A “threatening email” has prompted additional police patrols around schools in Arlington.
The email was sent to “multiple school divisions and institutions of higher education across Virginia” and “there is no indication of a specific or credible threat to any APS school,” Arlington Public Schools said in an email to families Thursday afternoon.
The new home of the Arlington Career Center is still on track to be ready for the start of the 2026-27 school year, but the margin of error is getting increasingly narrow.
School Board members are preparing to discuss a staff request to appropriate $670,000 in contingency funds on Thursday, aiming to meet the most recent challenges for the new Grace Hopper Center at 816 S. Walter Reed Drive.
Planned program changes at the new home for the Arlington Career Center are prompting anger at a parent group supporting Arlington Tech.
Concerns are being raised that a shift in proposed programming at the forthcoming Grace Hopper Center, detailed by Superintendent Francisco Durán and staff to School Board members during a Nov. 18 work session, could dilute the specialty program and the opportunities it provides to students.
Arlington Democrats have approved rules for the party’s 2026 School Board caucus, though whether it will be held remains to be seen.
Arlington County Democratic Committee on Wednesday nearly unanimously set in place rules for a springtime caucus that will only be required if more than one candidate files for the lone position on the ballot next year.
A special “stumbling stone” unveiling last week taught Gunston Middle School sixth graders about the harsh lives of those enslaved across Arlington — and in their very neighborhoods.
The stones, the latest in a series being placed across the county, recognize the lives of Sina and George, a mother-son duo enslaved during the mid-1800s in the area where the school is now located. While the full story of their lives is not known, research has uncovered some information:
Arlington Public Schools students are about to enjoy their first snow delay of the season.
The school system announced tonight that it would open on a two hour delay Friday due to the expected morning snowfall. Forecasters say the snow could lead to slippery roads and a difficult morning commute.
Arlington Public Schools staff are proposing a new self-contained high school program for students who face recurring mental health challenges.
The proposed Flexible Learning Program would include dedicated clinical staff in addition to classroom teachers. It could serve up to 100 students at a time and would be located in the same Pentagon City office building that will house Arlington Community High School starting next fall.
The Arlington School Board is considering a possible change to the daily schedules at local high schools.
Staff laid out possible changes to the current “seven-period block schedule” at a School Board work session on Nov. 18. Options on the table, in addition to maintaining the status quo, include:
Numerous community members are pressing the Arlington School Board for a firm commitment to either renovating or replacing Thomas Jefferson Middle School.
Teachers, parents and students all pointed to the challenges of the half-century-old building’s narrow halls and limited natural light, which result in what one seventh grader called “a somewhat depressing environment.”
Arlington Public Schools leaders hope to return to a lower, pre-Covid level of student absenteeism by 2030.
“That last year before the pandemic, 2018-19, we were around [an] 8% rate. We have been using that number as a goal, our star, for the last couple of years,” said Darrell Simpson, executive director for student services, during a Nov. 13 briefing of School Board members.
Arlington Public Schools leaders have set their plans in place for deciding when to close schools for wintry weather.
The school system has 12 snow days built into the calendar for elementary school, 15 for middle and high school. Should those numbers be exceeded, leaders plan to move to virtual learning — a staple of the pandemic era — rather than lengthen the school year to meet the state minimum of 180 days or 990 hours of instructional time.
Suspensions were down at the start of the school year in Arlington, but some significant disparities remain across different student demographics.
First-quarter suspension totals “continue to show some overrepresentation” of certain groups, including Black students and students with disabilities, Superintendent Francisco Durán told School Board members on Nov. 13.
