Alexandria's Rebuilt Douglas MacArthur Elementary Open For New School Year

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Students at one of Alexandria's elementary schools are starting the school year in a new building after a years-long renovation process.

City and school officials celebrated the Douglas MacArthur Elementary School reopening with a ribbon cutting on Friday. The $75 million renovation project replaced the school built in 1943 with a new facility.

"It's hard to effectively convey how excited our Douglas MacArthur students, community and our staff are about this day," said Principal Penny Hairston. "We have been heavily involved in the planning and discussions of this terrific building and provided a great deal of input so our students will have the optimal learning environment. Our dreams are now reality, and it feels like I'm floating through the school and marveling at each and every new feature that has been brought to design to full construction."

The old building built in 1943 had eight classrooms and one common area, according to Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt. The new building provides dedicated space for classrooms, art and music rooms, physical education and a multipurpose room as well as turf fields and play areas outside.

It has 154,221 square feet, three stories and room for 840 students. In the previous school year, enrollment totaled 577 based on fall enrollment count.

"It was developed with a lot of foresight in mind. It can accommodate up to 840 students," said Kay-Wyatt. "That is really an idea that we need to have for growth in our city."

During the construction process, students were relocated to a swing space in the former Patrick Henry School. That swing space was left vacant when the new Patrick Henry K-8 School and Recreation Center opened in 2019.

Michelle Rief, the new Alexandria School Board chair, said school renovations were a big topic when she joined the School Board in 2019. The old Patrick Henry School was suggested swing space to accelerate the Douglas MacArthur Elementary renovation project. That proposal didn't come without concerns about two schools sharing one location at Patrick Henry School.

"And the elected officials here today listened to the community, heard their concerns, and ultimately voted to proceed the project," said Rief. "And look a few years forward. Look where we are today. Look at this building. Look at these students. When we work together as a community and stay focused on our goals, our community can accomplish great things."

The school renovation project was funded through the city and school system's capital budget planning process. Mayor Justin Wilson pointed to the city's archaeology efforts as a way future generations will see the investments city leaders made in public schools.

"I think about what a couple 1000 years from now when the archaeologists dig this area and try to understand what was going on here in 2023 and beyond and what they will say about the values of a community that built this building, that invested this kind of resources in this structure here," said Wilson. "It'll say that the community that was in charge at this time valued this, valued the next generation, valued the kids to will come through this building for generations to come and wanted to make an investment in the future."