Student achievement across Alexandria City Public Schools appears to be hovering steady compared to last year, according to new state data, but the district’s numbers still linger behind the commonwealth.
In the 2024-2025 school year, 62% percent of ACPS students passed state reading tests, up one percentage point from the year prior, according to Virginia Department of Education’s accountability system, the School Performance and Support Framework.
It’s been a lively year for the student journalists of Alexandria City High School newspaper Theogony, who were recently named some of the best in the state.
Just months after Theogony staff made national headlines for their enterprising Voices Unbound campaign, the student newspaper was one of five in Virginia to win top-ranking “Trophy Class” honors from the Virginia High School League. Former co-editor James Libresco, who spearheaded the anti-censorship campaign, was also named Virginia’s Student Journalist of the Year.
Alexandria’s former sheriff and a retired principal from Alexandria City High School will be honored during a gala hosted by the Center for Alexandria’s Children this winter.
Retired sheriff Dana Lawhorne will receive CAC’s Champion for Children Award, while longtime educator John Porter will receive the Outstanding Dedication to Children Award at the nonprofit’s benefit concert in February.
Alexandria City High School students can get free and confidential sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing at school this week.
The free “Hallo-Screen” event, which is open to all Alexandria teens, will be conducted over the course of two days at the Teen Wellness Center clinics on both ACHS campuses. The testing schedule is below.
Thousands of superheroes, witches, princesses, and other costumed revelers attended the 29th annual Del Ray Halloween Parade along Mount Vernon Avenue Sunday afternoon.
The grand marshal of the parade was Mount Vernon Community School 5th grader Linci Campos Cifuentes, who rode with her principal along the parade route. The event is one of the best Halloween parades in the country, according to USA Today.
One of the biggest games of the Alexandria City High School varsity football season is around the corner.
The 5-2 Titans will host the 2-5 James W. Robinson Secondary School Rams this Friday (Oct. 24) at the ACHS homecoming game. General admission tickets cost $8 and $6 for ACHS students.
Alexandria police found no explosive devices after conducting a thorough search of Alexandria City High School following a bomb threat Monday morning, according to the department.
The threat was reported while the school was already closed to students in observance of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights. Staff members who were present at the building were sent home as a precautionary measure, police said.
An annual Alexandria City High School alumni fundraiser at Chadwicks (203 Strand Street) on Oct. 22 (Wednesday) will benefit the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria, and will feature some special guests.
Starting at 6 p.m., former ACHS Executive Principal Pete Balas will act as bartender, along with current teachers Andrew Orzel and Matt Zahn. The event, which includes raffles, is a great way to reconnect with former classmates, according to the online event announcement.
Alexandria City High School’s Minnie Howard campus has been featured in i+s (interiors+sources), a national commercial interior design publication, highlighting the facility’s approach to sustainable and inclusive educational environments.
The article, published Tuesday by Chief Content Director Robert Nieminen, showcases the campus redesign by architecture firm Perkins Eastman.
The Alexandria City High School football team couldn’t overcome a second-quarter deficit in a 21-20 home loss to West Potomac on Friday night, ending their perfect start to the season.
The Titans fell to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the Virginia High School League Division 6A District 4 after failing to score in a scoreless fourth quarter.
Alexandria City High School’s King Street campus was placed on “secure the building” status and the ACHS Minnie Howard Campus was placed on “hold” status briefly this afternoon after an anonymous report was issued that someone was outside of the school with a gun, according to a letter sent to parents.
“Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) Safety and Security staff and the Alexandria Police Department (APD) investigated the anonymous external threat reported to the ACPS Anonymous Reporting System that someone was outside of the school with a gun,” ACHS Interim Executive Principal Lance Harrell wrote. “It was determined by APD this was an unsubstantiated threat.”
