Sunday, May 5, 2013
Public art will be displayed outside the Russell Road elementary school through May 15.
Maury Elementary School fifth-graders painted more than 50 panels now on display along Russell Road and W. Masonic View Avenue inspired by the quilts of the Underground Railroad. The public art display is timed to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. The work honors the courage of slaves who risked their lives to escape to freedom. Students studied the Underground Railroad quilt codes in Bettye Stroud’s “The Patchwork Path: A Quilt Map to Freedom.” Students learned the meaning of different patterns—which offered warnings and hints along the way—before selecting a pattern that was meaningful to them. The paintings will hang through May 15. The paint used was purchased through a grant from the Maury PTA.
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Matthew Maury Elementary School
600 Russell Rd, Alexandria, VA
/articles/maury-fifth-graders-honor-underground-railroad
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Alexandria City Public Schools offers a full-day program to four year olds who have not had a formal preschool experience.
Alexandria City Public Schools offers a pre-kindergarten, full-day program to four year olds who have not yet been in formal preschool setting. Children who are four years old by Sept. 30, 2013, and whose families are income eligible through the Campagna Center may participate in the program. Certified teachers with degrees in early childhood education provide appropriate instruction, according to the ACPS daily digest. The program takes place from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, Sept. 5, 2013 through June 18, 2014 at Jefferson-Houston School and John Adams, Patrick Henry and William Ramsay elementary schools. Register through the Campagna Center, 418 S. Washington St. Call Leslie, 703-549-0111 x107 to schedule an appointment. …
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Actor Mark Wahlberg talks to T.C. Williams students about the importance of hard work and finding a passion in life.
Actor Mark Wahlberg visited T.C. Williams High School on Wednesday morning for an assembly presented by Get Schooled, a nonprofit that aims to engage high school students in an effort to improve graduation rates and empower more students to achieve in college. Slouched in a chair wearing a Los Angeles Clippers T-shirt and blue jeans, Wahlberg, whose new film “Pain and Gain” hits theaters on Friday, talked to students about how he turned his life around, the importance of working hard in school and pursuing passions. “I had to work really hard to get where I’m at,” Wahlberg said. “And I don’t mind working really hard to try and maintain it. It’s through hard work that I’ve been able to achieve this kind of success.” A high school dropout, …
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T.C. Williams High School
3330 King St, Alexandria, VA
/articles/photo-gallery-mark-wahlberg-visits-t-c-williams-high-school
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Monday, April 22, 2013
The event is part of a cultural exchange program with Yew Chung International School.
Alexandria City Public Schools is hosting 32 7th grade students from across China. The students are visiting from three of the Yew Chung International School campuses as part of a 10-day visit in the Washington, DC area. On Monday, the students will visit Francis Hammond Middle School and George Washington Middle School. During the visit, ACPS and YCIS students will take part in a language exchange, create art and eat lunch together. Interested in signing up for the Old Town Alexandria Patch daily email newsletter? Find out more here. Middle school students who are currently studying Mandarin Chinese will have the opportunity to test their language skills. Alexandria nonprofit Get Out and Give Back arranged the event through a partnership …
Thursday, April 18, 2013
The budget represents a 2.4 percent increase over the prior budget.
The School Board for Alexandria City Public Schools has adopted a fiscal year 2014 combined funds budget of $245 million, a 2.4 percent increase over the prior budget. The newly adopted budget of $244,960,261 includes a 3.3 percent increase in appropriations from the city compared to the last budget cycle. The FY14 approved operating budget is $226 million, a 3.9 percent increase over the FY13 final operating budget. The city’s public school system continues on an upward trajectory in enrollment, which in 2014 is expected to top 13,700 students – an increase of 593 students over current enrollment. The combined budget includes the operating budget along with $11.4 million in grants and special projects and approximately $7 million for …
Monday, April 8, 2013
Gregory Hutchings has accepted a job as superintendent of Shaker Heights Schools.
