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With school just around the corner, there are a few ways students in need can get a free backpack and school supplies.

First up, this Sunday, two Verizon locations will be handing out backpacks filled with pencils and a pencil case, paper, folders, a ruler and glue starting at 1 p.m., while supplies last, according to a press release from wireless technology investment group The Round Room.


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Alexandria City Public Schools says it will not comply with Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s policies restricting transgender services.

School Board Chair Michelle Rief and Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt informed parents of the school system’s stance on Monday. It’s the second straight year that ACPS has refused the policies, which are updated annually and recommend restricting trans bathroom and pronoun use.


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A new principal has been chosen for the Mount Vernon Community School (MVCS) and George Mason Elementary School.

At a School Board meeting last night, Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt announced that Jen Hamilton, the ACPS dual language coordinator, was picked to be the new principal of Alexandria’s largest elementary school.


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(Updated 7/18) School Board Chair Meagan Alderton was reelected back on Jan. 5, but seven months into a one-year term, the Chair and Vice-Chair positions are up for election again.

Earlier this year, the School Board voted to change the timetable for Board elections to July rather than at the first meeting of the year in January. The new election is scheduled for Thursday, July 20, at 6:30 p.m. at the Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) central office (1340 Braddock Place).


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Alexandria School Board members spoke with leaders from nearby school districts on staggered terms and board sizes and the takeaway was: Alexandria’s School Board is too bloated and too prone to rapid turnover.

Last night, Alexandria’s School Board hosted a panel to discuss potentially staggering Alexandria’s election cycle and adjusting the size of the board. On the panel:


News

One of the biggest changes being considered is a proposal to potentially stagger the election cycle for Alexandria’s School Board.

Currently, the Board’s nine members serve three-year terms representing three different districts and their elections are concurrent with the City Council elections.


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Tonight, residents can meet the two final candidates for the principal position at Mount Vernon Community School (2601 Commonwealth Avenue) on Zoom.

After tonight’s meet-and-greet, the finalists to lead the Del Ray school will interview with Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt on Thursday and the new principal is expected to be hired by the School Board in a special meeting on Thursday, July 20.


News

(Updated 4:20 p.m.) Alexandria’s School Board is meeting tomorrow for a seemingly innocuous budget revision, but city leaders say the truth is the School Board is walking back a potentially illegal decision made without communicating with the City Council.

Like previous work sessions, a joint City Council/School Board meeting became tense as the discussion turned to funding. The fiscal year 2024 combined funds budget for Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) details the revenues and expenditures.


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Longtime Alexandria City Public Schools administrator Alexander Duncan III was formally announced last night as the new executive principal of  Alexandria City High School.

Duncan, the ACHS Minnie Howard Campus administrator, will replace ACHS Executive Principal Beter Balas, who announced his departure last month.


News

Mount Vernon Community School Principal Liza Burrell-Aldana announced her resignation today via email. Burrell-Aldana was named the Washington Post’s 2023 Principal of the Year in April, and her last day is June 30.

Burrell-Aldana, MVCS principal since 2017 and vice principal for three years before that, didn’t specify why she’s leaving, but wrote that she made the announcement with mixed emotions.


News

A longtime ACPS educator and a principal from Chesterfield County Public Schools are the finalists for the executive principal position at Alexandria City High School.

Alexander Duncan III, the Minnie Howard Campus administrator, and Marcia Rice, principal at Meadowbrook High School, answered a variety of questions Monday night in a Zoom meet-and-greet moderated by former ACHS principal John Porter.


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