Principal Alexander Duncan III was not always the best in school.

“In full transparency, I would get in trouble. I was one of those students who had a lot of mouth in class,” Duncan said. 

Had it not been for Duncan’s inspiring 10th grade business teacher, Dr. Brenda Chapman, he may have continued on the same path. 

“[Dr.] Chapman pulled me to the [side] one day, and she gave me a good, hard talking too. Ever since then, I’ve thought to myself: how many other students [were] like me?” Duncan said. 

Since then, Duncan has worked tirelessly to incorporate his experience as a student into his new role as the school’s principal. Specific new policies, such as the warning bell, are a direct result of Duncan’s outlook. 

“I was a student who, during transition, loved meeting with my friends and catching up. I thought sometimes time can [go fast]; you know you’re talking, you’re having a good time,  and next thing you know the transition is up,” Duncan said.

Compared to other reforms, the warning bell is one of the minor changes occurring at the school this year. APS implemented the pilot Yondr Pouch Program during the week of Sept. 16, 2024. Since then, the program has expanded to reach all APS high schools, including the school. When asked about his thoughts on the Yondr Pouches coming to the school, Duncan provided a hopeful response regarding the future of the program. 

“I think Yondr is a great way to start, but I don’t think that’s the end-all,” Duncan said. “I think what we’re learning as a general society and culture is how to go back to being present in social interaction.”

In a school with more than 2,000 students, Duncan hopes to make the Yondr Pouch program more efficient than ever in the coming months. 

“I’m working to create a system where instead of us having to manually check ID’s and do all of that, [we would] be able to use IDs to help us verify because they have barcodes,” Duncan said.

Duncan has experience as principal. 

“I was the principal for Alexandria City High School. I was their executive principal for two years, and before that, I was the principal of one of the 9th-grade campuses,” Duncan said.

Before becoming a principal, Duncan also served as an English teacher for 14 years, which heavily influenced his decision to join the administrative staff. Duncan recounted that the epiphany to become a principal had come to him in a car repair center. 

“I was waiting for my car to get fixed, and I thought to myself: What if you could work with other amazing teachers and help them create in their classroom what you are trying to create in your classroom?” Duncan said.

As the school expands to accommodate the growing number of students every year, Duncan is working to modify specific school policies, such as GP and building security.

“Whenever you’re thinking about an initiative, a project, an idea and activity you have to account for the large [number] of students that we serve. It’s a great problem to have but at the same time it also presents a number of different opportunities for us to get creative,” Duncan said.

For example, one of the biggest events of the year is currently being planned to fit the school’s large student population. 

“I just had a meeting about an hour ago, and we were talking about homecoming. We were talking about how to organize the tickets because we’re trying to sell [them] to almost 3000 students,” Duncan said.

In the upcoming years, the school population is set to rise even more. However, Duncan is ready to accommodate more students and expects this growth to be just the beginning for the school.

“I’m always as a leader thinking about what’s next, so even if the division is not telling me the school is going to grow by an astronomical amount of students, I’m always planning for that. I’m currently thinking about the 26/27 [academic schedule,]” Duncan said.

Nevertheless, Duncan does not work alone. In his short time at the school, Duncan has met countless teachers and students who have helped him and inspired his new policies.

“I started working with the leadership team, started meeting more students, started working with staff, and just hearing things that were sitting in [the] front of [their] minds. For me, what helped [was] to present what needed to be addressed first based on people’s feedback,” Duncan said.

When asked if Duncan came to the school looking to change the policies, he was quick to respond. 

“In full transparency, I didn’t come into [this] high school thinking of changing anything. I just came [to] Washington Liberty High School wanting to support the school,” Duncan said.

However, this is just the beginning of Duncan’s journey at the school. 

“I look forward to working with the students [and] working with the staff, so that we can figure out the priorities for the school as a group and get about changing them together as a whole community,” Duncan said.