Ferdinand T. Day Elementary School Opens In Alexandria

ALEXANDRIA, VA—Alexandria's newest school, Ferdinand T. Day Elementary School, has opened in Alexandria for the first day of school. The school at 1701 North Beauregard Street welcomed its first students on Tuesday.

Ferdinand T. Day’s daughter Gwen Day-Fuller, grandson, granddaughter and three great-granddaughters joined Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr. and City Manager Mark Jinks at a ribbon cutting last Thursday.

"Driving up and seeing his name on this building and walking in and seeing the dedication wall with everything about his life is humbling," said Day-Fuller in a statement.

The school board chose the name for the new school in February. The late Day was the first African-American school board chair in the state. Born in in Alexandria in 1918, Day attended Parker-Gray School through eighth grade and went on to D.C. Public Schools, since Alexandria offered no formal high school education for African-Americans. He had been appointed to the Alexandria City School Board a decade after Brown v. Board of Education.

The school, which has a 650-student capacity, adds extra space to meet growing enrollment in the West End. The school district purchased and will convert a vacant office building and a nearby parking garage, into the school and a play area. It's the first new Alexandria school to open since 2000 and the first created by retrofitting office space.

The elementary school offers a STEM focused curriculum of literacy, science, technology, engineering and mathematics. It also has an outdoor play space with a basketball court on the roof of the adjacent parking garage accessible by a raised walkway.

Image via ACPS