brought from design to full construction,” Principal Penny Hairston said at the ribbon cutting. “The only thing that’s missing are all of our students, and they will be here soon to enjoy this modern and welcoming school building.”
Ahead of the start of the new school year, Alexandria City High School (ACHS) Principal Alexander Duncan issued a warning reminder that students are “discouraged” from going to nearby shopping centers during school hours.
The specific shopping center isn’t named, but it’s no secret that the Bradlee Shopping Center has been afflicted with violence in recent years linked to students from the nearby ACHS. There have been multiple shootings and brawls, including one that ended with the murder of 18-year-old Luis Mejia Hernandez in the parking lot of the Bradlee Shopping Center.
(Updated 8/11) After years in development, City and Alexandria City Public Schools leaders will cut the ribbon of the refurbished Douglas MacArthur Elementary School next Friday (August 18).
The project took three years of planning and two years of construction, and the 154,000-square-foot school at 1101 Janneys Lane will open for the first day of classes on August 21.
(Updated 3 p.m.) Alexandria’s teen pregnancy rate is falling, although Hispanic girls are disproportionately high, according to new data presented by the city.
The numbers are on the rise for Hispanic girls, with 22.4 pregnancies for every 1,000 female ages 15 to 17 reported in 2021, according to the Alexandria Campaign on Adolescent Pregnancy (ACAP), part of the Department of Community & Human Services. That’s an 8% increase from the previous year, but still below the 26 pregnancies per 1,000 females reported in 2020.
It’s been a scorching week in Alexandria, punctuated by two major crime events.
Someone was shot multiple times in an alley several blocks east of the Braddock Metro station last Saturday, followed on Monday afternoon by the city’s fifth homicide this year — the fatal shooting of a 29-year-old man on W. Glebe Road in Arlandria.
More than a dozen Alexandria Sheriff’s deputies and police officers played soccer in the blazing heat with about 30 Latino kids yesterday.
It was the last day of the Capital Youth Empowerment Program‘s second annual summer soccer camp at AlexRenew’s Limerick Field. Every Wednesday since June 26, kids who can’t get to the field are picked up by van. Before they play soccer, the kids are given an hour’s worth of the El Camino sexual health program before being let loose on the luscious soccer field.
Alexandria City Public Schools says it will not comply with Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s policies restricting transgender services.
School Board Chair Michelle Rief and Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt informed parents of the school system’s stance on Monday. It’s the second straight year that ACPS has refused the policies, which are updated annually and recommend restricting trans bathroom and pronoun use.
A new principal has been chosen for the Mount Vernon Community School (MVCS) and George Mason Elementary School.
At a School Board meeting last night, Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt announced that Jen Hamilton, the ACPS dual language coordinator, was picked to be the new principal of Alexandria’s largest elementary school.