Alexandria City Public Schools official Gregory Hutchings has taken a superintendent job in Ohio. Hutchings, director of pre K-12 programs for ACPS, will be the next superintendent for Shaker Heights Schools in Shaker Heights, Ohio. "It is truly an honor and privelege to be selected as a superintendent of the Shaker Heights school district," Hutchings said in a statement. "I value the time and experiences I have had in Alexandria City Public Schools and look forward to utilizing much of that in my new role." In his position at ACPS, Hutchings had oversight of middle schools, the division's candidacy for the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme, the talented and gifted program and adult education. For the quickest updates, …
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Gov. Bob McDonnell signs legislation creating the Opportunity Educational Institution designed to aid the state's chronically failing schools.
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell officially will allow the state to intervene in its chronically failing schools, such as Jefferson-Houston School in Alexandria. Virginia will establish a statewide Opportunity Educational Institution Board on July 1. Starting in the 2014-15 school year, the board will begin supervising the turnaround of schools that have been denied accreditation. “This game-changing legislation will ensure all students have the best opportunity to learn,” said a statement from the governor’s office. “If a school is chronically failing the institution will provide much needed intervention.” The legislation, which the governor amended before signing, follows a blueprint that he said has been successful in Tennessee and “clearly …
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Jefferson Houston School
1501 Cameron St, Alexandria, VA
/articles/state-to-intervene-in-jefferson-houston-school
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Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Law enforcement officials, Alexandria schools officials held panel discussion on school safety Tuesday night.
Alexandria City Public Schools has made changes in safety precautions following the December school massacre in Newtown, Conn., when 20 children and six staff members were killed. “We have done some site safety assessments on several of our schools,” Wendy Brown, assistant director of facilities, occupation health, safety and risk management for ACPS, said during a Tuesday night school safety panel discussion at T.C. Williams High School. “And we have implemented several changes.” Brown said she was not at liberty to publicly discuss all the changes. Panelist and ACPS Superintendent Morton Sherman added, “What I learned years ago, and what I learned again after Newtown, is the best way to secure a school is to have interaction, make sure …
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Crystal Vanison, the education committee chair of the Alexandria chapter of the NAACP, thanks attendees of a March 12 forum with ACPS Superintendent Morton Sherman and others.
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Tuesday, March 19
To the editor, On behalf of the Alexandria Chapter of the NAACP, we would like to thank everyone that attended the question-and-answer session with ACPS Superintendent Morton Sherman on March 12. Your questions and ours show that there is much work to be done. As stated during the forum, the NAACP strives to ensure that all students have access to an equal and high-quality public education by eliminating education-related racial and ethnic disparities in our public schools. As the education committee chair and Alexandria Branch as a whole, we plan to become more active in the community to ensure that our mission is not in vain. Whether it is a PTA or School Board meeting, City Council hearing or wherever we need to be, we plan to be …
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Alexandria City Public Schools Superintendent Morton Sherman along with the Alexandria Police Department and others discussed issues surrounding the arrest of a 10-year-old who brought a toy gun on a bus.
The Alexandria City Public School system acted appropriately with the information it had at the time when it heard a 10-year-old boy may have brought a gun onto a school bus, Superintendent Morton Sherman said. Speaking at a Tuesday evening event hosted by the Alexandria branch of the NAACP, which criticized the arrest of the Douglas MacArthur Elementary School student, Sherman said he believed a referral should have been made to the Alexandria Police Department regarding the incident. • See: NAACP Criticizes Arrest of MacArthur Student for Toy Gun Incident “I’m not sure from the school point of view that we acted inappropriately,” he told the audience sitting in the bleachers of the Charles Houston Recreation Center gymnasium. Sherman …
Martha shelton
9:44 pm on Sunday, May 5, 2013
Really, really beautiful to see this art displayed outdoors at Maury Elementary while driving down Russell Rd. Bravo Luisa Tio- you make us Valley Drivers proud! more ›