Updated September 2026
You found the house. The porch is right, the kitchen can wait, and you can already picture the walk down to the Avenue on a Saturday morning.
Then the real question shows up. Where would our kids go to school from here?
That answer lives in the address, not in the name Del Ray. What follows is how we'd check it, plus the parts of daily family life in Del Ray you can look up before you write an offer: aftercare, the library, the park, the tax bill and the flood map.
School assignment follows the street address
Alexandria City Public Schools assigns elementary, middle and high school by street address. Two houses a block apart can land in different elementary zones, and a listing that says "Del Ray" tells you nothing about which one.
Boundaries changed this school year
The ACPS School Board approved new elementary and middle school boundaries on June 12, 2025, and they took effect July 1, 2026, according to the ACPS school boundaries page. ACPS says approximately 1,400 currently enrolled students are affected.
That matters if you're reading an older listing, a neighbor's recollection or a post from a couple of years ago. The boundary lines some of those sources describe no longer apply.
The deferral options in the plan were for students already enrolled in ACPS. Families had to file a Redistricting Deferral Form by a deadline that has now passed, so our read is that a family moving in now should plan on the current 2026-27 boundaries.
How to look up a specific house
The same ACPS page links to the Attendance Zone Locator. Type in a street address and it returns the assigned elementary, middle and high school, and it now shows whether a student at that address qualifies for bus transportation or falls inside a walk zone. Select the 2026-27 result for the current assignment. If the locator offers a 2025-26 result, use it only to compare the previous boundaries.
Our advice is simple. Run the exact address before you fall for the house, and run it again before you sign. If a school matters to your family, call the ACPS enrollment office with the address in hand.
One school under renovation
The ACPS school boundaries page says George Mason Elementary is under renovation through the 2026-27 school year. ACPS says George Mason students will receive bus transportation to and from a temporary swing space on N. Beauregard Street during that year. If the locator returns George Mason for a house you're considering, confirm the school-day location and transportation with ACPS before planning your morning routine.
Schools in and near Del Ray, by the numbers
The locator will tell you which schools apply to your house. Here's what ACPS's own April 2026 enrollment report says about several schools in and near Del Ray, so you have a sense of size before you visit.
School | Enrollment, April 2026 |
|---|---|
Mount Vernon Community School | 861 |
George Mason Elementary | 273 |
George Washington Middle | 1,428 |
Alexandria City High | 4,208 |
Source: ACPS Student Enrollment Data, April 2026 enrollment by school.
Mount Vernon Community School sits on Commonwealth Avenue and serves grades K-5. ACPS counts 37 homeroom teachers there, with an average of 23 students per homeroom. George Mason averages 18 students per homeroom across 15 homeroom teachers. George Washington Middle, on Mount Vernon Avenue, serves grades 6-8. Across the whole division, ACPS reported 15,928 students as of September 30, 2025, in its 2025-26 Fast Facts.
Size is one thing to look at, not a verdict. A school's enrollment or homeroom average doesn't predict any one child's year. For state test results, attendance and accreditation, the Virginia Department of Education's School Quality Profiles at schoolquality.virginia.gov is the official place to look, school by school. A visit and a conversation with the principal tell you what the numbers can't.
Before school, after school and summer
Aftercare is usually the next question. Two programs run at Del Ray school and recreation sites, and they're built differently.
Campagna Kids
The Campagna Center describes Campagna Kids as a licensed before- and after-school program for kindergarten through fifth grade. It operates at 12 locations, including Mount Vernon Community School, George Mason Elementary and George Washington Middle. Aftercare runs 2:30pm-6pm, Monday through Friday.
Before-school care is narrower. The center says it's currently offered only at James K. Polk and Samuel Tucker, from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m. If you need morning coverage near Del Ray, plan for that gap now.
Fees run on a sliding scale, and the center accepts the City of Alexandria's childcare subsidy. Ask Campagna directly about current fees and space at your school.
The city's Power-On program
The city's Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities department runs Power-On, a school-year afterschool program for kids entering kindergarten through sixth grade (ages 5-11). Mount Vernon Recreation Center on Commonwealth Avenue is one of its sites.
The city is clear that these programs are not licensed childcare. They follow local standards approved by the City Attorney. Ask each program what that means for your family before you count on it.
Summer is priced separately. The Summer 2026 Power-On/Power-Up fee was $459 for the summer, $225 with documentation for free or reduced-price school meals, and free with SNAP or TANF benefits, per the city.
Duncan Branch Library
The James M. Duncan Branch Library sits at 2501 Commonwealth Avenue in Del Ray. Its branch page lists Baby Time for ages 0-14 months, a bilingual English and Spanish story time for ages 0-5 (tickets required), and a Lego Club for school-age builders. Parking is a small lot with 9 spaces plus street parking, so plan on walking or circling on a busy morning.
Eugene Simpson Stadium Park
Eugene Simpson Stadium Park, at 426 E. Monroe Ave, is open 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. The city lists a playground, a fenced dog area, playing fields, basketball, a community garden, restrooms and four pickleball and two tennis courts. The city also has renovation plans posted for the diamond fields and the dog park, so check the park page before you schedule a Saturday game there.
