Today, ACPS will be launching a process to redefine the high school experience for our future generations of Alexandria students.
As you are aware, student enrollment at ACPS continues to increase each year. We have reached the point where we need to resolve the capacity issues at the high school level in order to continue to be able to offer a high quality education for every student who walks through our doors.
Rather than simply looking at buildings, space and land acquisitions in isolation, we are using this opportunity to assess the skills that our students will need to be successful in the workforce in the future, and to anticipate the business needs, not just of a global workforce but that of Alexandria, the D.C. metro area and beyond. This project will potentially create programming aligned with those skill sets and workforce needs.
If we do this successfully, we will not only be redefining the high school experience for ACPS, we will create a future workforce with skills that support the diverse needs of Alexandria.
As this realignment has the potential to have a resounding positive impact for the city and not just the high school, we are branding this process “The high School Project: Inspiring a future for Alexandria.”
The initial phase of this The High School Project: Inspiring a Future for Alexandria will include a series of focus groups to create a vision for the future high school experience. Our first focus group will be with students of all. We also look forward to hearing from the business community, colleges and universities, members of school-based and non-school-based groups across Alexandria, and of course, staff. Some principals have already been involved in an initial visioning session.
Between now and November, when the results of the visioning sessions will be presented to the School Board, we will hold community meetings that staff as well as the public are welcome to attend.
There are several ways we will be keeping you informed about the process. Most important, we want your ideas, vision and input through:
- Brown bag sessions at Central Office, T.C. Williams High School and each of the middle schools
- School staff meetings
- Taking three minutes right now to take the staff survey
You can also:
- Come to the School Board meeting on November 8 or watch it live on ACPS-TV
- Connect with us on Facebook or Twitter in English, Spanish Arabic or Amharic
- Follow updates on the web page for The High School Project: Inspiring a Future for Alexandria
We are very excited about the opportunities this project presents and want to thank you in advance for helping us deliver a future for the next generation of Alexandrians.
Dr. Gregory C. Hutchings, Jr.
Superintendent of Schools
