Samuel W. Tucker Elementary School, 435 Ferdinand Day Drive: grades K-5, 731 students in fall 2025, fully accredited, rated Approaching Expectations.

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

Samuel W. Tucker Elementary School is a public elementary school run by Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS). It serves kindergarten through fifth grade on Ferdinand Day Drive and is the only ACPS school on a modified calendar, with shorter breaks spread through the year in place of a long summer.

Who to call

  • Front office: 703-933-6300
  • Registrar (new students): Soraya Osmani, 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 435 Ferdinand Day Drive, Alexandria, VA 22304
Phone 703-933-6300
Grades Kindergarten to 5
School hours 8 a.m. to 2:35 p.m.
Website swt.acps.k12.va.us
Division Alexandria City Public Schools

Principal

Principal Jerylen Daniels, according to the school’s website. Lisa Calero is an assistant principal.

Enrollment and teachers

  • State count: 731 students in fall 2025, compared with 735 in 2024 and 736 in 2023, in the School Quality Profile. The state count includes 37 pre-K students; ACPS lists the school as kindergarten to fifth grade.
  • Federal count: 736 students in the 2023-24 school year, with 45 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: 83.57, 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 66% 63% 60%
Math 60% 60% 64%
Science 68% 66% 59%

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 Samuel W. Tucker 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

Kindergartners at Samuel W. Tucker may apply to join the Spanish-English two-way dual language program at John Adams Elementary, if there is room, under the ACPS program transfer rules.

Calendar and bell times

Tucker follows the ACPS 2026-27 modified calendar, approved Dec. 18, 2025. Students started July 27, 2026, and have two-week intersessions in place of part of the summer break. Tucker was the city’s first modified calendar school, in 2004-05, according to the school’s modified calendar page. Students attend the same number of days as on the traditional calendar, with the option of remediation and enrichment classes during intersession.

  • Tuesday, Nov. 3: Election Day, no school
  • Wednesday, Nov. 11: Veterans Day, no school
  • Nov. 25-27: Thanksgiving break
  • Dec. 21 to Jan. 1: winter break
  • Monday, Jan. 11: teacher work day, no school
  • March 22-26: spring break
  • March 29 to April 9: intersession
  • Thursday, June 17, 2027: last day of school

Families in the Tucker zone who do not want the modified calendar may ask for an administrative transfer to a traditional calendar school; ACPS does not provide transportation for those transfers. Kindergarten registration at Tucker closes for the capacity lottery June 1, two weeks earlier than at other schools.

School hours are 8 a.m. to 2:35 p.m., according to the school’s schedules page, with doors open at 7:45 a.m.

More on Alexandria schools

Frequently asked questions

What grades does Samuel W. Tucker serve?

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

How is Samuel W. Tucker rated by the state?

It is fully accredited for 2025-26. In Virginia’s School Performance and Support Framework it scored 83.57 and is rated Approaching Expectations.

When did Samuel W. Tucker Elementary start the 2026-27 school year?

July 27, 2026, on the modified calendar. The last day for students is June 17, 2027.

Which high school does Samuel W. Tucker 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.