Three folks will represent District A on the ACPS Board. I encourage everyone to utilize your votes and select three candidates that you think will provide the best mix of capability and experience.

I’m the only candidate in District A that has been involved with ACPS on all levels, elementary, middle and high school. I also still have children in ACPS. I’ve served or serve on the Jefferson-Houston and TC Williams Transformation Teams and as a member of the ACPS Strategic Plan Development Team. I’ve served on the PTAs at all three levels and PTAC. In the past 7 years, I’ve been to more school board meetings than some school board members!

I believe that to make meaningful, lasting positive changes in ACPS, we all will need to forge out beyond our comfort zone. This includes board members performing beyond the “three primary functions”. As a board, we can send emails or robo-calls to first generation Hispanic or low-income African-American families and tell them that Board Policy “IAF” encourages parental involvement. Or we can truly work to reach further into the communities where these families are and establish meaningful, trusting, and personal relationships. I will work incessantly to do this.

The intellect and capabilities of the board candidates is unquestionable. There are engineers, teachers, lawyers, etc. The board historically has elected folks with capabilities that varied from Doctors to Bus Drivers. I appreciate your considerations.

If "ensuring the superintendent meets their expectations in administering the schools" is one of the goals, then Helen Morris and the other incumbents must have extrenely low expectations of Mort Sherman. I guess that explains these past few years. Dump the incumbents. Vote Karen Graf, Bill Campbell, Stephaine Kapsis or Heath Wells in A...anyone but Morris. In B, vote Kelly Carmichael Booz, Justin Keating or Michael Brookbank...anyone but Marc Williams.

Helen Morris voted to renew Morton Sherman's failed leadership. Our kids deserve better.

When a raging Republican like Lee Hernly agrees with a diehard Democrat like me, you know we're right. Folks, please dump the incumbent school board members. Our kids and our city deserve better.

Helen Morris richly merits support. Helen Morris has demonstrated a commanding familiarity with the needs of ACPS's families. For example, it is during her tenure that -- finally -- meaningful steps have been taken to improve Jefferson-Houston. Under Helen Morris’s leadership:
•A new building has been planned for Jefferson-Houston. This is a necessary and long-overdue step. The existing Jefferson-Houston building was poorly designed, is in poor repair, and is physically configured badly.
•Jefferson-Houston is being converted to a K-8 school, which will afford the Parker-Gray neighborhood and JH’s most at-risk children with a single, unified educational and developmental resource that will afford additional attention to the pre-high school preparation of every child, without the risk that an avulsive transfer to middle school can cause.
•Jefferson-Houston’s objective performance indicia have finally started to improve meaningfully.
•For the first time in many years, a school board member -- Helen Morris herself -- has enrolled her own child in Jefferson-Houston.

Before heading to the polls to cast your vote for Alexandria School Board examine the pass rates of Jefferson Houston. Three years ago the ACPS Superintendent stated that the success of ACPS would be judged based on the performance of Jefferson Houston. Three years later every single subject area has seen a decline in pass rates for all students at Jefferson Houston. Every single one. School Board members and ACPS leadership must be held accountable for this abysmal failure of our children.
https://p1pe.doe.virginia.gov/reportcard/report.do?division=101&schoolName=537

A new building, added grade levels, and a litany of costly programs are not addressing the academic needs of the children at Jefferson Houston. Voters should ask important questions about why ACPS continues to fail the children of Jefferson Houston. The dubious claim that Jefferson Houston's "objective performance indicia have finally started to improve meaningfully" did not hold water with the Virginia Board of Education. In a meeting not over two weeks ago they asked hard questions about Jefferson Houston and the answers from ACPS were simply pathetic. See for yourself starting at 1:40 of the video below.
http://141.104.220.130/usermedia/lifesizeplayer-1.1.swf?video_id=421

New leadership is a must.

Helen Morris has worked extremely hard for ALL children at ACPS. Although reasonable people can have reasonable disagreement about the candidates, posting trolling, inaccurate comments hours before the polls open does nothing to elevate the level of civil discourse everyone in Alexandria deserves.

Pam Mahony and Stephen Mostow

I strongly concur with Scott Newsham's endorsement of Helen Morris! Having worked with Helen in my capacity as the 2011-2012 PTA Council of Alexandria President, as well as in my capacity as the Cora Kelly PTA President in 2010-2011, at which time she was the Board liaison for our school, I found her to be incredibly hard working, fair minded and in command of the facts. Despite the fact that she herself is a Jefferson Houston mom, Helen very clearly has the interests of all ACPS students in mind, not just those at J-H. Alexandria is lucky to have her on the current Board and the voters of District A would do well to re-elect her tomorrow.

Others have pointed out the need for new blood on the Council--with only three incumbents up for reelection city-wide, we will most certainly get that! Let's not discount the value of experience and continuity, though. Vote for Helen District A!

Linda Kelly
District A Voter and ACPS Parent with thriving, happy, well-educated children

Incumbents on the board (Helen Morris) share responsibility for the mess Mort Sherman has made of ACPS. We need new representation, but we don't need Stephanie Kapsis and her Teach for American agenda. I'll be voting for Karen Graf.

Improving Jefferson Houston! By what measure? The Virginia Board of Education stated the trend allowed to occur at Jefferson Houston is troubling. English pass rate: 2009-2010 69%, 2010-2011- 67%, 2011-2012 61%. Math pass rate: 2009-2010 81%, 2010-2011 62%, 2011-2012 35%. Science pass rate: 2009-2010 67%, 2010-2011 51%, 2011-2012 43%. Social Studies pass rate: 2009-2010 57%, 2010-2011 38%, 2011-2012 48%. Writing pass rates: 2009-2010 75%, 2010-2011 51%, 2011-2012 56%. This has occurred under the leadership of Helen Morris and the present leadership in ACPS. Ignoring these failures, the continued decline of this "focus school," and the serious questions and criticism leveled by the Virginia Board of Education does not elevate civil discourse to the level that our children deserve.

I think it should be noted that Mark (with a K) Williams is the law partner of Marc (with a C) Williams, who is running in District B and is an incumbent with Ms. Morris.

So you are not the Mark Williams who works at Bingham with Marc Williams? Are you merely posting under his name?

In Mr. Williams' defence of current ACPS leadership he won't even attempt to acknowledge or explain the continued failure of ACPS to improve the academic environment at Jefferson Houston. Data be damned. Forget the three year trend of academic decline at Jefferson Houston. Forget the recent criticism and questioning of the Virginia Board of Education regarding the unacceptable state of Jefferson Houston. Forget the state board's refusal to grant conditional accreditation. If the Superintendent and company say it is improving, then almighty it must be improving. Let us all see the light!