Author: Jo DeVoe

Feature

Courthouse-Based Stand Together Ventures Lab Invests in ‘Revolutionary’ Startups

By Jo DeVoe

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups, founders, and other local technology news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring Shirlington Gateway. The new 2800 Shirlington recently delivered a brand-new lobby and upgraded fitness center, and is adding spec suites with bright open plans and modern finishes. Experience a prime location and enjoy being steps from Shirlington Village. 

(Updated at 3:20 p.m.) Stand Together Ventures Lab, part of the Arlington-based philanthropic organization Stand Together, is helping launch and fund startups that could help people in transformational ways.

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Traffic

Memorial Bridge Fully Open After Two Years of Construction

By Jo DeVoe
Memorial Bridge at the blue hour (Flickr pool photo by Kevin Wolf)

(Updated at 1:45 p.m.) After two years of construction, the Arlington Memorial Bridge is completely open for drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists.

The 90-year-old bridge, which connects Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial, was renovated to save it from potentially closing for good in 2021. The $227 million rehabilitation project, one of the largest infrastructure projects in National Park Service history, will give the bridge another 75 years of service, officials said on Friday.

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Schools

Reading Proficiency Among K-2 Students Trending Down Amid Pandemic

By Jo DeVoe
Three-year trends in literacy results among K-2 students, by race, in Arlington Public Schools (Image via APS)

Fewer K-2 students in Arlington Public Schools, particularly English learners and Black and Hispanic children, are meeting literacy benchmarks this fall, according to new data.

All APS elementary schools recently completed the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) diagnostic, provided by the Commonwealth of Virginia, for kindergarteners and first- and second-graders. The statewide system uses the screener to gauge whether students are grasping the foundations of reading.

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Around Town

Want to Reach Santa This Year? Mail a Letter from the Gulf Branch Nature Center

By Jo DeVoe
Gulf Branch Nature Center (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Kids who want to talk to Santa Claus can drop off letters at the Gulf Branch Nature Center through Dec. 14.

For the first time, the park is collecting letters to send to St. Nick, rather than facilitating a weekend of in-person visits with the jolly one himself. In non-pandemic years, Santa visits typically drew up to 300 kids and families, park manager Rachael Tolman said.

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News

Specialty Grocery Store and Beloved NYC Bakery Filling Open Retail Space in Crystal City

By Jo DeVoe

An unnamed specialty grocery store and Mah-Ze-Dahr, a bakery said to have some of New York City’s best doughnuts, are two of the businesses coming to Crystal City as part of a major redevelopment.

JBG Smith is giving a block of Crystal Drive between 15th and 18th streets — also known as “Crystal Square” — a facelift and a new name: Central District Retail. The redevelopment, approved by the County Board in 2018, will blend retail, public spaces and transit services, according to the developer’s website.

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Schools

Arlington Public Schools to Publish Grades Report This Month

By Jo DeVoe

Arlington Public Schools is preparing data that will compare students’ grades this fall, during distance learning, with pre-pandemic grades in the fall of 2019.

Superintendent Francisco Durán will present the highlights of this report at the Dec. 17 School Board meeting, APS spokesman Frank Bellavia said.

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News

County Board Chair Libby Garvey, Other Va. Officials Band Together to Advocate for Virtual Meetings

By Jo DeVoe
Virtual Arlington County Board meeting on August 25, 2020, featuring Dr. Reuben Varghese

Working remotely started as an experiment but is now a permanent option for some U.S. companies. Now, the trend may be coming for public meetings.

Virtual public meetings began in the spring after an emergency order from Gov. Ralph Northam authorized them. Normally, according to Virginia code, in-person meetings are required. Existing law lets officials attend up to two meetings virtually, if a majority is present in-person, and they must state for the record their reason for staying away.

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Schools

New School Boundaries Draw Mixed Responses Ahead of Vote This Week

By Jo DeVoe

(Updated at 9:45 p.m.) New elementary school boundary changes released last week would relocate more than thousand students and increase the number who can walk to school, according to Arlington Public Schools.

The changes are part of the third boundary proposal that APS released before Thanksgiving. Community members responded to the proposal with mixed reviews in a hearing on Tuesday night, ahead of a planned School Board vote on Thursday.

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News

JBG Smith Proposes a Restaurant in a Courtyard Along Crystal Drive

By Jo DeVoe
Rendering of proposed 2121 Crystal Drive restaurant in the courtyard (photo courtesy JBG Smith)

(Updated at 9:45 a.m.) Developer JBG Smith is making changes to plans it had for two courtyard eateries on Crystal Drive.

In 2018 the County Board approved a plan for two restaurants for the green space at 2121 Crystal Drive, which currently has walking paths, trees, a field, a lighted gazebo and seating. JBG Smith is returning to the County Board with a new plan that would combine the two eateries into one larger restaurant.

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Schools

Arlington PTAs Raising Money to Feed Hungry Families

By Jo DeVoe
Bags of produce await distribution through FRESHFARM's Pop Up Food Hub (Photo courtesy FRESHFARM)

(Updated at 1:30 p.m.) The Arlington County Council of PTAs is collecting money through Friday to buy fresh produce for families in need, with help from a local farmers market operator.

Through the initiative — part of the council’s pandemic relief efforts — the CCPTA is partnering with FRESHFARM Markets to provide fresh food to about 900 families who have been receiving food through seven PTA and school-based distribution sites. Fundraising will go until Dec. 4, with an extra push today (Dec. 1) for Giving Tuesday.

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Feature

Dorsata Improves Physician-Patient Experience in Women’s Health

By Jo DeVoe

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups, founders, and other local technology news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring Shirlington Gateway. The new 2800 Shirlington recently delivered a brand-new lobby and upgraded fitness center, and is adding spec suites with bright open plans and modern finishes. Experience a prime location and enjoy being steps from Shirlington Village. 

(Updated on 12/18/20 at 5:15 p.m.) Three years ago, David Fairbrothers was running out of ideas, and money, to boost his fledgling company. But he took a chance and booked the cheapest booth at a women’s health conference.

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Schools

History of Integration Animates the New Dorothy Hamm Middle School

By Jo DeVoe
On the wall of the ground floor of the extension is a mural of the first four Black students to integrate Dorothy Hamm Middle School in 1959 (Staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

A giant photograph of four Black children who made history in Arlington was just installed in the new wing of Dorothy Hamm Middle School (4100 Vacation Lane), which is close to being completed.

The mural honors Ronald Deskins, Michael Jones, Lance Newman and Gloria Thompson, who set foot in Stratford Junior High School on Feb. 2, 1959, officially ending the practice of segregation in Arlington Public Schools.

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