Table of Contents
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Two Alexandria City Public Schools parent groups have been named National PTA Schools of Excellence for 2025-2027, an award recognizing partnerships between families and schools.
The Alexandria City High School PTSA and the Cora Kelly School PTA appear on the national roster released Aug. 1. They are among 321 local PTAs and schools nationwide to earn the two-year designation, and among 25 in Virginia.
The School of Excellence program runs on a year-long cycle built around National PTA's National Standards for Family-School Partnerships. Participating PTAs gather feedback from their school communities using a required set of questions, submit initial goals by mid-December, then build and carry out what the association calls an Excellence Action Plan. In the spring they survey the community again using the same questions to measure change, and report the results by mid-June. PTAs that complete the steps and meet the requirements earn the designation, which lasts two years and comes with a banner to display at the school.
"Strong partnerships between families and schools are critical to student success — academically, socially and emotionally," National PTA President Dr. Bill Datema said in the announcement.
The Alexandria City High School PTSA announced its designation to members on Aug. 2, saying the group had made significant progress in welcoming families, communicating effectively, supporting student success, speaking up for every student and collaborating with community partners — five of the six National Standards for Family-School Partnerships that the program is built around.
The PTSA credited two people with leading the effort: Sue Heiler Brown, its vice president of outreach, and Ana Bonilla, the school's family engagement social worker. The group said it hoped the designation would encourage others to join the work.
Alexandria's two honorees sit at opposite ends of the school system. Alexandria City High School is the division's only comprehensive high school, with campuses on King Street and at Minnie Howard. Cora Kelly School for Math, Science and Technology is an elementary school in the city's northeast, near the Mount Vernon Avenue corridor.
Alexandria accounted for two of Virginia's 25 honorees, and for two of the three in Northern Virginia. The only other one in the region is Glebe Elementary School PTA in Arlington. No PTAs in Fairfax, Loudoun or Prince William counties appear on the roster.
Chesapeake led the state with nine honorees. The rest of Virginia's are concentrated in the Richmond area, Hanover County and Newport News.
The association also announced 20 Middle Ground Program grants of $3,500 each, funded in collaboration with the New York Life Foundation, to create dedicated spaces in middle schools for students navigating grief and loss. No Alexandria schools were among the recipients.
Three PTAs received the 2026 Phoebe Apperson Hearst Award, National PTA's highest honor for family-school partnerships: Burton Elementary School PTA in Huntington Woods, Michigan, took the top award, with awards of merit going to Will Rogers Elementary School PTA in Santa Monica, California, and Redding Elementary School PTA in Redding, Connecticut.
National PTA, which is headquartered in Alexandria, opened enrollment for the 2026-2027 School of Excellence cycle on May 1. The deadline to enroll is Oct. 15, and information is available at PTA.org/Excellence.
