Alexandria City Public Schools

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Remember The Titans: Families of Famed Coaches Want T.C. Williams High School Renamed Boone-Yoast High School

By James Cullum

The families of former football coaches Herman Boone and Bill Yoast want T.C. Williams High School to be renamed Boone-Yoast High School.

T.C. Williams High School is known around the world for the 2000 movie Remember the Titans, which focused on its 1971 state championship-winning varsity football team that found greatness by working through racial adversity. Coach Boone and his assistant coach Yoast remained best friends throughout their lives and continued coaching and teaching at T.C. for decades.

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School Board to Vote on Amended Memorandum of Understanding with Alexandria Police Department

By James Cullum
George Washington Middle School (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

The Alexandria School Board is set to vote on Thursday (October 29) on a revised memorandum of understanding with the Alexandria Police Department to provide school resource officers in the city’s public schools.

Among the changes are definitions of student “contact” with a police officer, since any contact with a student must be reported to ACPS. That includes:

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ACPS Survey Asks if T.C. Williams High School and Matthew Maury Elementary School Need Name Changes

By James Cullum

The deadline is 11:59 p.m. next Wednesday (October 28) for the community to weigh in on a survey on whether Alexandria City Public Schools should change the names of T.C. Williams High School and Matthew Maury Elementary School.

The survey is part of the renaming process for both schools, and the school board will officially vote next month on whether to change the names.

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School Board Shelves Plan to Reopen Schools in 2021, Students with Disabilities Transitioning Back Next Month

By James Cullum

Alexandria City Public Schools are not likely to fully reopen until there is a vaccine for the coronavirus, Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr. told CNN on Wednesday. The interview with Jake Tapper was hours before the School Board tabled a proposal to phase in kids from kindergarten to eighth grade in January and February.

“I think having all of our students at one time in our classrooms, it definitely, probably won’t be until a vaccine occurs,” Hutchings told CNN.

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School Board Voting Tonight on Phased Plan to Reopen Alexandria Elementary and Middle Schools

By James Cullum
George Washington Middle School (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

The Alexandria School Board will vote tonight on the Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr.’s phased plan to reopen elementary and middle schools starting next month.

The board will discuss and then vote on the proposal, which was unveiled on October 15. The meeting starts at 7 p.m.

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Morning Notes

By James Cullum

Beyer Says People Will Suffer Without Unemployment Insurance Program Extension — “”We’re making a deeply fundamental mistake not reauthorizing all our unemployment insurance programs. When we take the money away, that’s what’s been propping up consumer spending and the ability of people to get by.” [Twitter]

City Opens Additional Locations for Absentee Voting — “Absentee voting will be available at the Charles Beatley Library (5005 Duke St.) from October 23 through October 31, except Sundays. Absentee voting will also be available at Minnie Howard School (3801 W. Braddock Rd.) and George Washington Middle School (1005 Mt. Vernon Ave.), on Saturdays, October 24 and 31, only.  All three locations will have ballot drop boxes available during voting hours, which vary according to the list below.” [City of Alexandria]

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Superintendent Presents Phased Approach to Reopening Alexandria City Public Schools

By James Cullum
Students learning at home during the COVID-19 shutdown (Photo via ACPS/Facebook)

Alexandria City Public Schools are planning on slowly reopening their doors to students and teachers next month.

On Thursday, Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr. formally unveiled his phased approach to reopening the city’s public school system. Desks will be outfitted with sneeze guards and students and teachers will have to wear face masks and maintain distancing.

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Alexandria Student Called N-Word in Online Forum, and Not By Another Student

By James Cullum

Ashley Sanchez-Viafara, one of the student representatives on the Alexandria School Board, reported that she was called the n-word in an online forum discussing race in Alexandria City Public Schools.

The school system is in the renaming process for T.C. Williams High School and Matthew Maury Elementary School, and the October 7 student forum was the second conversation on where ACPS stands in regard to racial issues.

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Screentime, Childcare Listed as Top Concerns in ACPS VirtualPLUS+ Survey

By James Cullum

It’s been a little more than a month since school started virtually, and thousands of students, teachers and families are divided over the Alexandria City Public Schools’ VirtualPLUS+ program.

On Thursday, the Alexandria School Board will publicly review survey responses filled out by 5,952 students (53% of students grades 3-12), 2,060 teachers (77% of full time employees) and 7,439 families (48%) on their VirtualPLUS+ experience.

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