After months of discussion and debate, on the evening of April 8, the ACPS school board voted unanimously to give T.C. Williams High School a new name: Alexandria City High School. This name will be effective beginning July 1.
On November 23, 2020, the ACPS school board made the decision to change the name of T.C. Williams High School, named after former superintendent Thomas Chambliss Williams, a staunch segregationist “whose views could not have been more inconsistent with with the vibrant, diverse, and inclusive place we know today,” as stated on ACPS’s “Identity Project” website.
Students, teachers, parents, and other community members were given a chance to suggest new names for Alexandria’s only public high school and then vote on finalists once the list was narrowed down.
The finalists from the public poll were “Alexandria High School” with 34.20% of the vote, “Titan Community High School” with 21.26%, of the vote, and “Ruth Bader Ginsburg High School” with 10.13% of the vote. Superintendent Gregory Hutchings presented the name “Alexandria High School” to the school board for consideration. The school board discussed the possibility of using the name “The City of Alexandria High School” and retaining the initials “T.C.,” but ultimately chose the name “Alexandria City High School” in a final vote.
Hutchings said he was pleased with the new name and then declared “go AC!”
