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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Alexandria City High School will officially dedicate the athletic fields at its Minnie Howard Campus as the Kerry J. Donley Athletic Field Complex on Tuesday, Sept. 1, honoring the former mayor who later served as the city's high school athletic director.
A reception begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Minnie Howard Campus forum, 3775 W. Braddock Rd., followed by the field dedication at 7:15 p.m. Students, families, alumni and community members are invited, according to an announcement from ACHS athletics.
Attendees are asked to park in the lower campus lot closest to Bradlee Shopping Center and enter through Door #1. The reception is in the forum just inside on the left.
Donley served as Alexandria's mayor from 1996 to 2003, leading the city through the Sept. 11 attacks and their aftermath, and later served as athletic director at what was then T.C. Williams High School from 2005 to 2008. ACPS credits his tenure with the construction of Samuel W. Tucker Elementary School and expansions at George Washington and Francis C. Hammond middle schools and the high school. He died suddenly of an apparent heart attack in July 2022 at age 66. He and his wife raised five daughters in Alexandria, all of whom attended ACPS from kindergarten through 12th grade and competed in field hockey, soccer and crew.
The School Board voted unanimously in December to approve the name, overriding Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt's recommendation to advance only one of four naming proposals. The Donley name had led November's community poll with 49% support against 39.7% for Titan Territory Athletic Field Complex — a margin Kay-Wyatt considered too narrow to act on.
The proposal drew the most passionate advocacy of the four at a Dec. 11 public hearing, where former Mayor and U.S. Rep. Jim Moran compared Donley to George Bailey from "It's a Wonderful Life," and former city councilman Lonnie Rich told the board that no public official had done more for public education in Alexandria.
Naming fund lags
Supporters at the December meetings had offered to help cover costs. David Speck, speaking for Donley backers, said the effort began nearly three years earlier and offered to cover any costs exceeding budgeted allocations. Former T.C. Williams Principal John Porter made a similar offer at the public hearing.
ACPS has since opened a public Facilities Naming Fund to cover procurement, installation and maintenance of signage and plaques across all four facilities, with an estimated cost of $19,856. As of Aug. 25, the fund had raised $1,701.46 — 8.57% of the goal.
Donations can be made online through the ACPS website or by check payable to Alexandria City Public Schools, marked "Facilities Naming Fund," mailed to 1340 Braddock Place, Suite 530.
ACPS dedicated another of the four spaces in June, when the courtyard at the Early Childhood Center was formally named "Owen's Place." Also approved in December were Keith Burns Field at Parker-Gray Stadium and the Jean B. Reid Media Center at Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School.
