Alexandria School District Closes On Purchase Of New Building

ALEXANDRIA, VA — On Friday, Alexandria City Public Schools closed on the purchase of a building that will become a future school space.

The Alexandria School Board first started pursuing the 1703 N. Beauregard Street office building in summer 2021 for a future 600-person school. The building purchase allowed ACPS to change its original plan of constructing a new school to renovating an existing building. With the change to renovating an existing building, project funding in the 2023-2032 capital improvement budget was reduced by about $39.2 million.

"As space in urban settings becomes more constrained, it is important for us to continue to use innovative practices to address our capacity needs," said Superintendent Gregory Hutchings Jr. in a statement.

The building will first be used for certain operations at ACPS then become a swing space during George Mason Elementary School and Cora Kelly School for Math, Science and Technology renovation projects. George Mason Elementary construction would be finished in 2027, while Cora Kelly School construction would run from 2027 to 2030.

After use as a swing space, the building would be converted into a 600-person school. Whether that becomes an elementary school or secondary school would be decided by the School Board at a later time. Discussions are happening on how to use the property in relation to the neighboring Ferdinand T. Day Elementary School.

"The success of Ferdinand T. Day Elementary School, along with nationwide examples of commercial space being converted for school purposes, proves that the retrofit of commercial spaces can be fiscally responsible and provide an equitable, high quality learning environment for students" said Alicia Hart, the acting chief of facilities and operations at ACPS.

Alexandria City Council endorsed the ACPS purchase of the building in July 2021 and appropriated funding for the purchase in September 2021.