(Updated on April 29) Headsets with microphones, recycling bins and Play Doh were among the items that a George Washington Middle School teacher recently put on her school-wide Amazon wish list.
The teacher went around and asked her colleagues what they needed and put their requests on the list, which was taken down after ALXnow sent questions about it to Alexandria City Public Schools.
Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) is going through what it’s calling a “challenging recruitment year”.
In a memo to the School Board for their meeting on Thursday (Feb. 3), Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr., said ACPS is stepping up the number of career fairs to try and drive up recruitment.
Busy week with big things afoot in Alexandria.
Plans for the GenOn power plant and the redevelopment of Minnie Howard are moving forward through the city review process, with both projects working out the details on how to make them more pedestrian and cyclist-friendly.
Alexandria City Public Schools Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr. is co-authoring a book on educational leadership and will start teaching as an adjunct professor next fall and spring at Georgetown University, according to a memo that was sent to the School Board last week.
Last fall, the Board approved Hutchings’ request to write the book on public school equity with Georgetown University professor Douglas Reed. The Board also approved Hutchings’ request to teach at Howard University and the University of Southern California, although those plans have changed. Hutchings will instead teach at Georgetown University this fall and next spring, and the change is what prompted the Board to reconsider (and unanimously approve) his updated request.
It’s been more than a month after the school resource officers were placed on leave at Alexandria City High School, and police have yet to replace those officers.
The officers were placed on leave shortly before the winter break after a former student alleged having “sexually inappropriate conversations” while she attended ACHS, according to the Washington Post.
Alexandria City Public Schools received 88,000 KN95 face masks for all students and staff last week, not long after newly installed Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order removing face mask mandates in public schools.
Alexandria, along with Arlington and Fairfax County, defied that order and are still requiring students, staff and visitors wear masks indoors. The Alexandria City High School athletic department has also reinstituted mask wearing during practices and competition.
Three years after Alexandria’s School Board voted to stick with one high school, plans are headed to Alexandria’s City Council that could help shed light on what that one high school system looks like.
As a quick refresher: the Minnie Howard campus currently hosts 9th-grade classes but will be expanded to act as a larger satellite campus for Alexandria City High School with a total of 1,600 students.
Alexandria City Public Schools is sticking with its proposed 10.25% salary increase for all employees, and Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr. says that number will not change based on potential guidance from Governor Glenn Youngkin.
“Regardless of what the governor says or does, we have positioned ourselves to continue to increase compensation for our staff,” School Board Chair Meagan Alderton said at a budget retreat last week. “This is the type of proactive intentional work that will, I think, makes us successful to be able to sustain what it is we’re trying to do right now.”
Say farewell to the Fairies of Del Ray–just for now! — “You might have noticed the petite doors and houses and stained glass windows hidden in the crooks of trees and crannies of rocks in the Del Ray neighborhood.” [Zebra]
I-395 Seminary Road ramp conversion OKed by VA board — “The conversion will allow solo riders to use the ramp for a toll and HOV-3 carpoolers to continue using it for free.” [Patch]
In a release to parents and staff put out today (Sunday), Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) said everyone in Alexandria schools will still be required to wear a mask despite an order issued by Gov. Glenn Youngkin to the contrary.
The state executive order came as a result of a back and forth between Virginia Democrats and Republicans over requiring masks in schools. Both Arlington and Fairfax County have issued similar messages to parents and staff.
It’s been a busy week in Alexandria with City Council coming back into session for the first time in 2022.
With a majority of the Council being new, there are fresh names and perspectives stories about city decision-making. Highlights from this week’s City Council meeting included a first look at plans for the city to — kind of — invest in a luxury hotel and bids to develop broadband internet access citywide.
