{"id":9797,"date":"2021-09-24T12:40:58","date_gmt":"2021-09-24T16:40:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/staff\/?p=9797"},"modified":"2021-09-24T12:40:58","modified_gmt":"2021-09-24T16:40:58","slug":"more-stories-from-the-week-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/staff\/more-stories-from-the-week-5\/","title":{"rendered":"More Stories from the Week"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_79_2 counter-flat ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\"><p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">More Stories from the Week:<\/p>\n<\/div><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/staff\/more-stories-from-the-week-5\/#congratulations-to-our-national-merit-semifinalists\" >Congratulations to Our National Merit Semifinalists<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/staff\/more-stories-from-the-week-5\/#city-council-votes-to-approve-funding-for-new-building-for-acps\" >City Council Votes to Approve Funding for New Building for ACPS<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/staff\/more-stories-from-the-week-5\/#renovated-parker-gray-memorial-stadium-opens-with-ribbon-cutting-ceremony\" >Renovated Parker-Gray Memorial Stadium Opens with Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/staff\/more-stories-from-the-week-5\/#athletes-representing-acps-inducted-into-hall-of-fame\" >Athletes Representing ACPS Inducted into Hall of Fame<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/staff\/more-stories-from-the-week-5\/#school-board-candidate-events\" >School Board Candidate Events<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/staff\/more-stories-from-the-week-5\/#acps-k-2-family-literacy-night-webinar\" >ACPS K-2 Family Literacy Night Webinar<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/staff\/more-stories-from-the-week-5\/#constitution-day-celebration\" >Constitution Day Celebration<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 id=\"congratulations-to-our-nationa\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"congratulations-to-our-national-merit-semifinalists\"><\/span>Congratulations to Our National Merit Semifinalists<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-9798\" src=\"http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/staff\/wp-content\/uploads\/nms.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"384\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/staff\/wp-content\/uploads\/nms.png 512w, http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/staff\/wp-content\/uploads\/nms-260x195.png 260w, http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/staff\/wp-content\/uploads\/nms-133x100.png 133w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Congratulations to the four Alexandria City High School (ACHS) students who are among the approximately 16,000 Semifinalists in the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program: Virginia Arnold, Zachary Bosland, Delia Hughes and Tucker Stone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">About 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $30 million will be offered next spring and these talented high school seniors have an opportunity to compete for them. In order to be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, the Semifinalists will have to fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The National Merit Scholarship Program honors individual students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies. About 95% of the Semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and about half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"city-council-votes-to-approve-\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"city-council-votes-to-approve-funding-for-new-building-for-acps\"><\/span>City Council Votes to Approve Funding for New Building for ACPS<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-9799\" src=\"http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/staff\/wp-content\/uploads\/1703-N-Beauregard.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"403\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/staff\/wp-content\/uploads\/1703-N-Beauregard.png 512w, http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/staff\/wp-content\/uploads\/1703-N-Beauregard-260x205.png 260w, http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/staff\/wp-content\/uploads\/1703-N-Beauregard-127x100.png 127w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Alexandria City Council voted September 18, 2021, to approve the funding to purchase the 1703 N. Beauregard Street building for use by ACPS. This approval moves the project another step forward, strengthening ACPS\u2019 ability to meet the needs of our growing student body.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Plans for the new facility include ACPS using the property as swing space for the George Mason Elementary School and Cora Kelly School for Math, Science, and Technology modernization projects. Once the swing space need is fulfilled, this facility will transition into a new 600-student school, either for elementary or secondary use, per the School Board\u2019s decision. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"renovated-parker-gray-memorial\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"renovated-parker-gray-memorial-stadium-opens-with-ribbon-cutting-ceremony\"><\/span>Renovated Parker-Gray Memorial Stadium Opens with Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-17783\" src=\"http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/stadium-ribbon-cutting.jpg\" alt=\"Elected officials, ACPS School Board members and ACPS staff cut a ribbon to open the newly renovated Parker-Gray Memorial Stadium\" width=\"512\" height=\"342\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Alexandria City High School Titans won their first home football game of the season against Justice High School in the newly renovated Parker-Gray Memorial Stadium last week. A ribbon-cutting ceremony officially opened the multi-use stadium for fall sports.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While still awaiting finishing touches, the stadium features new amenities, including an eight-lane running track, scoreboard, artificial turf, egress safety lighting, new concessions building and restrooms, ticket booth, and, most notably, lights for the first time in the school\u2019s history.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe came together as a community to achieve this and it\u2019s definitely exciting,\u201d School Board Chair Meagan Alderton said. \u201cThe name of the stadium recognizes the legacy of the Parker-Gray school and a generation of students and educators that changed the world in so many ways right here in our town of Alexandria.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThis moment is a culmination of a lot of work,\u201d Mayor Justin Wilson said. \u201cThis wasn\u2019t easy. We\u2019re here because of the students of Alexandria City Public Schools. We demanded the best for our students, and that\u2019s why we\u2019re here today.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"athletes-representing-acps-ind\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"athletes-representing-acps-inducted-into-hall-of-fame\"><\/span>Athletes Representing ACPS Inducted into Hall of Fame<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-17786\" src=\"http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/hall-of-fame.jpg\" alt=\"ACPS Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony\" width=\"512\" height=\"384\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ACPS hosted the Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony where the newest inductees joined the Hall of Fame and were recognized for their outstanding achievements as individual athletes, coaches, teams, and friends of ACPS. Members of the Hall of Fame have contributed to the integrity, promotion, and growth of athletics at the high school level, and have represented ACPS with high standards of citizenship and character.