Minnie Howard | ALXnow

Parks Department braces for strain on system when Minnie Howard field closes down

Published August 2, 2021 at 3:40PM

Minnie Howard field, via Google Maps

As the city and schools prepare for the process of overhauling Minnie Howard as part of the expanded Alexandria City High School, the Parks Department braces to go two years without access to one of the city’s most well-equipped fields on the school grounds.

At a meeting of the School Board and City Council, Jack Browand, division chief of Parks and Cultural Activities, fielded questions from City Council member John Chapman and Mayor Justin Wilson about how the city will fare without one of the most heavily used fields.

News

Morning Notes

By James Cullum

Published July 29, 2021 at 5:00AM

Man killed in Alexandria part of Fairfax County — “A man was found dead inside an Alexandria apartment building Wednesday night and police said detectives are investigating the death as a homicide. Fairfax County Police Sgt. Tara Gerhard with the Fairfax County Public Affairs Bureau said the shooting was reported just after 7 p.m. in 3100 block of Southgate Drive in Alexandria. Gerhard said a family member found the man with a gunshot wound to the upper body. When first responders arrived on the scene, medics pronounced him dead on the scene.” [WUSA9]

Help name new tunnel boring machine for Alexandria to build cleaner waterways — “Alexandria’s wastewater authority, is seeking the community’s input to name its 250-ton tunnel boring machine (TBM). The TBM, currently being manufactured in Schwanau, Germany, will bore through 100-foot-deep soil to construct the 12-foot-wide, 2-mile-long Waterfront Tunnel — ultimately preventing millions of gallons of combined sewage from polluting the Potomac River, Hooffs Run, and Hunting Creek.” [Zebra]

News

City Council dives into funding swimming pool at Alexandria City High School

By Vernon Miles

Published June 10, 2021 at 3:45PM

Athlete on the T.C. Williams Swim and Dive Team (photo via T.C. Williams High School/Facebook)

Despite the unanimous vote of approval to install a new pool at the Alexandria City High School’s Minnie Howard campus, even the most positive of voices on City Council last night were lukewarm about how they got there.

The Council voted 7-0 in favor of setting aside $12 million in funding, down from $19 million proposed earlier, with Alexandria City Public Schools diverting some funding from a solar panel project.

Opinion

Poll: Do you agree with adding a pool to the city’s high school expansion?

By Vernon Miles

Published May 26, 2021 at 2:30PM

Some officials say that a last-minute proposal to add a pool to the Alexandria City High School’s Minnie Howard campus is long overdue.

While previously dismissed as prohibitively expensive, the total cost for the addition of the pool isn’t clear yet.

News

School Board says swimming pool colocation a form of ‘reparations’ for Alexandria

By Vernon Miles

Published May 25, 2021 at 9:35AM

Athlete on the T.C. Williams Swim and Dive Team (photo via T.C. Williams High School/Facebook)

School Board chair Meagan Alderton is pushing for the last-minute addition of an aquatics facility to the planned Alexandria City High School expansion, noting that the addition would help toward rectifying a longstanding racial disparity.

Alderton said Alexandria is guilty of the same nationwide disparity in swimming proficiency, with lack of access to pools for Black Americans creating disproportionately white aquatics sports teams. It’s a disparity Alderton said the city can start to push back against with a new pool at the Minnie Howard expansion planned as part of the high school overhaul.

News

School Board chooses ‘Pinwheel Concept’ for Minnie Howard Campus

By James Cullum

Published April 12, 2021 at 3:30PM

With little discussion, the Alexandria School Board last Thursday unanimously approved the “Pinwheel” concept at the T.C. Williams High School Minnie Howard campus.

The decision over the High School Project took two-and-a-half years in the making, and the $149.5 million Pinwheel was chosen over two other concepts.

News

School Board hopes for pool at Alexandria high school dampened by budget concerns

By Vernon Miles

Published March 23, 2021 at 2:30PM

Athlete on the T.C. Williams Swim and Dive Team (photo via T.C. Williams High School/Facebook)

A new report on plans to overhaul Alexandria High School’s Minnie Howard campus made a splash as staff said a planned aquatics facility likely won’t make the cut.

In a School Board meeting on March 18, staff reviewed three concepts for what the new school could look like. But while the proposed aquatics facility is included in school designs, staff said it’s ultimately unlikely that ACPS will have the funding necessary to go forward with a pool.

News

ACPS: Community is Generally Opposed to Affordable Housing at T.C. Expansion

By Vernon Miles

Published February 1, 2021 at 4:45PM

ACPS has acknowledged that community feedback has generally opposed putting affordable housing at a new school development.

In a recent joint Alexandria City Public Schools and City Council meeting, ACPS Director of Capital Programs Erika Gulick said that feedback from Alexandria residents indicated that locals were not comfortable with housing, including affordable housing, being co-located at some school developments.

News

Mayor: ‘Nothing is Off the Table’ for Upcoming Budget Cuts and COVID-19 Response

By Vernon Miles

Published April 3, 2020 at 4:30PM

In a candid discussion on Facebook last night (Thursday), Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson outlined some of the largest impacts COVID-19 could have on Alexandria citizens and the city government.

How the outbreak could impact plans for schools, economics, and the health of the community were the top issues in Wilson’s “living room town hall”.

News

ACPS and T.C. Williams Need Less Leadership Turnover, Experts Say

By James Cullum

Published January 9, 2020 at 2:15PM

Continuity of leadership will be crucial to the success of the future expansion of T.C. Williams High School’s connected high school network, according to a panel of national experts who spoke to more than 100 parents, educators and staff on Wednesday night.

The Alexandria City Public Schools system has seen much turnover over the last two decades, with six superintendents over the last 20 years and just as many principals at T.C.

News

T.C., Minnie Howard Campuses Secured After Report of Gunfire Heard Nearby

By ALXnow.com

Published December 13, 2019 at 12:20PM | Updated December 13, 2019 at 1:08PM

Update at 1:05 p.m. — Police are now investigating another report of gunshots heard along Richmond Highway, near Potomac Yard. Nothing has been found so far.

Update at 12:25 p.m. — The secured building status has been lifted, according to ACPS.