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Retired Alexandria Sheriff Dana Lawhorne and former Alexandria City High School principal John Porter have been named the grand marshals of the 48th annual Alexandria Turkey Trot.

Lawhorne retired last year after a 43-year career in law enforcement in the city, and Porter was a teacher for Alexandria City Public Schools for more than 20 years and the principal at ACHS (back when it was named T.C. Williams High School) for 22 years.


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Students walked out of classes at Alexandria City High School’s King Street campus this morning to support a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.

Hundreds of students at the school, which has an enrollment of approximately 4,000 students, engaged in a walk-out protest — joining international protests against Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.


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Alexandria City High School students will conduct a walkout in support of a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas.

ACHS Executive Principal Alexander Duncan III notified parents via email on Wednesday afternoon that Thursday, Nov. 9, is a national day of protest against the conflict, and that school staff have planned for a “peaceful and safe environment for our students.”


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Zahra Rahimi spoke no English when she and her family moved from Afghanistan to Alexandria four years ago.

Fast forward to October, when First Lady Jill Biden recognized her at the White House as one of 15 “Girls Leading Change” around the country.


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Update at 1:05 p.m. — Alexandria City High School students will be dismissed early due to the bomb threat. Alexandria Police Department Communications Manager Tracy Walker told ALXnow that police are still searching the high school.

Alexandria City High School is being evacuated due to a bomb threat at the school, the Alexandria Police Department (APD) said.


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(Updated at 8:30 p.m.) A 17-year-old former Alexandria City High School student was sentenced Thursday to five years with the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice for the 2022 murder of 18-year-old Luis Mejia Hernandez in the parking lot of the Bradlee Shopping Center, with one of those years already served.

Ryan Vega was 16 when he fatally stabbed Hernandez during a melee with dozens of ACHS students in the parking lot. In a two-day June bench trial, Judge James C. Clark found Vega guilty of second-degree murder and murder by mob, and said that Vega took advantage of his time behind bars at the Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center by exhibiting good behavior and doing well with school.


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Alexandria City High School senior Mohommed Abir Rhaman was shocked when he was notified last month that he got a perfect score on the Advanced Placement U.S. History Exam.

The notoriously grueling exam takes more than three hours to finish, and Rhaman is one of 13 students in the world who aced it this year, according to Alexandria City Public Schools.


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Alexandria City High School seniors with a 3.25 cumulative grade point average or higher are now eligible for automatic admission to George Mason University.

The deal for the pilot program between Alexandria City Public Schools and GMU was struck earlier this month, and 428 ACHS seniors have since been informed that they have earned a guaranteed admission to the university. The agreement expires in August 2026.


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Police were sent to Alexandria City High School (ACHS) to respond to a possible brawl in the cafeteria.

Additional Alexandria Police Department (APD) units were requested at ACHS for a large fight in the cafeteria, according to scanner traffic.


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Alexandria parents are up in arms over a staffing crisis within Alexandria City Public Schools.

Kelly Organek says that her ninth-grade son at Alexandria City High School’s Minnie Howard campus hasn’t had a geometry teacher since school started in August and that he only recently got a new biology teacher.


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Alexandria City Public Schools saw a 26% increase in student arrests last school year, and a disproportionate number of arrested students are Black males.

There were 58 ACPS students arrested last school year, according to a school safety report to be presented to the School Board on Thursday. There were also 32 weapons-related incidents, 100 students injured, 112 fights/assaults and five reports of sexual misconduct.


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