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.
Alexandria City Public Schools will soon make public an enrollment dashboard revealing the number of students and teachers at their schools on a monthly basis.
ACPS must submit a monthly student membership report to the Virginia Department of Education, and that information will be made public in the new dashboard next month, according to the school system.
Alexandria City Public Schools is offering bonuses for a number of “hard-to-fill positions,” like bus drivers and math, science and special education teachers.
The employees who already work in these jobs will all get a $1,000 retention bonus in their paychecks next month, according to ACPS.
Washington Wizards forward Anthony Gill handed out 200 stuffed backpacks to fourth and fifth graders at Samuel W. Tucker Elementary School in Alexandria’s West End this afternoon.
The event is one of many from team owner Monumental Sports and Entertainment was part of a regional giveaway at schools in D.C., Maryland and Virginia. In Alexandria, the students at Tucker also received a free book from MahoganyBooks, a Wizards t-shirt, and an autographed card.
In what’s become an annual tradition at this point, the first week of school at Alexandria City High School was disrupted with a fire alarm.
Students were evacuated from the school a little after 2 p.m. today (Thursday). Students returned to the school less than 30 minutes later as the Alexandria Fire Department confirmed there was no danger.
An Alexandria middle school got a boost from the United Way of the National Capital Area with the donation of backpacks and school supplies.
Francis C. Hammond Middle School (4646 Seminary Road) joined six other Title I schools in receiving the backpacks, which were filled with grade-appropriate school supplies.
Alexandria’s Christian Tabash is rowing with Team USA in the upcoming Paris Olympics, and says that the games are the culmination of a lifelong dream.
Tabash has been training in Italy with his team, and stopped to talk for a few minutes with ALXnow. He’s lived in Alexandria with his family since 2017, and rowed four years on the varsity team of Gonzaga College High School in D.C., and then for four years at Harvard University where he earned a degree in government. He was selected to be on Team USA’s men’s eight rowing team at the end of March.
Alexandria City Public Schools will give “thoughtful consideration and review” in upcoming meetings on Governor Glenn Youngkin’s recent executive order banning cell phones in public schools.
Youngkin issued Executive Order 33 earlier this week, directing the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) to create guidance for school systems across the state to “adopt local policies and procedures establishing cell phone-free education.”
The head of school and academic principal at Jefferson-Houston PreK-8 School are returning to work after four months of forced leave after an autistic four-year-old student walked away from the school and was found walking barefoot in the middle of the street near the King St. Metro station.
In a letter this week to Jefferson-Houston parents and staff, head of school John McCain thanked administrators PreeAnn Johnson and Julia Neufer for “serving as the acting leadership team and providing consistency for our community.”
There’s 138 days until the Nov. 5 election, and there are just enough candidates running for an uncontested School Board election.
There are two vacancies in this election cycle after School Board Members Abdel Elnoubi and Jacinta Greene won their Democratic nominations for City Council on June 18. Additionally, two Board Members are not running for reelection, former Board Chair Meagan Alderton in District C, and Tammy Ignacio in District B.
