Join ACPS Superintendent Dr. Gregory Hutchings and Georgetown Professor Dr. Douglas Reed as they unpack structural racism throughout the history of Alexandria’s education system and identify pathways toward equity in a post-pandemic world.
Dr. Reed will provide the historical background: his book, Building the Federal Schoolhouse, is an in-depth analysis of the city’s schools over the past 50 years, following ACPS through the Jim Crow era, court-ordered desegregation, and the Southern strategy against those desegregation efforts known as “massive resistance.”
Dr. Hutchings will discuss ACPS's new strategic plan, which focuses on equity, and his thoughts on race and education today in Alexandria. Special focus will be paid to covid-19 and its disproportionate impacts on communities of color, from poorer health outcomes, economic losses, and lack of digital access.
Speaker Biographies:
Bonnie Bracey-Sutton: Bonnie Laverne Bracey is an American teacher and technology consultant based in Washington, D.C. One of the first teachers to promote the role of the Internet in the classroom, Bracey was the only teacher selected by the Clinton Administration for serving on the National Information Infrastructure Advisory Council, whose work in the mid-1990s led to the creation of the E-rate program. She also served as lead educator on President Bill Clinton's 21st Century Teacher Initiative. Currently she is an international educational consultant; in this capacity she conducts outreach activities for the George Lucas Education Foundation and other groups. Her most recent studies involve explorations in supercomputing as ESRI T3TG Educator and geomentor with CIRCL.org. She is especially known for her online work in Social Justice and Digital Equity.
Adrienne Fikes: Ms. Fikes, M.Ed, PCC, is the Soul Power Coach™, TEDx speaker, and creator of #16Greats Challenge (16Greats.com) for GenXers and Millennials to call their sixteen great-great-grandparents by name, or understand why they can’t. She is The Parent Leadership Training Institute of Alexandria (plti-alex.org) board member, and former director.
Dr. Gregory C. Hutchings, Jr., Superintendent, Alexandria City Public Schools: Dr. Hutchings is a proud TC Williams graduate. Before he became superintendent, he held instructional and leadership positions in ACPS and in school systems throughout Virginia and Tennessee. Dr. Hutchings came home to Alexandria in July 2018 after his tenure as the school superintendent of Shaker Heights, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio.
Dr. Douglas S. Reed: Dr. Reed is a Professor of Government and Director of the MA Program in Educational Transformation at Georgetown University. He teaches and writes about education politics and policy-making, as well as civil rights. He is the author, most recently, of Building the Federal Schoolhouse, which examines Alexandria’s education system over the past 50 years.
