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Last year’s Alexandria City High School class had the highest graduation rate and the lowest student dropout rate ever

By James Cullum
The Alexandria City High School marquee (staff photo by James Cullum)

(Updated at 10:40 a.m. Alexandria City High School’s rates increased to their highest levels ever, not the highest in Virginia) Alexandria City High School has a lot more than just a new name to be proud of. This week, the school system announced that its recent graduating class saw the highest on-time graduation rate and the lowest student dropout rate in the school’s history.

“ACPS saw a nine-percentage point increase in the on-time graduation rate, from 82% in 2020 to 91% in 2021, and a nine-percentage point decrease in the overall student dropout rate, from 14% in 2020 to 5% in 2021,” ACPS reported. “The previous highest on-time graduation rate for ACPS was 86% in 2013 and the previous lowest dropout rate was 8% in 2019.”

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School Board to vote on transgender revisions in Alexandria City Public Schools

By James Cullum
The Alexandria City High School marquee (staff photo by James Cullum)

The Alexandria School Board on Thursday (September 23) will vote Thursday on a number of policy and regulatory revisions on the treatment of transgender students.

Among the changes are proposals to not segregate extracurricular activities by gender and allowing students to dress according to their gender identity or gender expression. Student athletes would still, sometimes, be segregated.

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Morning Notes

By James Cullum

Alexandria could receive refugees from Afghanistan — “Currently, it is believed that many of the Afghan evacuees will settle in the U.S., including Alexandria, under Special Immigrant Visas, which are given to Iraqi or Afghan nationals who have been employed by the U.S. Armed Forces as a translator or interpreter, or has been employed by a contractor of the United States government overseas. SIVs are eligible for the same resettlement benefits as refugees for up to eight months after arrival. They arrive with legal permanent resident status and can apply for citizenship after five years.” [City of Alexandria]

Bishop Ireton grad chosen for Visa Black Scholar and Jobs Program — “Luke Pilot, an Alexandria resident who attended Bishop Ireton High School, is one of the 50 students selected for the program. Pilot is attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.” [Patch]

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Parents concerned in opening days as ACPS works on construction projects at Mount Vernon Community School

By James Cullum
Inside Mount Vernon Community School. (staff photo by James Cullum)

It hasn’t been a perfect opening at Mount Vernon Community School, and Alexandria City Public Schools says it’s a work in progress.

The school system says that school bus routes have been fixed — after a few students were put on the wrong buses — and that hot meals have resumed during lunchtime.

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Morning Notes

By James Cullum

Local school systems face bus driver shortages, but say they’re ready to roll — “ACPS recognizes there is a national shortage of school bus drivers, making it challenging to recruit and fill bus driver positions. ACPS has about 90% of our drivers available and 100% of bus monitor positions filled…” [Alexandria Living]

Alexandria recommends cooling centers during heatwave — “The next few days are going to be hot and humid. The City offers several locations as options to those without cooling in their homes, including rec centers and libraries, as well as assistance for adults 60+ and some low-income households. Learn more at alexandriava.gov/122602.” [Twitter]

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$50K fundraiser launched after sewer pipe bursts in Arlandria preschool

By James Cullum

The Child and Family Network Centers was all set up to open preschool to kids in low-income families on September 8, but a recently burst sewer pipe inside their Arlandria/Chirilagua-based classroom has put the program on hold for more than a dozen area children.

The nonprofit is launching a $50,000 fundraiser and is tapping into its reserves to renovate the classroom, which is located in an apartment within the Arlandria-Chirilagua Housing Cooperative. The classroom provides critical child care and education for low-income, immigrant essential workers in the heavily Latino section of Alexandria.

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Evolving COVID-19 decisions loom as Alexandria City Public Schools fully reopen next Tuesday

By James Cullum

With serious and unresolved health-related decisions looming, Alexandria City Public Schools is set to reopen its doors to full-time instruction on Tuesday, August 24.

“I’m looking forward to putting the stressful 18 months behind us,” an ACPS parent told ALXnow. “It’s time to move ahead and get these kids back in school. I know things will look different and we will have some rough patches, but we owe it to the kids to get them back.”

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Morning Notes

By James Cullum
A dog takes the back seat in the Arlandria neighborhood of Alexandria. (staff photo by James Cullum)

School year starts at Samuel W. Tucker Elementary School — “With a little uncertainty and a lot of hope, Alexandria enters a new chapter for its students.” [Zebra]

Brokerage firm KLMB chosen to find tenants for Landmark Mall — “The first phase of the 4.2 million-square-foot mixed-use redevelopment, to be anchored by a 1 million-square-foot Inova Health System hospital, isn’t slated to deliver until mid-2025. But KLNB and the development team, including Foulger-Pratt, Howard Hughes Corp. (NYSE: HHC), and Seritage Growth Properties (NYSE: SRG), have started working on a retail master plan to identify potential anchor tenants — which they hope will then help draw smaller shops and restaurants to the development.” [Washington Business Journal]

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ALXnow’s top stories this week in Alexandria

By James Cullum

What a challenging week in Alexandria. Here’s the rundown.

Alexandria track star Noah Lyles won the bronze medal in the 200 meters at the Tokyo Olympics, garnering congratulations from around the country, including locally by Virginia Governor Ralph Northam and Mayor Justin Wilson. Also this week, Lyles’ mom and brother held a watch party at his alma mater, Alexandria City High School.

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Noah Lyles to race for gold medal in 200 meters at Tokyo Olympics

By James Cullum
A cutout of Noah Lyles with his mother, Keisha, and brother, Josephus, at an Olympic watch party Alexandria City High School on Monday, August 2, 2021. (staff photo by James Cullum)

(Updated 9:30 p.m.) After advancing in two straight preliminary races, Noah Lyles will run for the gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday.

Lyles’s family is staying at a hotel in the area to watch the gold medal match, his mother Keisha Bishop said at a watch party at Alexandria City High School on Monday night.

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