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.”
Last year marked the first time in 14 years that ACPS saw an enrollment decrease, and with schools headed back to in-person teaching at the end of the month it’s likely that the school system could see enrollment increases in the years to come.
So, where are all the new kids coming from?
What an absorbing week in Alexandria.
Just as the ball gets rolling with reopening and loosened restrictions, the pandemic rears its ugly head. With coronavirus transmission levels climbing, Alexandria is once again recommending that residents go back to wearing face masks indoors.
In a victory for civil rights, the marquee for Alexandria City High School was unveiled Wednesday morning, replacing the old sign bearing the name of T.C. Williams High School.
It’s been nearly a year since the effort to change the name of Virginia’s largest high school began. The new name will go into effect July 1, as will the official renaming of Matthew Maury Elementary School to Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School.
(Updated 6/23) Alexandria greeted a new marquee at the newly named Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School on Tuesday, as the old name of Matthew Maury Elementary will be officially retired on July 1.
Also, the school’s mascot is now the bee and the official school colors are green and blue.
Despite a year of setbacks that included vocal community disagreement with Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, both from the community and within the school system, the School Board rallied around him and approved renewal of his contract.
The new contract renews Hutchings’ role in ACPS through June 30, 2025. During the discussion Thursday night, School Board members repeatedly praised his handling of the Coronavirus pandemic over the last year.
The final graduating class of T.C. Williams High School celebrated their final Titan victory Saturday morning, as 888 graduates were handed diplomas at Chinquapin Park.
Alexandria City Public Schools Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr., said that the students have witnessed a profoundly difficult period, including COVID deaths, social unrest following the murder of George Floyd and the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Last year, T.C. Williams High School senior Nikki Harris broke an exclusive, significant story. Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr. was sending one of his children to an in-person private school at a time when ACPS was heavily in the midst of hybrid learning.
It was a shining example of the kind of independent, investigative journalism at Theogony, the high school’s student newspaper.
The day has finally come for Douglas MacArthur Elementary School.
On Monday, members of the community and Alexandria City Public Schools leadership watched as a demolition crew started tearing down the World War II-era building.
While Alexandria City Public Schools plans on reducing distancing to three feet in classrooms on April 26, the school system will also reopen to four days a week of in-person instruction for students in the citywide special needs program.
Additionally, Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr. has announced that the VirtualPLUS+ hybrid learning model will come to a close. In its place will be an ACPS “Virtual Academy”.
Alexandria City Public Schools will shift to three-foot distancing in classrooms on Monday, April 26, Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr. told the School Board on Tuesday night.
The change will be implemented five weeks after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed their guidance for classrooms from six to three feet. Between now and April 26, principals will be making adjustments to the change, while keeping the six-foot distancing in place in the cafeteria and during lunch.
