5 E Howell Ave
Alexandria, VA 22301

Our daughter is in 2nd grade and has attended MVCS since Kindergarten. All her teachers have been wonderful -- attentive to her and responsive to any concerns we have. The dual language program was difficult in virtual school but she is accelerating again now that they have been back in person full time this year. We speak English at home, but multiple native Spanish speakers have commented to me that her accent is incredible. The early grades so far have not focused on homework, which we love -- kids receive books to read and are encouraged to do math activities, but no formal homework is assigned. Our daughter tests well, reflecting the great teachers at this school. MVCS has particularly focused on Social Emotional learning since the pandemic started, and the kids have a lot of tools for recognizing and regulation emotions, particularly stress. We hope this focus remains in place for the long run, as we really like it.

I'm reviewing this school based on my experience alone, as a parent who's two children went to school here after going to private school from K-8. I learned over the years that the reason Alexandria City has one high school is the city's decision to have one high school for all, not several high schools, of which there's a "bad" high school in the lower income areas and a "good" high school in the higher income areas. Because of this, there will be a handful of kids who create trouble. But my two daughters never felt unsafe at this school and love the diversity (not just in meeting students from different ethnic backgrounds, but also socio economic backgrounds). They've really thrived at ACHS, both academically and socially and have gone on to amazing universities (and got accepted into highy sought after universities as well -- Univ. of Michigan, Univ of Chicago, UVA, VA Tech, Georgia Tech....etc....mentioning this because I think ACHS gets a really bad rap for its academics and being a problem school) If your student wants to learn, they will learn. The teachers and resources are amazing, and they really do care about the success of the students. In comparison to the private school that our children attended from K-8, the teacher qualifications are unmatched. Private schools set their own bar, which means they can hire whoever they choose. The steps to become a public high school teacher is rigorous and far surpass what's needed in a private school. We've had a really wonderful experience sending our daughters there. I will say that parent engagement is very low....but I think that's also because a lot of the parents hold multiple jobs and are not able to engage because they also have smaller children. And the population is very large, so if your child isn't good at being independent and figuring things out on their own, maybe it's not the right place for them. That said, it's the perfect launching pad to the next stage in their adult life -- whether it be a university, trade school, or other.

You need to be mentally tough to go to this school. There are about 3 fights everyday in each grade at this school and the teachers and staff just watch it happen. One of the gym teachers is sexist, cusses at students, throws stuff at people, and insults people. I know this is true because it recently just happened to my classmate. The kids are incredibly rude and disrespectful. Another thing is the principals blame everything that goes wrong on the students. The fire alarm goes off about 5 times a month because of the constructors in the basement. A good portion of the teachers just give a kids a worksheet and don’t even teach them about it. Kids are constantly bullied. The school is in the red zone so at the end of the year in advisory we have to study in the morning. Since none of the teachers can get ahold of the worst kids they target the that they know will listen. There have been several alive and dead animals in the school including a snake that still hasnT been caught and a dead squirrel hanging out of the ceiling. The bathrooms are constantly flooded. And the guards guard the bathroom so that only one person can go in at a time and if you really need to go they won’t let you also the one of the Guards told a kid to his face that he will never succeed in life. Also some of the male guards will literally go in the female restroom. Also one of the teachers has hung a kid off a railing. So to kind of end this off you must be able to learn without extra help and need to be e ströme Lu mentally strong