PROJECT OVERVIEW

The High School Project aims not only to resolve the issues around growing student enrollment and space at the high school, but it will also attempt to redefine the high school experience for future generations of Alexandrians, thereby delivering a future for Alexandria.

As student enrollment continues to increase, ACPS is aware that 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, 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.

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.

This project will include a focus on the future business needs of Alexandria, Northern Virginia and the D.C. metro area — as well as the United States — and create programming aligned with those future needs. Our multifaceted issues may call for multiple solutions. Any solution is also likely to involve public-private partnerships — the direction in which public education is heading. This high school project must stand the test of time.

Over the next two months, we will be holding a series of focus groups featuring students, business leaders, colleges and universities, ACPS families and staff, as well as the wider community.

Between now and November, when the results of the focus groups will be presented to the School Board, we will hold town hall meetings that we strongly encourage you to attend.

This page will be regularly updated with documents, meeting dates and other information as we go through the process. In addition, you can receive updates through the following channels:

• Sign up to receive regular email updates in ACPS Express
• Attend a town hall meeting
• Attend your PTA session on the project
• 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

We are very excited about the opportunities this project brings, not just for ACPS but for our city as well. Thank you for taking the launch survey and for getting involved!