Soccer fans in Alexandria are in for a treat, as the Croatian Football Federation (HNS) has announced it will be staying in Alexandria during the FIFA World Cup this summer.
The team’s base camp will be in Alexandria, where players will stay at the AKA Hotel at 625 First Street in Old Town and train at Episcopal High School as they participate in the World Cup. Games will take place across Canada, Mexico and the United States from Jun. 11 through July 19.
Episcopal High School will host two chess-related international events next month, including a student tournament featuring competitors from 47 countries and an education conference examining chess instruction in schools.
The 2025 FIDE World Schools Team Championship will run from August 2 to 7, with 350 student participants competing in the biennial tournament organized by the World Chess Federation. A separate Smart Moves Summit will take place on August 4-5, bringing together educators to discuss the integration of chess in curricula.
Alexandria is set to host Al Ain FC from the United Arab Emirates as an official Team Base Camp for the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™.
According to the FIFA announcement on Tuesday, Al Ain FC will base itself in Alexandria during the group stage, lodging in Alexandria and using Episcopal High School as their training hub. The team is scheduled to play two matches at Audi Field in Washington, D.C., this month.
Episcopal High School’s plan to install 47 light poles between 40 and 100 feet in height got unanimous backing by the City Council on Saturday (May 17).
The private high school at 1200 N. Quaker Lane will serve as a training site for a team participating in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and the school is planning on adding 10 lights to three northern fields for that purpose on the property — the track field, the practice field, and the Hummel Bowl. Neighbors with the Seminary Hill Association, however, told City Council they were under the misapprehension that the scope of the project was limited to just those 10 lights, instead of what was presented to Council — a largely undefined plan allowing the school to erect dozens of light poles of varying heights on its other outdoor athletic fields and courts over the next decade.
Welcome to Friday! Here’s a look back at our most-read stories of the week.
Our top story this week is on Episcopal High School being named a training site for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. To accommodate an international soccer team with a home-away-from-home atmosphere, the private school is asking the city for permission to install field lighting with 47 light poles between 40-to-100-feet-tall.
Episcopal High School is about to get a lot brighter.
The private high school at 1200 N. Quaker Lane has been approved to serve as a training site for a team participating in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and now the school wants to install field lighting with 47 light poles between 40-to-100-feet-tall.
There were no injuries after a building was damaged and a golf cart was destroyed by fire at Episcopal High School on Wednesday morning.
The fire was reported at around 9:30 a.m. and extinguished about 10 minutes later, according to dispatch reports. No one was injured.
(Updated 8 p.m.) Alexandria Police are investigating alleged drug possession and distribution at Episcopal High School, one of the most exclusive private boarding schools in the country.
On Dec. 8, police responded to a narcotics complaint at Episcopal and met with the school’s attorney, according to a search warrant affidavit. The officer was told that a week prior, on Dec. 1, two students were found to be allegedly under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
