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.
A new Arlington Public Schools budget passed late last week will increase class sizes by one student at all grade levels, starting in the fall.
The $670 million budget largely follows Interim Superintendent Cintia Johnson’s revised budget proposal, which included $54 million in cuts to her original budget, due to a projected downturn in revenue attributable to the pandemic.
Arlington Public Schools is preparing for the possibility that in-person classes will not, in fact, resume in the fall.
There are new questions about when students will be returning to physical classrooms, following today’s Congressional testimony by Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Arlington Public Schools is considering ending the school year a week early.
The proposal was announced at the School Board meeting Thursday night, in which APS also announced its new superintendent.
At its meeting Thursday night, the School Board announced that it has hired Dr. Francisco Durán for the school system’s top job, following a national search. Durán comes from Fairfax County Public Schools, where he has served as Chief Academic and Equity Officer since 2015.
The announcement of Durán’s appointment follows a letter to families from interim superintendent Cintia Johnson on Monday, in which she said she decided not to apply for the permanent position.
Arlington Public Schools is adjusting the schedule for distributing meals to family in need, starting next week.
The school system will go from offering grab-and-go meals five days per week to three days per week: Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The change is being made to mitigate potential coronavirus exposure.
While they can’t meet in person, the five candidates vying for the Arlington County Democratic Committee’s School Board endorsement will meet virtually tomorrow (Tuesday) for a debate.
There are two spots opening on the School Board, with incumbents Tannia Talento and Nancy Van Doren not running for reelection. The candidates seeking the Democratic endorsement are Steven Krieger, Cristina Diaz-Torres, David Priddy, Sandy Munnell, and Terron Sims. A sixth candidate, Symone Walker, is no longer seeking the Democratic endorsement and is instead running as an independent.
(Updated at 4:15 p.m.) Arlington Public Schools is holding off on teaching new material until the fall, a decision that has raised the ire of some parents — and now one candidate for School Board.
APS made the announcement over spring break that fourth quarter material would be held until September, “as part of our commitment to ensuring equity of access to new learning for all students.” Instead, following the closure of all Virginia schools for the remainder of the academic year, students are engaging in distance learning that reinforces existing concepts.
Hundreds of Washington-Liberty High School students woke up Tuesday morning in Arlington to find their front lawns adorned with congratulatory messages.
Principal Gregg Robertson said administrators and faculty at the school missed their students and were heartbroken that seniors didn’t get to experience their full senior year due to the coronavirus closure.
The coronavirus pandemic will mean big changes to the Arlington Public Schools budget.
Interim Arlington Public Schools Superintendent Cintia Johnson presented her revised budget to the School Board via video conference last night, detailing plans to slash $54 million from what was once an ambitious budget calling for $725.8 million in expenditures.
On Thursday, Arlington Public Schools revealed its plan for resuming remote learning following spring break, which ends today.
The summary: given the difficulty in ensuring that all students can learn new concepts at home during coronavirus pandemic, nothing new will be taught through the remainder of the school year.
Virginia schools may be closed for the rest of the academic year, but Barrett Elementary staff members haven’t gone anywhere.
