The current superintendent, appointed by the school board, is Dr. Melanie Kay-Wyatt, who began in that position on July 1, 2023. She was previously the chief of human resources in ACPS after joining the school system in 2021 and then served as the interim superintendent.[4][5]
There are nine members of the Alexandria City Public School Board. All members of the board are elected by district every three years, and the chair is appointed by the board. There are also two student representatives.[6][7]
The first school offering public education in Alexandria was founded in 1785, the Washington Free School, partly funded by George Washington.[9]
Although the desegregation process began in 1959 when nine black school children entered all-white Theodore Ficklin Elementary School after an NAACP lawsuit, it was not until 1974 that Superintendent John Albohm announced "This year, we have finally reorganized our elementary schools and, in a broad sense, have completed the desegregation of our school system kindergarten through grade 12".[9]
In November 2020, the school board unanimously voted to rename T. C. Williams High School and Matthew Maury Elementary School, with name selection coming before the 2021–22 school year.[10] This follows years of community efforts to rename T. C. Williams because its namesake, a former superintendent of Alexandria City Public Schools, was a supporter of racial segregation in schools.
In March 2021, the superintendent put forward two final names after community input: "Alexandria High School" and "Naomi Brooks Elementary School", after a former teacher who died in 2020. The school board voted in April 2021 to change the school's names toAlexandria City High School and Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School.[11]
Charles Barrett Elementary School (Grades PreK–5), named forCharles D. Barrett, a Marine officer killed in World War II who had lived in Alexandria[13]
Ferdinand T. Day Elementary School, named after civil rights iconFerdinand T. Day, who was the first African American elected chair of a public school board
Cora Kelly School for Math, Science and Technology (Grades PreK–5), named for local former teacher Cora Webster Kelly[14]
Lyles-Crouch Traditional Academy
Douglas MacArthur Elementary School
George Mason Elementary School
Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School
Mount Vernon Community School
James K. Polk Elementary School
William Ramsay Elementary School (Grades PreK–5)
Samuel W. Tucker Elementary School, named for Alexandria native and notable civil rights lawyerSamuel W. Tucker[15]
This list is incomplete. See also:Template:South Alexandria (for areas of Fairfax County south of the Alexandria city limits with Alexandria postal addresses)
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