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 2020 Hall of Fame Inductees include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Roberta Elliott Speight: Track and Field, T.C. Williams High School Class of 1984<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Craig Harris: Basketball, T.C. Williams High School Class of 1977<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mike Hynson: Basketball Coach at T.C. Williams and George Washington high schools, Francis C. Hammond High School Class of 1959<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bob Kessler: Basketball, George Washington High School Class of 1952<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cedric Matterson: Track and Field, T.C. Williams High School Class of 1984<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Katherine McAdoo: Swimming, T.C. Williams High School Class of 2000<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lynwood Robinson: Football, George Washington High School Class of 1971<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 1971 T.C. Williams H.S. Football Team<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 2021 Hall of Fame Inductees include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Troy Bailey: Baseball, T.C. Williams High School <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Class of 1988<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Earl Cook: Football, T.C. Williams High School Class of 1973<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Louis Harris: Football, Basketball and Baseball, Parker-Gray High School Class of 1963<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jason Ingram: Basketball, T.C. Williams High School Class of 2001<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Veda Nicely McCoy: Track and Field, T.C. Williams High School Class of 1984<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Corrin Reid: Basketball, T.C. Williams High School Class of 1997<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dianne Richardson Lewis: Basketball, T.C. Williams High School Class of 1977<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mike Tomasello: Track Coach, T.C. Williams High School, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1969-71<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and 1974-80\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 1956 Boys Basketball Team, George Washington High School<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 1990-91 Girls Virginia State Champion Indoor Track Team, T.C. Williams High School<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Read more about the Hall of Fame ceremony and inductee bios on the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.acps.k12.va.us\/Page\/2247\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ACPS Athletic Hall of Fame webpage<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"school-board-candidate-events\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"school-board-candidate-events\"><\/span>School Board Candidate Events<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/alexvaptac.org\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alexandria Council of PTAs (PTAC)<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> works to make every child\u2019s potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children. Alexandria PTAC will be hosting two events in October to help the community get to know the School Board candidates:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Meet and Greet:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Oct. 2, 2021, at 4 p.m. at the William Ramsay tennis courts, 5650 Sanger Ave. in Alexandria. Come join and informally talk with the School Board candidates, get to know their platform, and ask questions. There will also be an arts and crafts center available for students. This event is outdoors and masks are encouraged.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Virtual School Board Forum:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Oct. 13, 2021, at 7 p.m.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Come hear from each of the school board candidates. This virtual event will also include breakouts by district. For interpretation services (Amharic, Arabic, Spanish), <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/alexvaptac.org\/sbcandidates2021\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">pre-register by Oct. 1<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Find candidate bios and more information for both events on the <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.alexvaptac.org\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alexandria PTAC website<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"acps-k-2-family-literacy-night\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"acps-k-2-family-literacy-night-webinar\"><\/span>ACPS K-2 Family Literacy Night Webinar<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Join ACPS Thursday, Sept. 30 to learn about K-2 literacy resources available across the school division and how families can help literacy flourish at home and throughout our community.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/acpsk12.zoom.us\/j\/93941970748?pwd=VTd0Q21NNU01dm1EdlJsalBCYmUxZz09\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Join us on Zoom at 7 p.m<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Also, save the date for the Intermediate-Grade Literacy Night coming Nov. 4!<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"constitution-day-celebration\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"constitution-day-celebration\"><\/span>Constitution Day Celebration<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-17789\" src=\"http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/constitution-day-event.jpg\" alt=\"Constitution Day event at City Hall\" width=\"512\" height=\"426\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson signed the official proclamation commemorating Constitution Week at City Hall on Monday, Sept. 20. Students from the Alexandria City High School Jr. ROTC and Choir participated in the ceremony, marking the 234th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The tradition of celebrating the U.S. Constitution began in 1956 after the Daughters of the American Revolution petitioned Congress to dedicate the week of September 17-23 to commemorate the U.S. Constitution. Constitution Week aims to emphasize citizens\u2019 responsibilities to protect the U.S. Constitution, educate people about the role of the U.S. Constitution and encourage the study of historical events leading to the drafting of the U.S. Constitution in September 1787.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThere are a lot of countries around the world that have constitutions, but ours is unique because we continue to have transitions of power through the voting booth,\u201d Mayor Justin Wilson said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s certainly because of the durability of our constitution.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>National Merit Semifinalists \u2022 City Council Votes to Approve Funding for New Building for ACPS \u2022 Renovated Parker-Gray Memorial Stadium Opens \u2022 ACPS Athletes Inducted into Hall of Fame \u2022 School Board Candidate Events \u2022 ACPS K-2 Family Literacy Night Webinar \u2022 Constitution Day Celebration<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":9667,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-acps"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-21 20:21:17","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/staff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/staff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/staff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/staff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/staff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9797"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/staff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9797\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9803,"href":"http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/staff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9797\/revisions\/9803"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/staff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/staff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/staff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/staff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}