Courtesy of Alexandria City Public Schools
High school is nothing like it was a decade ago when the new T.C. Williams High School welcomed its first students. Built with an eye toward technology and plenty of space for an increasing student population, the school symbolized the future of education in Alexandria.
Fast forward 10 years, and that same building is facing capacity issues and the students are looking for an ever-increasing range of academic and extra-curricular options.
Thursday evening, Alexandria City Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Gregory C. Hutchings, Jr. will propose a Connected High School Network to the School Board that is meant to solve some of the issues facing high schoolers in Alexandria.
The model of a Connected High School Network is one in which different programming will be delivered at various buildings throughout the area. An Early College program, for example, could operate at its own satellite campus.
Alexandria already has some of the pieces in place for this to work, including the Chance for Change Academy and the T.C. Williams Satellite Campus with primarily online learning and scheduling flexibility.
What's Coming Up
In the 2021-2022 school year, ACPS will be starting an ACPS/Northern Virginia Community College program at NOVA’s campus in the West End of Alexandria, giving students a chance at graduating high school with an associate’s degree or related certificate. The arrival of the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus as part of the Amazon HQ2 development could provide additional programming for high schoolers in Alexandria.
“Rather than simply looking at buildings, space and land acquisitions, we are choosing to see this as an opportunity to assess the skills that our students will need to be successful in the future. We want to focus on which programs to offer in order to fulfill those needs in the long-run,” according to the ACPS High School Project website. “If we do this successfully, we will be not only redefining the high school experience for ACPS, but also delivering a direction for Alexandria. Our students are the future; their experiences and skills will ultimately define our city.”
The benefits to students have been proven in other programs across the country – not all students learn in the same way, and offering options that cater to learning styles, interests and life circumstances can help more students graduate from high school on time and with the skills they need to create their own successful future.
In addition, the program would alleviate some of the capacity issues facing Alexandria more quickly than building more new buildings by allowing Alexandria Schools to operate in existing spaces through partnerships or by retrofitting existing buildings. (This school year, a new West End elementary school opened in a converted office building.)
A cost analysis has not been completed yet, but officials say this should be a cost-effective way to deliver innovative high school educational programming while alleviating capacity issues. The Alexandria City Council allocated $15 million for design work in the 2020 fiscal year and another $103 million for construction starting in the 2021 fiscal year.
For more information on this:
Listen to Dr. Hutchings explain in The High School Project Podcast.
Read the ACPS FAQs here on the High School Project.
View the Executive Summary (PDF) provided to the School Board.
