Heroes, villains and all in-between marched to the Alexandria City High School zombie band at Del Ray’s 30th annual Halloween parade on Sunday.
Thousands turned out for what USA Today has dubbed one of the 10 best Halloween parades in the country. The weather was crisp and cool, about 65 degrees and considerably cooler in the shade.
Alexandria City High School football legend Keith Burns’ name was immortalized last Friday (Oct. 16).
The field at Alexandria City High School’s Parker-Gray Memorial Stadium was renamed in honor of the 1990 graduate. Flanked by city and school leaders, Burns thanked his friends and family and said that he hopes to serve as an example.
In their first year on the field, the undefeated Alexandria City High School Girls Flag Football team is tearing it up.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
