(Updated at 1:30 p.m.) It could’ve been curtains for all those free prom dresses this year at Alexandria City High School.
With the high school’s annual shindig scheduled for May 18, it was a shock for administrators to learn Monday that UNCUT Youth, the organization responsible for providing free prom dresses to dozens of students, had backed out.
Good Wednesday morning, Alexandria!
🌧️ Today’s weather: Showers are likely mainly before 8am, with mostly cloudy skies and a high near 76. A southwest wind will blow at 5 to 7 mph, and there is a 60% chance of precipitation. New precipitation amounts will be less than a tenth of an inch. On Wednesday night, there is a slight chance of showers before 2am, with mostly cloudy skies and a low around 61. A southeast wind will blow at 3 to 5 mph, with a 20% chance of precipitation.
The City of Alexandria will kick off its 275th Anniversary celebration on Saturday at noon at Waterfront Park. Festivities will include an official proclamation by Mayor Justin Wilson and performances by the City of Alexandria Pipes and Drums and Community Little Big Band. Visitors can also explore historical exhibits and attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the “Buried Ships of Robinson Landing” exhibit at Robinson Landing.
At Windmill Hill Park at 1:45 p.m. on Saturday, Mayor Wilson and the City Council will dedicate the first of 275 trees to be planted across the city.
Alexandria School Board Members went all-in Wednesday night in asking City Council to fund its budget by approving a massive tax increase.
Mayor Justin Wilson told the Board at a budget work session on Wednesday night that its fiscal year 2025 $384.4 million combined funds budget request would result in a historic tax increase. The Board, in turn, said that the funding could stem the school system’s staffing crisis.
A 15-year-old Northeast D.C. boy was arrested Friday and charged with felony murder while armed in last year’s shooting death of Nasrat Ahmad Yar, a former interpreter with U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan, who fled the Taliban in 2021 with his wife and four children and moved to Alexandria.
Yar was working as a Lyft Driver in D.C. on July 3, 2023, when he was shot and killed just at around midnight in the 400 block of 11th Street NE. Video footage near the scene showed four young people running through an alley after the shooting. One of them said, “You killed him,” and another responded, “He was reaching bro.”
The Alexandria School Board approved its fiscal year 2025 $384.4 million combined funds budget request on Thursday night and it is asking City Council for $21 million more than the previous budget. If it goes forward, Mayor Justin Wilson says that the request could mean a reduction in city services.
School Board Members tacked on more than $10 million in additions to Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt’s proposed budget, a move that prompted Board Members Meagan Alderton and Chris Harris to vote in opposition to it.
Cold, wet and exhilarating: Alexandria parent Southerlyn Marino learned so much about her high schooler’s crew-rowing that she wrote a book about it.
Marino’s youngest son Pierce (now 17) started rowing for Gonzaga College High School three years ago, and learning about the sport was a step-by-step, word-of-mouth process for her. Last month, Marino published Crew: A Guide to Rowing for parents who quickly want to get up to speed on the sport and know which side of the boat is starboard.
It’s the end of an era for Alexandria City High School’s drama program. After 20 years directing and producing dozens of theatrical performances, the partnership between co-teachers Hope Bachman and Leslie Jones will come to a close at the end of this school year.
Known informally as “Bach and Jones” to students, parents and staff, the pair were honored in a gala at ACHS last week. Bachman says that deciding to partner with Jones was one of the best decisions she ever made.
Afghan students living in Alexandria will premiere an eight-minute documentary this Friday on their experiences during the 2021 evacuation from Afghanistan.
The eight-minute documentary “Desperate” was produced and directed by Zahra Rahimi, an Alexandria City High School senior who has gained notoriety over the past six months for her work helping her fellow Afghan students learn English. It will premiere this Friday at 6 p.m. at the Del Pepper Community Resource Center (4850 Mark Center Drive).
The Lyceum (201 S. Washington Street) in Old Town will host a free magic show next month.
The show, put on by magicians from Ring 50, will also include a toy drive to benefit the Fund for Alexandria’s Children Holiday Sharing Program, which gets presents for children who might otherwise not get gifts during the holidays.
Alexandria City High School students will conduct a walkout in support of a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas.
ACHS Executive Principal Alexander Duncan III notified parents via email on Wednesday afternoon that Thursday, Nov. 9, is a national day of protest against the conflict, and that school staff have planned for a “peaceful and safe environment for our students.”
