Archive for 'Education'

Superintendent unveils fiscal 2014 budget

Superintendent unveils fiscal 2014 budget

By Melissa Quinn Superintendent Morton Sherman unveiled his $228.5 million fiscal 2014 operating budget last week, a three percent increase over last year that sets dollars aside for school renovations and a slew of additional teaching [...]

Alexandria School board returns teacher to shelter for troubled children

Alexandria School board returns teacher to shelter for troubled children

By Melissa Quinn School board members overwhelmingly voted January 24 to return teacher Michael Casey to a local shelter for at-risk children after his sudden removal last year came under scrutiny. Casey, a special education teacher [...]

Rookie Alexandria city councilors outline goals for the coming months

Rookie Alexandria city councilors outline goals for the coming months

By Melissa Quinn Alexandria’s two rookie city council members took the reins of power Tuesday night, and they have big plans for the coming months. Education and affordable housing issues top City Councilor John Chapman’s to-do [...]

Sequestration worries local lawmakers, economic experts

Sequestration worries local lawmakers, economic experts

By Melissa Quinn While the threat of sequester keeps Washington tied up in knots, experts warn the looming federal spending cuts could have a substantial effect on local cities and counties. Alexandria officials downplayed possible repercussions [...]

Alexandria City Council stares down sequestration threat

Alexandria City Council stares down sequestration threat

By Derrick Perkins The threat of looming cutbacks in federal spending consuming Washington’s elite since the election touched down in Alexandria Tuesday evening. During the budget standoff a little more than a year ago — and [...]

MacArthur Elementary raises big bucks with mere pennies

MacArthur Elementary raises big bucks with mere pennies

Douglas MacArthur Elementary School students and staff raided their piggy banks to come up with 420,000 one-cent pieces for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s annual Pennies for Patients national fundraiser. For the mathematically challenged, that translates [...]

Va. looks to ditch No Child Left Behind

Va. looks to ditch No Child Left Behind

Arguing the No Child Left Behind Act’s increasingly tougher standards mistakenly portray public schools as failing, state education officials have asked for a waiver from the federal law. The decision to apply by the state board [...]

Classrooms or computers? ACPS fields outcry over adult education changes

Classrooms or computers? ACPS fields outcry over adult education changes

A proposed overhaul of the school district’s high school equivalency and English language learner programs have left students and volunteers uneasy, despite repeated assurances from administration officials. Early rumors of the changes sparked a backlash from [...]

Landmark Mall: Macy’s, kebabs and … classrooms?

Landmark Mall: Macy’s, kebabs and … classrooms?

School officials say Landmark Mall may host classrooms as they look at potential sites for satellite high school campuses geared toward students struggling at T.C. Williams. The offshoot campuses are part of Superintendent Morton Sherman’s “flexible [...]

Neighbors fume over school project

Neighbors fume over school project

As school officials move ahead with plans to rebuild the Jefferson-Houston School, jilted neighbors say their concerns about the project have fallen on deaf ears. Despite a series of community meetings stretching back to September — [...]