Alexandria City Public Schools is officially searching for a new superintendent ahead of Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt’s resignation on Oct. 1.
The search process launched Monday (June 1), about two months after Kay-Wyatt submitted her resignation. The Alexandria City School Board has brought on executive search firm Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates to lead the recruitment effort.
Francis C. Hammond Middle School received a donation of 500 new backpacks today, which will be stuffed with school supplies for when students return for the 2026-2027 school year.
United Way National Capital Area and Enterprise Mobility donated the backpacks to the Title I school. United Way’s global headquarters are located in Alexandria.
A candidate for president of the Education Association of Alexandria was informed via Zoom that he was disqualified from the race less than 12 hours before the union’s officer elections, and that there was “not time” to go through a democratic process, according to audio obtained by ALXnow.
On Wednesday night (May 20), ACPS middle school teacher David Paladin-Fernandez was informed of his disqualification from the union president race. All candidates running in the election were on the call. Andrea Hill, chair of the EAA Credentials/Election Committee, told the candidates she had conducted an investigation and that the union’s executive committee had voted to disqualify Paladin-Fernandez.
Alexandria native Claire Constant, captain of the DC Power women’s professional soccer team, is heading to the hall of fame.
The Alexandria City Public Schools Athletic Hall of Fame, that is.
The Alexandria School Board is asking City Council to use emergency funds to help preserve a $350,000 program that supports high-needs students.
In a joint letter to City Council, Chair Michelle Rief said the School Board is navigating difficult choices between staff and programming cuts. The request comes after City Council approved its Fiscal Year 2027 Budget, leaving a $5.6 million gap for the school system’s proposed $12.7 million collective bargaining agreement. Proposed budget cuts to fill the gap include reducing the partnership with Communities In Schools of Northern Virginia (CIS NOVA), which provides 10 bilingual staffers at Alexandria City High School, Francis Hammond Middle School, Jefferson-Houston PreK-8 School and Samuel Tucker, John Adams and William Ramsay Elementary Schools.
The Education Association of Alexandria’s upcoming officer elections were postponed this week due to alleged campaign or election violations, according to the union’s communications to members.
The EAA broadly cited campaign or election violations in a Sunday (May 17) email update to its members on officer elections. Andrea Hill, chair of the EAA Credentials/Election Committee, told members the virtual elections — originally scheduled from Monday (May 18) to Wednesday (May 20) — would be postponed to Thursday (May 21) and Friday (May 22). Hill said an investigation into the allegations had taken place.
The student population in Alexandria City Public Schools is projected to drop steadily over the next decade, driven mainly by residents having less kids.
That’s according to data from the Virginia Department of Health presented to the Joint City Council/School Board Subcommittee’s monthly meeting Monday night (May 18). The number of ACPS students is projected to increase slightly from 15,928 this year to 15,958 in 2027 before dropping to 15,415 by 2036 — a 3.4% decline from 2027.
Two candidates for the open principal position at Alexandria City High School were introduced at an online meeting Thursday (May 14).
The candidates are Michael Burch, the ACHS lead administrator for operations and student support, and Anthony McWright, the executive principal at Denver School of the Arts and president of the Arts Schools Network. The meet-and-greet was moderated by former ACHS principal John Porter, who said Alexandria City Public Schools will conduct the final candidate interview next week before the finalist’s name goes to the School Board for consideration on May 28.
Hundreds of Alexandria City High School seniors are set to graduate next month.
Graduation will be held the morning of Saturday, June 6, at George Mason University’s EagleBank Arena (4400 University Drive) in Fairfax. The processional begins at 8:45 a.m. and the ceremony lasts approximately two hours. This is the second consecutive year that Alexandria City Public Schools will use Tassel, an artificial intelligence company, to provide automated name-reading services.
The Alexandria City School Board unanimously approved an amended memorandum of understanding with the Alexandria Police Department last Thursday (May 7) to provide school resource officers at the city’s high school and two middle schools.
The previous MOU between ACPS and APD, approved in June 2023, was set to expire June 30. The school system continued using the 2023–2025 MOU, which was extended several times while the new agreement was being revised. The updated MOU was approved without discussion and now goes to City Council for approval.
Alexandria City Public Schools staff are decrying the short notice given over an increase to their health insurance premiums, just a day before the month-long open enrollment period.
In an April 30 email, thousands of ACPS staff and retirees were told that health insurance premium rates will increase by 16% for UnitedHealthcare customers and by 8.9% for Kaiser Permanente customers, and that the changes will result in higher employee contributions. Employees who don’t go through the open enrollment process by 11:59 p.m. May 31 will lose their healthcare coverage.
