What a week it’s been in Alexandria. Here’s our recap of top stories.
ALXnow had its highest single-day visitor count ever on Thursday (June 12), with more than 53,000 views, following a report that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is preparing to deploy tactical units to Northern Virginia and four major cities across the country.
With a years-long renovation breaking ground this summer, the move-out dates have been set for staff at George Mason Elementary School (2601 Cameron Mills Road).
Staff began packing up in early May, according to ACPS, and the main move, a 3.5-mile relocation to the building at 1703 N. Beauregard Street, is scheduled for June 16-20. The newly renovated George Mason Elementary is planned to reopen for students in August 2027.
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.
After coasting through the Planning Commission, plans to modernize George Mason Elementary School are heading to City Council for this Saturday (May 17).
Alexandria City Public Schools is hoping to cut the ribbon on the new two-story building in the summer of 2027. The project will keep the original 1939 building, although ACPS plans to demolish a majority of the existing school and replace it with a two-story structure for a capacity of 670 students and 80 teachers and staff.
Sweeping plans to modernize George Mason Elementary School (2601 Cameron Mills Road) will soon head to the Alexandria Planning Commission.
Alexandria City Public Schools anticipates relocating staff and students three-and-a-half miles away at the end of this school year to swing space 1703 N. Beauregard Street. If the project timeline stays on track, ACPS will cut the ribbon on the new two-story building in the summer of 2027.
The Alexandria School Board approved the “Option A – Open Heart” concept for the modernization of George Mason Elementary School.
While the Board voted 7-2 for Option A, it was a contentious vote that saw two abstentions from Members Jacinta Greene and Abdel Elnoubi, who both said that the Board and ACPS staff did not do their “due diligence” in finding the best options to replace the 85-year-old school. They are also both running for City Council in November.
At a meeting last night (Tuesday), Alexandria City Public Schools outlined the road ahead for modernizing the 85-year-old George Mason Elementary School.
The presentation said the School Board will be selecting a concept design for the school. This concept will determine site placement, building mass and more.
Alexandria’s credit is still good.
On Tuesday, the city announced that S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service reaffirmed its ‘AAA’ bond rating. The move means that Alexandria can get low-interest rates from bond investors to provide funding for expensive capital improvement projects.
Both of Alexandria’s middle schools and its two K-8 schools are overcrowded or approaching capacity, and facing an uptick in enrollment the School Board will soon consider seven models to ease the strain.
On Thursday night, the board will receive a comparative analysis assessing “grade-level reconfigurations” at Patrick Henry K-8 School (4643 Taney Avenue) and Jefferson-Houston PreK-8 IB School (1501 Cameron Street).
Three conceptual designs for George Mason Elementary School will be unveiled Thursday and the School Board will have a little more than a month before endorsing a plan.
School is back in session, and this year Alexandria City Public Schools wants to make sure kids go to class.
That was the message from outside George Mason Elementary School (2601 Cameron Mills Road) this morning, where Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt and School Board Chair Michelle Rief joined teachers and staff in welcoming back students. Kay-Wyatt said her priorities this year are on improving the welcoming culture within ACPS, academic achievement and absenteeism.
