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ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Samuel W. Tucker Elementary School opens its doors this morning for the first day of the 2026-27 school year — the only Alexandria City Public Schools building on an early calendar. While the rest of the division's 22 schools begin Aug. 24, Tucker's 712 students start today, July 27, as part of the school's Extended Learning Time model, which provides roughly 20% more instructional time than a traditional school calendar through a longer school day and additional school days throughout the year.
Tucker is one of Alexandria's highest-need schools. More than 85% of its students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, and a significant portion are English learners. The extended calendar model was introduced to provide additional academic support and reduce learning gaps — giving students more time with teachers, more time in structured learning, and more consistency across the school year.
The school, at 435 Ferdinand Day Drive in the West End, was dedicated in 2000 in honor of Samuel Wilbert Tucker — an Alexandria native who organized one of the earliest civil rights sit-ins in American history at the city's whites-only public library in 1939, and who went on to become the leading civil rights attorney for the NAACP in Virginia. He argued before the U.S. Supreme Court four times and died in 1990.
