Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr. has one request for the community at large: Lay off the email campaigns.
Rather than individual emails with a question or a comment, Hutchings said his office and others in ACPS staff have been bombarded recently with copy-and-pasted emails. It’s become enough of an issue that Hutchings said at a School Board work session last week that the level of crowding in school staff emails has sometimes caused issues with missed communications.
What a busy week in Alexandria. Here’s the rundown.
Alexandria City Public Schools reopened their doors to full-time in-person instruction on Tuesday, and there have been a few hiccups. On Friday, we published a video taken of a brawl inside Alexandria City High School, and a teenager was hit by a car while walking home from school in Del Ray on Thursday.
A 13-year-old boy is fine after being hit by a car while crossing the street in Del Ray on Thursday afternoon, August 26.
The boy was walking home from George Washington Middle School when he was struck. He was transported to the hospital, and has since been cleared, police told ALXnow. The driver stayed at the scene and was not charged with anything.
A video has surfaced of a brawl Thursday (August 26) in the cafeteria of Alexandria City High School (ACHS). While the police weren’t called, it was one of two fights broken up that day, according to sources.
Standards of Learning Test participation drops in Alexandria — “At ACPS, 60 percent of eligible students participated in the spring 2021 SOL tests. In past years, the school division had participation above 98 percent. The SOL pass rates for ACPS for all participating students were 57 percent for reading, 82 percent for writing, 44 percent for history and social science, 39 percent for mathematics, and 43 percent for science.” [Patch]
Fire Department trains at The Birchmere — “Recently, AFD conducted a multi-company drill at the Birchmere on Mount Vernon Avenue. Regular training, communication, and familiarization with their coverage areas keeps our first responders well prepared to respond during emergency situations in the City.” [Facebook]
The last three years on the Alexandria School Board have been marked by a pandemic, social strife and a soured relationship with the City Council, but Michelle Rief is still proud of it.
“I’m running for School Board because I care deeply about our public schools,” Rief told ALXnow. “It would be an honor to serve in the leadership capacity on the School Board.”
Local school systems face bus driver shortages, but say they’re ready to roll — “ACPS recognizes there is a national shortage of school bus drivers, making it challenging to recruit and fill bus driver positions. ACPS has about 90% of our drivers available and 100% of bus monitor positions filled…” [Alexandria Living]
Alexandria recommends cooling centers during heatwave — “The next few days are going to be hot and humid. The City offers several locations as options to those without cooling in their homes, including rec centers and libraries, as well as assistance for adults 60+ and some low-income households. Learn more at alexandriava.gov/122602.” [Twitter]
Beside the masks and the news crews flocking around the hallways, after more than a year of virtual or hybrid learning, the start of the 2021-2022 school year was strangely normal.
Children at George Washington Middle School clumped together into groups of either friends or convenient strangers headed to the same destinations. Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, School Board Chair Meagan Alderton, and Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) staff greeted students as they came into the building.
What a week in Alexandria.
Public uproar over Sunday’s flooding spilled out throughout this week, which continued to be threatened by near-daily flash flood advisories from the National Weather Service.
Last night (Thursday), just four days before the school year is scheduled to start, the Alexandria School Board voted to require staff to either be vaccinated or take weekly COVID-19 tests.
The School Board unanimously voted approval of the vaccination and testing requirements, but with significant changes throughout the meeting over when staff would be required to submit their proof of vaccination.
With serious and unresolved health-related decisions looming, Alexandria City Public Schools is set to reopen its doors to full-time instruction on Tuesday, August 24.
“I’m looking forward to putting the stressful 18 months behind us,” an ACPS parent told ALXnow. “It’s time to move ahead and get these kids back in school. I know things will look different and we will have some rough patches, but we owe it to the kids to get them back.”
