By Kassidy McDonald | kmcdonald@alextimes.com
Alexandria City Public Schools welcomed back students on Aug. 22. Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Ed.D., who will end his tenure on Aug. 31, sent out a welcome back release to ACPS students and parents.
In the release, Hutchings noted some important changes ACPS has made for the upcoming school year. The first change was designing a new website, which according to the release “provides easy access to all the information families may need and is also stylistically aligned with our e-newsletters, including ACPS Express.”
The other major change made by ACPS is the implementation of the new app ParentSquare, which will allow for better communication between parents, the division and school teachers all in one place. ParentSquare also features an instant two-way translation feature, according to the release.
The release also mentions that “security and Wi-Fi upgrades have also been made with an emphasis on well-being, school safety and security throughout the division.”
ACPS will continue to offer weekly onsite voluntary testing for COVID-19. COVID-19 tests will come at no cost to ACPS families wanting to register their students for testing.
As Hutchings steps down, he will be replaced by Melanie Kay-Wyatt, Ed.D. on Sept 1, who is currently ACPS’ chief of human resources. Kay-Wyatt will serve as interim superintendent until a permanent replacement is found.
-kmcdonald@alextimes.com
