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.
Alexandria City Public Schools
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.
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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.
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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.
The Alexandria City School Board honored the school system’s 2026 Principal and Teacher of the Year during its meeting last night (Thursday).
This year’s accolades were bestowed to Jeanette Vinson, principal of George Washington Middle School, and Deedra Robinson, an educator at Jefferson-Houston PreK-8 IB School. The School Board celebrated their dedication while recognizing teachers of the year from every public school in Alexandria.
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Alexandria City Council unanimously approved City Manager Jim Parajon’s $979.1 million Fiscal Year 2027 budget with a few changes Wednesday night.
The budget represents a 2.4% increase over the FY2026 budget and maintains the real estate tax rate of $1.135 per $100 of assessed value, although some City Council members expressed caution about a potential tax increase in next year’s budget. Property owners whose assessment values increased could still see higher tax bills under the unchanged rate.
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A public hearing will be held Thursday (April 16) on the revised memorandum of understanding between the Alexandria City School Board and the Alexandria Police Department.
Alexandria City Public Schools is required to have an MOU with the police department due to the presence of school resource officers in schools, and it must be reviewed at least every two years. The proposed agreement would be in effect from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2028.