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Isabella Smith/Alexandria Living Magazine
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Isabella Smith/Alexandria Living Magazine
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Isabella Smith/Alexandria Living Magazine
Wednesday morning, Alexandria City celebrated the ribbon cutting of the newly constructed Minnie Howard campus of Alexandria City High School.
The 343,000 square-foot building, stretching across five stories, will offer incoming students with the opportunity to learn and grow in a brand-new LEED certified building. Students will end the year in the old Minnie Howard building next door, and staff and faculty will start moving into the new school soon to prepare for the new school year.
The building is full of common and flexible spaces, windows for natural light and other elements to ensure students are in an environment where they can thrive.
The old Minnie Howard building, which will be demolished, served 850 ACHS students. The new building has the capacity to serve 1,600 students.
“This is the most significant era of school construction in city history,” said Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson.
Alexandria City High School will be piloting an academy model for the 2024-25 school year, which aims to teach and cater to students based on their interests, while making the school experience more intimate.
ACHS will be divided into academies: Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM); Business and Government; Education, Liberal Arts and Human Services; Visual, Performing and Applied Arts; and General Studies.
Minnie Howard will become a vital space for learning and piloting these new academies as state-of-the-art labs, classrooms, common spaces, and a media center will create space for learning.
“This is an opportunity for students to engage in a learning experience that is focused on their interests,” Executive Principal Alexander Duncan III said.
Students will have the opportunity to thrive in all aspects of their lives with two gymnasiums fit for basketball and volleyball, a media center with shelves of novels, an aquatics center, a student fitness center, and a reimagined cafeteria structure.
Students at the Minnie Howard Campus will be able to purchase school lunch from grab and go style stations scattered throughout the school. The building is equipped with student seating on all five floors, where students can enjoy lunch, socialize, and collaborate on work.
Not only will Minnie Howard serve the student population, but it will also become a place for the community to benefit.
The indoor swimming pool will be open to the public outside of school hours. The Minnie Howard Pool will host swim lessons, aquatics classes, and more starting in August. The pool will be available to the public weekdays from 4 to 8:45 p.m. and on weekends from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Minnie Howard also features an Early Childhood Center, a Teen Wellness Center, and a Family Resource Center that will be open to the community.
“Minnie Howard Campus is a landmark facility for all Alexandrians. It will provide a much-needed community space where students, families, and residents can gather together and create new memories,” Wilson said.
This is not all Minnie Howard has in store for the community and students, phase two of the construction of the campus is projected to begin this June. Phase two of the project will include new athletic fields, in addition to new fields at the ACHS King Street campus.
“The opening of Minnie Howard signals that our community is committed to our youth and to the future of this city,” said City Manager James Parajon.
