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.”
The Alexandria City Titans overcame a sluggish start to defeat C.G. Woodson 23-21 on Friday night, rallying from a 14-7 first-quarter deficit to remain unbeaten.
Woodson jumped out early with 14 first-quarter points while Alexandria City managed just one touchdown. The game remained scoreless through the second and third quarters.
A student brandished a pocket knife during a classroom argument Thursday at Alexandria City High School’s Minnie Howard Campus, but no one was injured, school officials said.
Teachers quickly separated the students involved in the dispute, and school resource officers responded immediately, Harrell said. The incident occurred in a second-floor classroom shortly before noon, according to radio dispatches.
The Alexandria Police Department is partnering with local organizations to host a back-to-school soccer tournament for local youth on Saturday, Sept. 27.
The tournament will consist of a series of pick-up soccer games for teenagers at Alexandria City High School‘s King Street campus (3330 King Street), providing positive outlets and introducing them to city resources. The free event, presented by APD’s Crime Prevention Unit, the Alexandria Police Foundation, the Alexandria Gang Prevention Community Task Force, Alexandria Juvenile Court Services, the Alexandria Soccer Association, NOVA RAFT, and the Alexandria Sheriff’s Office, will take place from 2 to 6 p.m.
Following Tuesday’s story about DASH hiring policies not prohibiting sex offenders, the transit agency has placed two employees on the Virginia State Police registry on administrative leave to “assess the rigor of our recruitment standards and ensure we meet the highest standards in providing safe, fair, and accessible transit to our community.”
ALXnow looked into DASH’s hiring practices after the Alexandria School Board discussed safety concerns about a proposal to transport Alexandria City High School students on DASH buses starting next school year.
Lance Harrell has a big job, overseeing Alexandria City High School, the largest high school in Virginia.
Harrell says he’s working 10- to 16-hour days, with the longest days being Fridays, when there are football games. “I think the biggest change is just the added hours that I’ve been working,” Harrell told ALXnow in an interview on Wednesday.
Alexandria will add three new school zone speed camera locations this fall, bringing the total number of monitored zones to six as the city works toward its Vision Zero goal of eliminating fatal and severe crashes by 2028.
The new cameras were installed at Alexandria City High School’s King Street campus on King Street between Quaker Lane and Scroggins Road, the school’s Minnie Howard campus on Braddock Road between Marlee Way and Marlboro Drive, and William Ramsay Elementary School on North Beauregard Street between North Morgan Street and Roanoke Avenue.
The Alexandria City High School Titans football team has opened the 2025 season with four consecutive victories, sitting atop the Virginia High School League Division 6A District 4.
The Titans have dominated opponents with their most recent victory coming Sept. 19 in a 71-0 rout of Lewis High School. The performance marked the team’s second shutout of the season and came on the same night the school celebrated the 25th anniversary of the film “Remember the Titans.”
The story of how coach Herman Boone transformed a newly integrated team of Black and white high school athletes into champions is legendary in Alexandria.
On Friday, 40 of the remaining real-life heroes that the film Remember The Titans is based on, commemorated the movie’s 25th anniversary. The 2000 film recounts the story of the 13-0, 1971 state champion T.C. Williams High School football team (now Alexandria City High School). The players in the newly integrated school overcame racial adversity to become state champs.
It’s been quite a week, Alexandria. Here’s a look at our top stories.
Our most-read story this week is on Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley sermonizing against President Trump’s decision to fly flags at half-staff across the country for slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Speaking at the historic Alfred Street Baptist Church, Wesley condemned the Sept. 10 assassination, but said he should not be expected to honor Kirk, who he called an “unapologetic racist who spent all of his life sowing seeds of division and hate into this land.”
