With the school year winding to a close and students ready to move on to summer or just move on from Alexandria City Public Schools, nearly four dozen staff members are leaving the system for good as well. For many of the retirees, ACPS has been a part of their lives much longer than the soon-to-be graduates have been alive at all.
From Janice Wilson, a nutrition manager at William Ramsay Elementary and 45-year employee of the school district, to Joyce Quinn, a 40-year educator leaving James K. Polk, and Ronald Rucker, a longtime building manager and a Lyles-Crouch institution, the dedication of many retirees is clear.
The following employees will be finishing their careers in Alexandria city schools at the end of the term, according to ACPS, with their years of service provided in parentheses:
Janice Wilson (45), Therese Johnston (43), JoAnne Bates (43), James Wellington (42), Joyce Quinn (40), Carolyn Lewis (39), Julia Kinard (39), Barbara Finney (39), Dennis Cordell (39), John Porter (38), Deborah Calderone (37), Evon Sanders (36), Ronald Rucker (36), Annetta Lawson (36), Lillian Thompson (35), Gloria Murphy (35), Charlene Purdy (34), Robin Blair (34), Janet Utegaard (33), Maureen Luckett (33), Patricia Lewis (33), Karen Rogers 32), Maxine Webb (31), Deborah Francis (31), Musco Boulware (30), Carolyn King (29), John Webb (27), Mary Scruggs (27), Priscilla Douglass (27), Linda Thurston (26), Dena Bost (26), Naomi Rose (23), Betty Shanklin (21), Martha Peterson (19), Randolph Mitchell (19), Jane Lane (18), Christopher Sieger (16), Martha Johnson (16), Saundria Parker-Toney (15), Patricia Farrar (10), Hilari Hinnant (9), Douglas Gurka (8), Mark Burke (6), Barbara Reed (5), John Engelman (5), Michael Romanelli (3).