Alexandria Times

Grace Taylor, Ed.D., has held many positions throughout Alexandria City Public Schools. (PHOTOS/ALEKSANDRA KOCHUROVA; ARWEN CLEMANS; C.J. HANAUER) By James Libresco | jlibresco@alextimes.com Grace Taylor, Ed.D., the newly appointed acting superintendent of Alexandria City Public Schools, has worn about as many hats in the school district as it has textbooks. She has served as principal of Alexandria elementary, middle and high schools. She headed the district’s operations and facilities team.

Avery Bolte in action in a 2025 game. (Photo/ACHS) By Jim McGrath | jmcgrath@alextimes.com Alexandria City High School girls volleyball coach Danielle Thorne has seen the full range of highs and lows in just four seasons as leader of the Titans. She took over the ACHS varsity program in 2022 after serving as the team’s freshman coach.

By Denise Dunbar By now, most Alexandrians have seen the video, which has gone viral the past few days, of the recent encounter between two women in an Old Town salon. One identified herself as Afghan and the other as an Israeli. For the uninitiated, an Israeli American made an appointment at a highly rated Old Town salon and went for a service. The exact date is not clear, but it appears to have been sometime last week.

This year's ACHS football squad looks to continue building on progress made during the 2025 campaign. (Credit/ACHS) By Jim McGrath | jmcgrath@alextimes.com On the heels of a 5-6 season, during which the Titans showed signs of progress in their rebuilding campaign, the Alexandria City High School football team lost quarterback Alpha Jalloh to graduation.

The Tall Ship Providence, docked at the Alexandria waterfront, served students with its educational programs. (Photo/Missy Schrott) By Gayle Converse Alexandria women have hoisted their anchors and their hems to play unconventional and important roles in our city’s maritime culture and history. In this edition, we first sail back in time, for a quick look at global female mariners before, during and after the Age of Sail.

To the editor: I have lived next to Strawberry Run for 52 years and during that time I have consistently cleaned up trash and removed invasive plants. I do not like looking out my windows to see a trash-filled area. With my actions, the stream is in a little better place. With local environmentalists’ help we have removed several big dumpsters filled with invasive plants, including English Ivy, Garlic Mustard, Porcelain Berry and bamboo.

Plaza 500 would be the site of the new data center campus neighboring the City of Alexandria. (PHOTO/GOOGLE MAPS) By Sydney Kodama | skodama@alextimes.com Alexandria residents and city officials are advocating against a data center substation that would be built in Fairfax County, adjacent to the City of Alexandria and near residents’ homes.

For only the second time in history, the American Red Cross has declared a national blood crisis – and patients may already be feeling the impact. Donors are asked to act immediately to help save lives. Blood donations have fallen to a four-year summer low, worsening this season’s emergency blood shortage. All blood types are needed, but the situation is especially dire for type O blood as the Red Cross is now limiting distributions of these blood products to hospitals.

On any given weekday, about 10 to 20 students on the robotics team build robots. “It’s just a constant beehive of work,” Ishaan O’Neil- Vira, the team’s president, said. (PHOTO/EVELYN GENNARELLI FOR THEOGONY) By James Libresco | jlibresco@alextimes.com Charlotte Ware, 17, has long viewed her school’s abundance of extracurricular and vocational offerings as one of its greatest strengths.

In addition to author events, Elaine’s supports aspiring writers with its Writer’s Club. (Photo/C.J. Hanauer) By Elona Michael | emichael@alextimes.com At age 12, Cynthia Farahat promised her grandmother that she would open a restaurant named after her. Thirteen years later, she delivered on her promise. Opened in March 2023 at 208 Queen St., Elaine’s Literary Salon has flourished into a prominent Mediterranean and literary hub in Alexandria.