Schools | ARLnow.com

APS: 100 Students Aren’t Vaccinated

Published February 3, 2015 at 3:30PM

The number represents only 0.4 percent of the 24,529 students currently enrolled in APS. There are only two reasons a student is allowed to attend school without receiving proper immunizations: medical or religious reasons.

“For a medical exemption, a letter must be written from a licensed medical provider stating specifically from which immunizations a child is exempt,” Arlington School Health Bureau Chief Marian Harmon said in an email. “For a religious exemption, the parent must complete the religious exemption form for immunizations and have it notarized.”

County Board Rejection of TJ Elementary School Leaves APS Scrambling

By Ethan Rothstein

Published January 28, 2015 at 5:40PM | Updated January 28, 2015 at 8:16PM

A County Board vote Tuesday night threatens to turn elementary schools south of Route 50 into virtual trailer parks — as Arlington Public Schools administrators scramble to come up with ideas, studies and public support for new school construction.

The County Board voted 4-1 to say “not now,” to the School Board’s request to build a new elementary school on county-owned land next to Thomas Jefferson Middle School. Libby Garvey, a former School Board chair, cast the dissenting vote.

APS to Students: Stop Being Mean to Us on Twitter

By ARLnow.com

Published January 27, 2015 at 11:00AM

Yesterday @APSVirginia tweeted a “friendly reminder” for those mentioning it in tweets to “be respectful.”

“We remove followers who don’t,” the school system said. “Our technology policies apply in the Twitterverse.”

APS to Open on Two Hour Delay

By ARLnow.com

Published January 27, 2015 at 7:05AM

Arlington Public Schools are opening on a two hour delay this morning due to concerns about icy conditions.

From APS:

TV Meteorologist Gets in Twitter Fight with APS

By ARLnow.com

Published January 12, 2015 at 1:00AM | Updated January 12, 2015 at 10:24AM

Arlington Public Schools has yet to announce any sort of delay Monday, despite concerns about freezing rain.

ABC 7 meteorologist Steve Rudin doesn’t think that’s such a good idea.

APS To Open on Two Hour Delay, Again

By ARLnow.com

Published January 7, 2015 at 7:45PM

With Arlington and the D.C. region under a Wind Chill Advisory, the two hour delay on Thursday is intended to help protect students from the extreme cold.

APS issued the following statement about the decision tonight.

Arlington Schools to Open Two Hours Late Wednesday

By ARLnow.com

Published January 6, 2015 at 9:40PM

School bus stuck in the snow, January 2015 (staff photo)

Arlington Public Schools will open on a two hour delay tomorrow (Wednesday).

APS says predicted frigid temperatures may cause a refreeze on roads and sidewalks overnight, making driving and walking dangerous. The delay comes after APS was roundly criticized for opening on time this morning, in the midst of a snow storm.

Parents Livid at APS Decision to Open Schools

By Ethan Rothstein

Published January 6, 2015 at 12:20PM | Updated January 6, 2015 at 12:45PM

Car hits a stuck school bus at S. Joyce and 23rd Street. No children were on board.

(Updated at 12:45 p.m.) Arlington Public Schools has issued an apology as the early-morning decision to keep schools open today has been widely derided by parents as dangerous and misguided.

As more snow fell than predicted, and did so during the morning rush hour, school buses around the county got stuck on hills, were involved in accidents and, in some cases, never arrived to pick up their students.

Possible Norovirus Outbreak at Long Branch Elementary

By ARLnow.com

Published December 19, 2014 at 6:00PM

At least 20 students went to the school clinic Friday because of nausea or vomiting, according to Arlington Dept. of Human Services spokesman Kurt Larrick.

Officials say they’re investigating whether the illness was caused by norovirus, and whether the virus might have spread due to a bathroom that was not cleaned properly.

School Board Approves Plan to Move H-B Woodlawn

By Ethan Rothstein

Published December 19, 2014 at 4:45PM | Updated December 19, 2014 at 5:14PM

The Wilson School, which preservationists launched a petition to save last year, will be torn down and replaced with an estimated 775-seat facility house H-B Woodlawn, the Stratford program, and other, smaller programs that had been housed in the Stratford building.

The demolition and new facility will cost an estimated $80.2 million and be completed by the start of the 2019-2020 school year.

APS Reveals North Arlington Elementary School Boundary Options

By Ethan Rothstein

Published December 16, 2014 at 3:45PM | Updated December 16, 2014 at 4:10PM

Arlington Public Schools has released preferred and alternative plans for its revision of the North Arlington elementary school boundaries.

Under the preferred plan, five schools — Taylor, Glebe, Ashlawn, McKinley and Tuckahoe — would still be between 103.95 and 109.22 percent capacity, while Jamestown would be at 86.1 percent capacity and Nottingham and the new Discovery Elementary would each be around 90 percent.

Wakefield Football Finally Breaks Through

By Ethan Rothstein

Published November 21, 2014 at 2:40PM | Updated November 21, 2014 at 4:25PM

In what may be the final practice of the Wakefield High School football team’s greatest season ever, head coach Wayne Hogwood runs a drill for end-of-game situations that culminates in a 30-yard field goal. His team, joking on the sideline in between drills for the previous hour and a half, storms the field as if they just clinched a championship.

Players hoot and holler — one even jumps on Hogwood’s back — before settling down to hear their energetic young coach discuss meeting times before tonight’s game. One would never suspect that, in 26 hours, the Warriors (8-3) would kick off the school’s first second round playoff game against an 11-0 team from Tuscarora High School that has laid waste to nearly every opponent it has played so far.