It’s official: Arlington Public Schools will now open on Sept. 8, and classes will be held entirely online.
Superintendent Francisco Durán announced his decision to host online-only classes on Tuesday, at least for the first half of the fall semester, and spoke in more detail about the plan at a School Board meeting yesterday (Thursday).
(Updated at 2:50 p.m.) Arlington Public Schools would start the new school year a week later than originally planned, and with full time distance learning, under a new plan being proposed by new Superintendent Francisco Durán.
That’s according to a School Talk email just sent to APS families.
(Updated at 5:15 p.m.) An increasingly vocal group of parents and teachers are calling on Arlington Public Schools to scrap plans to have most students return to classrooms twice per week.
The current APS “hybrid” plan calls for two cohorts of students each going into school two days per week, while wearing masks and practicing physical distancing. It also allows parents and students to opt for online-only learning.
Nearly 1,000 people have signed an online petition calling on Arlington Public Schools to require masks for in-person instruction in the fall. They’re in luck: that’s precisely what APS is planning to do.
“Moving forward we will be requiring all staff and students to wear face coverings while in school and at work as medically appropriate,” Superintendent Dr. Francisco Durán said in a presentation on Wednesday, adding that APS based its mask policy on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control.
Monique O’Grady has been selected to serve as Arlington School Board Chair for the 2020-2021 school year.
O’Grady takes over the rotating chairmanship from Tannia Talento, who along with Nancy Van Doren is retiring from the School Board after this year, setting up a three-way race to fill the two empty seats.
(Updated at 5 p.m.) Under a new Arlington Public Schools proposal, set to be presented Thursday night, most students would start the new school year in a hybrid instructional model that involves only two days in classrooms per week.
Superintendent Dr. Francisco Durán, who told APS families in an email earlier this week that the school system was “reviewing hybrid instructional models that blend in-person and distance learning for students,” is set to make the presentation to the School Board tonight.
A Wakefield High School teacher has been honored by a national organization for her role in promoting news literacy among her social studies students.
Every year since 2016, the nonprofit News Literacy Project (NLP) has selected one journalist and one student for their role in promoting news literacy and understanding. This year, for the first time, the organization has selected an educator — Patricia Hunt — as well.
A lawsuit has been filed against Arlington Public Schools’ controversial elementary school swap.
The swap, which was approved by a 4-1 School Board vote in February, would move Key Elementary students and staff to the current Arlington Traditional School, Arlington Traditional students and staff to the current McKinley Elementary, and McKinley students and staff to a new school being built in Westover.
In the midst of an uptick of activism in Arlington, both current and former students of Arlington Public Schools are calling for reforms to the school system.
Sparsh Srivastava, a 2016 graduate from H-B Woodlawn, has gathered over 750 signatures on a Change.org petition launched earlier this week asking APS to offer a racial education elective course for high schoolers to take as a social studies credit.
In a School Talk email, Cintia Johnson — who is soon to be succeeded by newly-hired superintendent Dr. Francisco Durán — said that APS is planning for three scenarios to start the fall: in-home distance learning, a return to classrooms, or a hybrid of the two.
Distance learning is “a likely scenario,” Johnson wrote, noting that APS is awaiting expected guidance from the Virginia Dept. of Education next month. A presentation linked in the email describes distance learning, at least to start, as “very probable.”
A banner featuring a collage of photos of Yorktown High School seniors was intended to celebrate the class of 2020, but instead it is being decried as racist.
The banner has since been removed and Yorktown’s principal has apologized, after the controversy blew up on social media yesterday. At issue: the banner uses class photos to form an image of the Yorktown logo, but singles out students of color to create the black outline of the logo.
Schools may be closed, but Arlington PTAs have stepped up and supported local families in their school communities through the coronavirus pandemic.
At K.W. Barrett Elementary School in the Buckingham neighborhood, the school PTA has gone through two rounds of grocery gift card distribution to families in need.
