Despite the information in the news surrounding the search for a coronavirus vaccine, it is hard to pinpoint what is actually happening. There are so many different vaccines and companies that it's hard to figure out where we stand on the route to a vaccine.
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Exclusive: ACPS Superintendent Hutchings Sends Child To Private School Bishop Ireton
Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) Superintendent Dr. Gregory Hutchings has enrolled one of his two children in Bishop Ireton, a private Catholic high school in Alexandria that operates under a hybrid learning model, in contrast to ACPS’s entirely virtual model.
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Should Colleges Go Test Blind?
One morning, days before that fateful Saturday when you have to take the SAT, you get a notification from the College Board through your gmail account. The subject line contains five simple words: “Update Regarding September SAT Registration.” You open the email to learn that your test site has closed and your SAT is cancelled.
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T.C. Community Weighs In On Alternative T.C. Williams Names
In the wake of nationwide protests against racial injustice, community leaders and Alexandria residents have revitalized a two-decades-long effort to change the name of the only public high school in Alexandria. The high school was named after Thomas Chambliss Williams, superintendent of Alexandria’s public schools from the 1930s to the 1960s and known opponent of integration. Through an Instagram poll conducted by Theogony, members of the T.C. community voiced their opinions on alternative names for the school. The people have spoken; out of the 17 who responded, 11 explained why they preferred the name they chose.
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Schools Reopening, Testing And Vaccines: A Conversation With Dr. Stephen Haering
The Alexandria Health Department Director said in an interview that his department holds the influence to stop distribution of a vaccine if it is skeptical of the vaccine’s safety. Nikki Harris Nikki Harris spoke with Dr. Stephen Haering, head of the Alexandria Health Department (AHD), on Saturday about the circumstances Alexandria could reopen schools under, vaccine politics and distribution, the AHD’s relationship with the CDC and more. Alexandria had 3,804 confirmed cases and 69 COVID-related deaths the day this interview took place. As of publication, Alexandria has 3,859 cases and, still, 69 COVID-related deaths. This conversation has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity. Harris: I wanted to start with…
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Masks & Social Distancing: The Equation For Effective Prevention Of COVID-19
As I scroll through Instagram these days, I never would have guessed that our world is in a pandemic. And no, it is not because my feed is overtaken with aesthetically edited posts of books and food. It is because so many of my peers appear in pictures with their friends, no masks in sight, the distance between them closer to six millimeters than six feet.
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Education During A Pandemic Discussion
Agenda: Alexandria Debates Virtual Learning Regina Allen Moving into the third week of this school year, many members of the T.C. and Alexandria community are wondering what is happening. Why are some students online and others aren’t? Will we ever go back to school? Agenda: Alexandria is an organization that puts together panels that discuss a wide range of issues that affect the city. The meeting, held virtually on Monday, September 22, was supposed to answer these questions to ease the concerns of students, parents and staff as T.C. moves forward with virtual learning. Shad Thomas, a board member of Agenda: Alexandria, moderated the event. The rest of the panel…
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Youth React To Trump Boat Parade In Old Town
Only three hours after the end of the Trump boat parade on the Potomac River, the colorful, historic streets of Old Town are already again packed with diverse, lively faces. Vendors sit in tents, their clothes, paintings, and prints advertised for sale telling multicultural narratives. The sun reflects off of the upstairs windows of the two-story brick buildings which adorn signs proclaiming “Black Lives Matter” and American flags from their windows. The majority of people are wearing masks, and with some exceptions, maintaining social distancing as much as feasible. A few eat at the recently opened outdoor seating areas of local restaurants, pulling their masks beneath their noses and chatting…
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Being The “New Kid” In 2020
Being a new student is always difficult whether you’re only moving over a district, or to a whole new state or country. Showing up that first day somewhere you’ve never been, seeing people you’ve never seen. Feeling lost in a crowd without a single familiar face or landmark to guide you. It's something that society openly recognizes as difficult. But what do you do when you can’t even see your classmates' faces?
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Pandemic Begets Financial and Logistical Roadblocks To College
Nikki Harris The Scholarship Fund of Alexandria (SFA), a nonprofit that raises money for T.C. Williams graduates’ college educations, is facing financial challenges as demand for scholarships from the nonprofit shot up by approximately $100,000 this year, according to Beth Lovain, the SFA Executive Director. The SFA holds an annual in-person gala and silent auction to raise money from its sponsors, but this year it held both events virtually. Lovain said that the SFA raised close to what it raised last year—upward of $400,000—at the virtual gala and silent auction when the expenses of an in-person gala such as renting a hotel and buying refreshments were subtracted. The SFA will…