Getting around without the car
The Duncan library works as a reference point for central Del Ray. Its branch page puts Braddock Road Metro 1.3 miles away and King Street Metro 1.5 miles away, both on the Yellow and Blue lines. DASH 33 and Metrobus A11 and A12 serve the branch.
Those are distances from one building, not a commute from your front door. Map your own trip, at the hour you'd actually make it.
The same goes for the walk to school. The ACPS locator shows whether an address is in a walk zone. The city's Vision Zero program adds context: it says 70% of all fatal or severe crashes from 2016 to 2020 happened on roughly 10% of the city's street network, and that over 150 people were killed or severely injured in Alexandria traffic crashes between 2017 and 2021. The city's Vision Zero Crash Dashboard lets you explore that data for the streets on your route.
What the house will cost to carry
A family budget is more than the mortgage. The price of any Del Ray home depends on the house, the lot and the block, and the city's Office of Real Estate Assessments lets you look up the current assessment and sale history for a specific parcel. For how we think about value on a particular house, see how Alexandria homes get priced.
Real estate tax
The city assesses property at 100% of estimated fair market value as of January 1 each year, and bills real estate tax in two installments, per the City of Alexandria's real estate tax page. On April 29, 2026, City Council set the rate at $1.135 per $100 of assessed value.
By our math, a home assessed at $1,000,000 would owe $11,350 a year in real estate tax at that rate. That's an illustration, not a quote for any house. Your own bill depends on your assessment and any relief you qualify for, and a CPA is the right person for the tax questions.
Fees on the same bill
The city's FY 2026 approved tax rates add two fees to the real estate bill: a residential refuse fee of $500 per can per year and a stormwater utility fee of $324.10 per Equivalent Residential Unit.
Check the flood map, and the basement
The city says about 20% of Alexandria is mapped as floodplain, on its flooding preparedness page. The same page warns that heavy rain sometimes causes sewer backups in parts of the city, and it lists steps like keeping a backflow preventer in working order and making sure downspouts carry water away from the foundation.
Neither of those is a verdict on a neighborhood. They're items for a specific house. Look up the address on FEMA's flood map, ask the sellers about any water in the lower level, and have your inspector look at grading and drains. A finished basement playroom is a lot less charming after one wet September.
Putting it together for one house
If you're weighing a particular Del Ray home for your family, here's the order we'd work in:
- Run the address in the ACPS Attendance Zone Locator, for both school and bus eligibility.
- Visit the assigned schools and read their School Quality Profiles.
- Call aftercare before you need it, especially if you need morning care.
- Walk the school route and the library route at the hours you'd use them.
- Look up the parcel's assessment and do the tax math with the city's rate.
- Check the FEMA map and ask about water history.
If you're comparing Del Ray with other parts of the city, our guide to what families compare across Alexandria neighborhoods walks through the tradeoffs. Coming from farther away? Start with moving to Alexandria, VA, and if a PCS or agency transfer is setting your timeline, see our notes on federal and military relocation in Northern Virginia. School-year timing and boundary lookups belong on that checklist too.
About the author
Elizabeth Lucchesi founded The LizLuke Team at LONG & FOSTER REAL ESTATE INC and lives in Del Ray. Most of our business comes from referrals and repeat clients. You can meet Elizabeth and the team, and when you're ready to talk through a specific house and what the school lookup says, we'd be glad to sit down with you.
This is general information and is not legal or tax advice.
The LizLuke Team at LONG & FOSTER REAL ESTATE INC. 110 N Royal St, Ste 300,
Alexandria, VA 22314. Office 703.683.0400. The LizLuke Team (703) 868-5676. Virginia License #0225069250.
Equal Housing Opportunity.
All information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
Sources
- Alexandria City Public Schools, New School Boundaries for SY 2026-27: https://www.acps.k12.va.us/families/school-boundaries
- Alexandria City Public Schools, Student Enrollment Data (April 2026): https://www.acps.k12.va.us/about-us/enrollment-data
- Alexandria City Public Schools, Fast Facts 2025-26: https://www.acps.k12.va.us/about-us/fast-facts
- The Campagna Center, Campagna Kids: https://www.campagnacenter.org/program/campagna-kids/
- City of Alexandria RPCA, Out of School Time: Power-On/Power-Up Programs: https://alexandriava.gov/recreation-programs/out-of-school-time-power-onpower-up-programs
- Alexandria Library, Duncan Branch: https://alexlibraryva.org/duncan
- City of Alexandria RPCA, Eugene Simpson Stadium Park: https://www.alexandriava.gov/parks/location/eugene-simpson-stadium-park
- City of Alexandria, Vision Zero: https://www.alexandriava.gov/VisionZero
- City of Alexandria, Real Estate Tax Information: https://www.alexandriava.gov/RealEstateTax
- City of Alexandria, Tax Rates: https://www.alexandriava.gov/taxes/tax-rates
- City of Alexandria, Flooding Preparedness Information: https://www.alexandriava.gov/Flooding
