News

On-Time Grad Rates Rise at T.C. — “T.C. Williams High School faces challenges with on-time graduation rates despite a few bright spots, according to data released by the Virginia Department of Education Tuesday. The school’s on-time graduation rate for the 2018-2019 school year was 83.5 percent, an improvement from 80.6 percent the year before. By comparison, Virginia overall had 91.5 percent.” [Patch]

Service Boosted on Two DASH Routes — “Waiting for public transportation in any kind of weather isn’t really anyone’s idea of a good time, right? Effective Oct. 13, AT-1 and AT-9 DASH passengers can expect more frequent service and extended hours in the transit schedule.” [Zebra]


News

Car-Free Block of King Street Planned — “Members of Alexandria’s City Council Wednesday night OK’d a proposal by City staff to begin laying the groundwork for a pilot program that will see a part of lower King Street closed to cars on weekends, beginning in April. The pilot project would close the 100 block of King Street to traffic on weekends through October.” [Alexandria Living Magazine, Patch]

For Sale: Historic House With Notorious Past — “The nonprofit organization that owns the site of one of the most notorious slave pens in the nation has put the building and its basement museum up for sale, after struggling for years to pay for the mortgage, property taxes and repairs. Freedom House, a registered National Historic Landmark in Alexandria, Va., is being advertised as an office or residential property priced at $2.1 million.” [Washington Post, WTOP]


News

T.C. Grad Sets Sprinting Record —  “T.C. Williams High School graduate and adidas professional athlete Noah Lyles is your new IAAF World Athletics champion at 200 meters. His winning time in Doha, Qatar, was 19.83 seconds, with a reaction time of 0.168 seconds.” [MileStat]

5G Antenna Applications Streaming In — “#AlexandriaVA received 50 applications for small cell wireless facilities this year. Green dots on this map show the 43 applications that were approved. Ten were in the historic district, and the Board of Architectural Review approved three applications.” [Michael Pope/Twitter]


News

The School Board has shot down a plan to add a second high school in Alexandria and is sticking with — as several members of the audience chanted throughout the night — “One T.C.

After a long debate at its Sept. 26 meeting that dredged up Alexandria’s history of segregation in schools and the ongoing achievement gap, the School Board voted 6-3 in favor of expanding the current high school into a “campus.”