You’ve seen the movie. Denzel Washington pacing the sidelines, a community healing through football, and that catchy "Remember the Titans" soundtrack. It’s a great story. Honestly, it’s one of the best sports movies ever made. But if you walk around Alexandria today looking for TC Williams HS Alexandria, you won’t find it.
The name is gone.
As of July 2021, the school is officially Alexandria City High School. The transition wasn't just a quick paint job on the gymnasium floor either. It was the culmination of decades of tension, a massive student-led movement called "The Identity Project," and a reckoning with a man who, quite frankly, didn't want the school to be integrated in the first place.
The Namesake Nobody Talks About
Thomas Chambliss Williams. That’s the "TC" in the name. He was the superintendent of Alexandria City Public Schools from the mid-1930s until 1963. For years, he was just a name on a building, a vague historical figure associated with a winning football team.
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The reality is a bit darker.
Williams was a staunch, vocal segregationist. He didn't just support the status quo; he actively fought against the integration of Alexandria’s schools. There are records of him arguing that Black and white students shouldn't be in the same classrooms because they had different "social and cultural backgrounds." He even once threatened to fire any teacher who supported integration.
Imagine that.
The school made famous for "racial harmony" was named after a man who would have been horrified by the 1971 Titans. It’s a weird, layered irony that most people visiting from out of town never realize. For the locals, though, the name became a heavy weight. By 2020, following the national protests after George Floyd’s death, the community decided they’d had enough of the contradiction.
What the Movie Got Wrong (And Right)
We have to talk about the film. Remember the Titans portrays 1971 as this "ground zero" moment for integration in Alexandria. Hollywood loves a clear timeline.
But history is messy.
TC Williams HS Alexandria actually opened its doors in 1965. And here’s the kicker: it was integrated from day one. By 1971, the school had already been racially mixed for six years. The big drama that year wasn't actually the start of integration, but rather a massive consolidation. The city closed its other high schools—George Washington and Francis C. Hammond—and funneled everyone into TC Williams.
Suddenly, you had three sets of rival athletes competing for one set of jerseys. That’s where the real tension came from. It was less about "I don't like your skin color" and more about "I was the star quarterback at Hammond, and now I’m on the bench."
- The Gettysburg Run: That 3 a.m. jog to the cemetery? Never happened. The team did tour the battlefield, but it was a standard daytime tour with a guide.
- The Brick through the Window: In the movie, a brick is thrown through Coach Boone’s window. In real life, it was a toilet. No, seriously. A toilet.
- Gerry Bertier's Accident: In the film, he’s paralyzed before the state championship. In reality, he played in that game and led the team to victory. His accident happened weeks later, after the season banquet.
The movie simplifies the struggle, but it gets the vibe right. Alexandria was a powder keg. In 1970, a Black teenager named Robin Gibson was killed by a white store clerk, sparking riots. The Titans didn't just play football; they gave a grieving, divided city something else to focus on.
Life at the "New" Alexandria City High School
If you visit the King Street campus today, it’s a massive, modern glass-and-brick complex. It’s huge. We're talking about a school with over 4,500 students. It’s so big that it functions more like a small college than a traditional high school.
Because of the sheer size, the school now operates across multiple campuses, including the recently expanded Minnie Howard campus. In 2025 and 2026, the school shifted toward an "Academy" model. Basically, instead of just being one of 4,000 kids, you join a smaller learning community like the STEM Academy or the Visual and Performing Arts Academy.
It’s an attempt to make a giant institution feel human.
The diversity is staggering. You’ll hear dozens of languages in the hallways. It’s a far cry from the rigid, segregated vision Thomas Chambliss Williams had for the city. While the name on the front of the building changed, the nickname—the Titans—stayed. The community felt that "Titans" belonged to the students and the 1971 team, not to the man the school was named after.
Notable Alumni: It's Not Just Football
While the football team gets the spotlight, the school has turned out an incredible array of talent. It’s sort of a "who’s who" of Northern Virginia.
- Noah Lyles: The Olympic sprinter and world champion. He’s arguably the fastest man on the planet, and he’s a proud graduate.
- Dermot Mulroney: The actor. You know him from My Best Friend's Wedding.
- Casey Affleck: Yes, that Casey Affleck. He attended for a time.
- Tierra Ruffin-Pratt: A WNBA standout who basically rewrote the record books for the school’s basketball program.
It’s a place that produces high achievers, probably because you have to learn how to navigate such a large, complex environment at such a young age.
The 2026 Reality
Right now, Alexandria City High School is classified as an "On Track" school by the Virginia Department of Education. It’s showing growth in math and reading scores, which is a big deal for a school this size. They’ve also leaned hard into "Project-Based Learning." Instead of just sitting and listening to a lecture, kids are out there solving real-world problems in the community.
So, if you're looking for the legacy of TC Williams HS Alexandria, don't look for a name on a plaque. Look at the kids. Look at the fact that Alexandria managed to take a name associated with exclusion and turn the school into a symbol of the exact opposite.
What to Do if You Visit
If you’re a fan of history or the movie and find yourself in Northern Virginia, there are a few things you should actually check out:
- The Memorial Table: Inside the school, there’s a memorial for Gerry Bertier. It’s a quiet spot that honors the real man, not the movie character.
- Parker-Gray Memorial Field: Take a walk by the football field. It’s named after the city’s former all-Black high school, a nod to the history that existed before the consolidation.
- The Rotunda: The main entrance of the King Street campus is impressive. It’s often where you’ll see student art and displays about the school’s evolving identity.
The story of the school isn't finished. It wasn't finished in 1971, and it wasn't finished in 2021 when the name changed. It’s a living, breathing experiment in how a city deals with its past while trying to build a better future for its kids. Honestly, that’s way more interesting than a Disney movie.
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To get a true sense of the school’s current impact, check the latest "School Quality Profiles" from the Virginia Department of Education or visit the Alexandria City Public Schools website to see their 2026 strategic plan in action.
Next Steps:
To see how the school's legacy continues today, you can explore the official Alexandria City High School website to view their current "Academy" programs or visit the Alexandria Black History Museum to learn more about the real-life integration struggles of the 1960s that preceded the 1971 season.