More than 130 families from the MacArthur Elementary School community delivered a letter to the School Board this week opposing redistricting changes heading to the School Board for a final decision next month.
Keep Students Together, a new group dedicated to the issue, said that the proposals to “split the elementary school community” are speculative and rushed, and will disrupt kids who started their elementary school experiences during the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Wednesday morning (March 19), cheering children honored the people who actually make Alexandria run at Douglas MacArthur Elementary School.
The event honoring essential workers marked the culmination of the fourth annual Alexandria City Essential Workers Appreciation Week.
All arguments aside, Alexandria’s equity standards and economic prospects have been declared sound.
Yesterday, the city announced that S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service reaffirmed Alexandria’s ‘AAA’ bond rating. The city has maintained the designation since 1992, and it equates to a good credit rating for the city to get low-interest rates from bond investors to provide funding for multiple projects.
After years in development, Alexandria leaders and students cut a blue ribbon and toured the rebuilt Douglas MacArthur Elementary School today.
“It feels like I’m floating through the school and marveling at each and every new feature that has been brought from design to full construction,” Principal Penny Hairston said at the ribbon cutting. “The only thing that’s missing are all of our students, and they will be here soon to enjoy this modern and welcoming school building.”
(Updated 8/11) After years in development, City and Alexandria City Public Schools leaders will cut the ribbon of the refurbished Douglas MacArthur Elementary School next Friday (August 18).
The project took three years of planning and two years of construction, and the 154,000-square-foot school at 1101 Janneys Lane will open for the first day of classes on August 21.
A water main break has shut down three Alexandria schools today.
Douglas MacArthur (4633 Taney Avenue), James K. Polk (5000 Polk Avenue) and Patrick Henry Elementary (4643 Taney Avenue) Schools have been closed, according to Alexandria City Public Schools.
Earlier this month, Alexandria City High School senior Abdelraman Aboud Abdelsadig received life-changing news. After submitting all his paperwork and waiting a month, Abdelsadi was awarded the competitive QuestBridge Scholarship to attend Colby College in Maine.
The scholarship is worth about $300,000, and Abdelsadig found out about the award at school on Dec. 1.
(Updated 12:10 p.m.) Douglas MacArthur Elementary School has been closed for today at least as crews work to clean water damage in the building.
The school, currently located in the former Patrick Henry facility on 4633 Taney Avenue, has been closed today from water damage and it’s currently unclear when the school will reopen.
The Alexandria City Council on Tuesday (June 22) will consider accepting the transfer of ownership of two residential properties that were acquired as part of the Douglas MacArthur Elementary School modernization project.
The two residential parcels on the western portion of the property are located at 1201 and 1203 Janney’s Lane. The parcels, which were approved by the School Board on June 3, include a single family home and an undeveloped parcel that add together to give Alexandria City Public Schools an additional 24,661 square feet of wiggle room.
Demolition complete at Douglas MacArthur Elementary School — “It’s official, the Douglas MacArthur Elementary School of old is now fully demolished, and we are on our way to a new building, opening January 2023! Watch the construction on the project website from Skanska: https://bit.ly/3bXgncs” [Facebook]
ACPS in early stages of developing safety plan without school resource officers — “Alexandria is not alone in re-evaluating its relationship between police and schools, but it is the only Northern Virginia jurisdiction to remove SROs from schools so far.” [Alexandria Living]
It was a busy week in Alexandria. Here are some of the highlights.
Governor Ralph Northam and U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona visited Alexandria this week. Northam stopped by Pacers Running in Old Town, and afterward met with Cardona, Mayor Justin Wilson, National Education Association of the United States President Becky Pringle and Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction James Lane at Ferdinand T. Day Elementary School. Cardona was at the school as part of his “Help is Here” school reopening tour.
