John Adams Elementary School, 5651 Rayburn Ave.: grades K-5, 779 students in fall 2025, fully accredited, rated Approaching Expectations.

Last checked Oct. 19, 2026. Sources: John Adams Elementary School, Alexandria City Public Schools, the Virginia Department of Education’s School Quality Profile and the federal NCES school directory.

John Adams Elementary School is a public elementary school run by Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS). It serves kindergarten through fifth grade on Rayburn Avenue in the western part of the city and is one of two ACPS elementary schools with a Spanish-English dual language program.

Who to call

  • Front office: 703-824-6970
  • Registrar (new students): Manija Karim, per the registrars list
  • ACPS central office: 703-619-8000, 1340 Braddock Place; questions to ask@acps.k12.va.us
  • Buses: ACPS Office of Pupil Transportation, 703-461-4169
Address 5651 Rayburn Ave., Alexandria, VA 22311
Phone 703-824-6970
Grades Kindergarten to 5
School hours 8 a.m. to 2:35 p.m.
Website ja.acps.k12.va.us
Division Alexandria City Public Schools

Principal

Principal Alicia Kingcade, according to the school’s website, which says she has led the school since 2021 and has worked in ACPS since 2010.

Enrollment and teachers

  • State count: 779 students in fall 2025, compared with 743 in 2024 and 746 in 2023, in the School Quality Profile. The state count includes 33 pre-K students; ACPS lists the school as kindergarten to fifth grade. The division’s Early Childhood Center shares the Rayburn Avenue address.
  • Federal count: 746 students in the 2023-24 school year, with 48 full-time-equivalent teachers, according to the NCES directory. That works out to about 16 students per teacher.

State report card

Virginia rates each school two ways on its School Quality Profile. Accreditation shows whether the school has submitted, and the state has approved, the evidence the Standards of Accreditation require. The School Performance and Support Framework gives each school a score and one of four performance levels: Distinguished, Meets Expectations, Approaching Expectations or Needs Intensive Support.

  • Accreditation, 2025-26: Fully Accredited
  • Framework score: 83.05, rated Approaching Expectations, in the division summary

Standards of Learning pass rates (share of tested students who passed, grades 3 to 5):

Subject 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26
English reading 54% 56% 54%
Math 44% 54% 56%
Science 47% 62% 64%

Math is up 12 points and science 17 points since 2023-24. The full profile also reports attendance, spending and teacher data.

Attendance zone and feeder schools

Look up an address in the ACPS Attendance Zone Locator, which shows its elementary, middle and high school for 2026-27 and whether a student qualifies for a bus. ACPS publishes its elementary-to-middle feeder patterns as maps on the redistricting page instead of as a list, so the locator is the reliable check for a single address. Every ACPS student goes on to Alexandria City High School.

New elementary and middle school boundaries, approved by the School Board on June 12, 2025, took effect this school year; check the locator, and see the boundaries page for who could stay at a former school for a year or two.

Elementary students who live within one mile of school are expected to walk; see the John Adams walk zone map. In kindergarten, a school that is over its class-size limit holds a lottery among registered students and places some at another ACPS school. Our Alexandria schools guide covers the rezoning.

Programs

John Adams runs the ACPS Spanish-English two-way dual language program for kindergarten to fifth grade; about half the students come from Spanish-speaking homes and half from homes where English or another language is spoken, ACPS says. Kindergartners at Patrick Henry, Ferdinand T. Day, James K. Polk, Samuel W. Tucker and William Ramsay may apply to join, if there is room. Families may not opt out of John Adams, because English instruction is available, according to the program transfer rules. The program continues in grades 6 to 8 at Francis C. Hammond and George Washington middle schools.

Calendar and bell times

From the ACPS 2026-27 traditional calendar:

  • Friday, Oct. 30: end of first quarter
  • Monday, Nov. 2, and Tuesday, Nov. 3: no school (teacher work day, then Election Day)
  • Wednesday, Nov. 11: Veterans Day, no school
  • Nov. 25-27: Thanksgiving break
  • Dec. 21 to Jan. 1: winter break
  • Thursday, June 17, 2027: last day of school

School hours are 8 a.m. to 2:35 p.m., according to the school’s schedules page, with breakfast from 7:30 a.m. and arrival from 7:40 a.m.

More on Alexandria schools

Frequently asked questions

What grades does John Adams serve?

Kindergarten through fifth grade, according to Alexandria City Public Schools.

How is John Adams rated by the state?

It is fully accredited for 2025-26. In Virginia’s School Performance and Support Framework it scored 83.05 and is rated Approaching Expectations.

Does John Adams Elementary have a dual language program?

Yes. It runs the ACPS Spanish-English two-way dual language program for kindergarten to fifth grade. Families may not opt out of John Adams, ACPS says, because English instruction is available.

Which high school does John Adams feed into?

Alexandria City High School, the city’s only public high school. The middle school depends on the address; check the ACPS Attendance Zone Locator.