Alexandria kids with new smart watches won’t be able to wear them when they get back to school from winter break.
The School Board recently approved tightened guidelines on the use of wireless connected personal mobile devices within schools. The Board essentially banned cell phone and tablet use at the beginning of this school year, and the new regulations align more closely with a July executive order from Virginia’s Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
It’s been an interesting workweek in Alexandria, even with Christmas landing on Wednesday this year.
The week was still full of news.
The School Board approved the Alexandria City Public Schools fiscal year 2026-2035 Capital Improvement Budget on Thursday (Dec. 19), and plans currently call for millions in non-capacity projects next year.
The Board voted 8-0 with one abstention in approving Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt’s proposed $346 million CIP budget, which is $75 million (28%) more than what is currently approved by the city.
The Alexandria School Board on Thursday unanimously directed the superintendent to start a naming process for the athletic field complex at Alexandria High School’s Minnie Howard Campus, and to consider naming it in honor of former Mayor Kerry Donley.
The field complex is under construction until summer 2025. It includes a synthetic turf field for lacrosse, field hockey and soccer, as well as basketball and futsol courts, bleachers and a walking path.
Despite mixed community reaction, the Alexandria School Board voted to convert Jefferson-Houston PreK-8 IB School into a middle school and Patrick Henry K-8 School into an elementary school.
Alexandria’s two middle schools are both well over 100% capacity, and as budgeted, the conversion of Jefferson-Houston won’t start for a few years. That means that the strain at George Washington Middle School and Francis C. Hammond Middle School won’t be eased unless the Board takes an immediate action.
Alexandria City High School students will return from winter break to a safe learning environment with “additional supports,” Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt told the School Board Thursday night.
The comments were made in the wake of fights at Alexandria City High School‘s King Street campus on Wednesday that injured a student and knocked out a teacher. Two students were arrested and charged with assault and battery.
It was quite a weekend in Alexandria.
Alexandria’s Scottish Christmas Walk weekend started Friday (Dec. 6), where hundreds attended the decadent annual Taste of Scotland fundraiser for the Campagna Center at The Atrium building in Old Town.
Alexandria City Public Schools is ramping up efforts to make sure its more than 15,000 students getting free education actually live in the city.
The School Board and City Council, on Monday (Nov. 25), received a report from ACPS staff on the plan.
About 80% of Alexandria voters are expected to turn out this Election Day, according to the city’s General Registrar and Director of Elections.
Registrar Angie Turner said that 80% of the city’s 99,369 registered voters are expected to vote.
Update 10/30: Oct. 25 was a teacher work day, the students in the photo above were not in school.
Every day, countless Alexandria City High School students walk between campuses across one of the busiest intersections in the city, and city leaders said Alexandria’s been very lucky no one has been hurt yet.
Alexandria City Public Schools has taken a step forward in crafting school policy around artificial intelligence.
The district formed an “AI Impact team” earlier this summer, taking a proactive approach to determine how AI can be used to the benefit of the schools, a report said.
