Alexandria City High School

APD: Alleged 2025 sexual assault at Alexandria City High School remains an open investigation

Published September 18, 2026 at 2:45PM | Updated September 18, 2026 at 3:01PM

Alexandria Police at Alexandria City High School’s Minnie Howard Campus (staff photo by James Cullum)

An alleged sexual assault in a bathroom at Alexandria City High School’s Minnie Howard Campus (3775 W. Braddock Road) last year is still an open investigation, according to the Alexandria Police Department.

On the day of the incident — March 15, 2025 — the 15-year-old victim told police that she was pushed against her will by a male student into a unisex bathroom at the school. The victim said she was prevented from escaping and told the suspect to stop several times. An ACHS security officer heard them inside the bathroom and intervened, according to a recently unsealed search warrant affidavit.

News

ACHS Minnie Howard athletic field named after former Mayor Kerry Donley

By James Cullum

Published September 2, 2026 at 1:45PM

The Kerry J. Donley Athletic Field Complex was named at the Alexandria City High School Minnie Howard Campus (staff photo by James Cullum)

Current and former city leaders met Tuesday (Sept. 1) to officially name the athletic field complex after former Mayor Kerry Donley.

Donley died unexpectedly in 2022 at the age of 66. He was on City Council for 18 years, and was mayor from 1996 to 2003. After a two-year stint as the chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia, he was hired as the athletic director at ACHS, a position he held from 2005 to 2008.

News

Post-game fights cleared by police following Alexandria City High School football win

By James Cullum

Published August 31, 2026 at 3:45PM

The ACHS Titans defeated the Lake Braddock Bruins at home 21-7 on Aug. 28, 2026 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria City High School opened its football season with a 21-7 win at home against the Lake Braddock Bruins.

After the game, a number of fights were also reported on the police scanner outside the school and in the parking lot of the nearby Bradlee Shopping Center. The Alexandria Police Department said that its officers and Alexandria City Public Schools administrators were able to work together to safely disperse crowds from the area, and that there were no injuries or arrests.

Around Town

Titan football, Around the World Cultural Food Festival lead Alexandria’s weekend events

By Emily Leayman

Published August 28, 2026 at 2:45PM

The 2025 Around the World Cultural Food Festival was held at Oronoco Bay Park on Aug. 23. (Staff photo by Ryan Belmore)

It’s the final weekend of August, and there’s still summer fun happening even after the kids went back to school.

The Around the World Cultural Food Festival will be the biggest event of the weekend, bringing visitors to Alexandria’s Oronoco Bay Park for food, performances and vendors. Other notable events include the annual remembrance event for lynching victim Benjamin Thomas and the Alexandria City High School Titans’ first home football game of the season.

News

ACPS receives $240K in donations, including funds for locking phone pouches at ACHS

By James Cullum

Published August 28, 2026 at 1:45PM

The Alexandria School Board at its meeting on Aug. 27, 2026 (staff photo by James Cullum)

The Alexandria City School Board unanimously accepted $240,100 in donations to the city’s school system on Thursday night (Aug. 27).

Along with school supplies and donations for meal debt, the gifts include a $158,000 donation to buy phone pouches with magnetic locks for every student at Alexandria City High School. With more than 4,500 students getting accustomed to a new bell-to-bell phone ban, Principal Michael Burch told ALXnow that the donation will buy enough pouches to last the school for several years.

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Alexandria students begin school year with stricter cell phone rules, new boundaries

By Emily Leayman and James Cullum

Published August 24, 2026 at 11:45AM

Alexandria School Board Chair Christopher Harris shakes hands with a student on the first day of school at Alexandria City High School, Aug. 24, 2026 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria City Public Schools welcomed students back for the first day of school today (Monday) as the district implemented a stricter student cell phone policy and new school boundaries.

More than 15,000 students started school at ACPS, from the incoming kindergarten class who will graduate in 2039, to the seniors graduating next year. Acting Superintendent Grace Taylor, Mayor Alyia Gaskins, School Board Chair Christopher Harris, Alexandria City High School Principal Michael Burch and Police Chief Tarrick McGuire visited classrooms at ACHS’s King Street Campus on the first day.

News

Three ACPS naming ceremonies scheduled for September and October

By Emily Leayman

Published August 20, 2026 at 2:45PM | Updated August 27, 2026 at 4:46PM

The Parker-Gray Stadium Field at Alexandria City High School King Street Campus (via ACPS)

Three Alexandria City Public Schools facilities that the School Board voted to rename will be dedicated in the next two months.

The Alexandria City School Board voted in December 2025 to name Keith Burns Field at Alexandria City High School’s Parker-Gray Memorial Stadium after a 1990 T.C. Williams High School graduate who had an NFL career. The athletic field complex at the high school’s Minnie Howard Campus will be named after the late Alexandria Mayor Kerry Donley, and a media center at Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School will be named after Jean Reid, who taught at various ACPS schools.

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Police and fire presence at ACHS Minnie Howard Campus planned for emergency drill

By Emily Leayman

Published August 10, 2026 at 2:45PM

Alexandria City High School's Minnie Howard Campus (staff photo by James Cullum)

Residents shouldn’t be alarmed when they see an increased police and fire presence at Alexandria City High School’s Minnie Howard Campus later this week.

The Alexandria Police Department, Alexandria City Public Schools and other emergency partners will hold an incident response drill at the campus (3775 W. Braddock Road) Thursday (Aug. 13). Expect police, fire and EMS vehicles and personnel to be in the area between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

News

New ACHS principal says administrators will focus on smartphone ban and attendance

By James Cullum

Published July 15, 2026 at 3:45PM

ACHS Principal Michael Burch talks to students, parents and administrators, July 15, 2026 (staff photo by James Cullum)

With a new principal at the helm, Alexandria City High School administrators will focus their efforts this school year on chronic absenteeism and implementing Virginia’s stricter ban against smartphones and other smart devices in schools.

On Wednesday morning (July 15), new principal Michael Burch told students, parents and administrators that he’s been sending out emails about the “bell-to-bell” phone ban signed into law by Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D).

News

Racial equity fund awards $200K to 29 Alexandria nonprofits and leaders

By James Cullum

Published July 9, 2026 at 2:45PM

Act for Alexandria CEO Heather Peeler (center) at an event celebrating Fund for Racial Equity grantees (via ACT for Alexandria)

ACT for Alexandria’s Fund for Racial Equity has awarded more than $200,000 in grants to 29 local organizations and individuals, the organization announced in a new report.

The nonprofit created the fund in 2020 and established a resident community advisory board to lead grantmaking in 2024. The advisory board led three rounds of grantmaking over the next two years, awarding flexible, unrestricted grants to the organizations and individuals, according to ACT for Alexandria’s A Journey in Hope report.

News

Titans Robotics team members protest move to smaller space at Alexandria City High School

By James Cullum

Published June 19, 2026 at 3:45PM

ACHS rising senior Charlotte Ware asks the School Board for more space for Titan Robotics, April 11, 2026 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Members of Alexandria City High School’s award-winning Titan Robotics team are protesting a decision to move the team to a new, smaller dedicated classroom space at the King Street Campus.

Last September, the award-winning Titan Robotics team was informed they would have to divide their 4,000-square-foot space next to the school gym with a new carpentry program. The move took away an area the team used to test the robot they enter in regional and national competitions. Earlier this month, the team was told by an Alexandria City Public Schools facilities administrator that the carpentry program was expanding and that Titan Robotics would be moved to an unused 1,500-square-foot classroom on the ground floor of the King Street Campus.