This article was written by Maddy Berner
“I was looking at choosing colleges and I wasn’t sure of about that level of intensity,” she said. “I felt like I needed more time to figure that out.”
Schools
Fall practices for Arlington’s high school football teams began Monday, officially ending the summer for fall sports athletes. In about three weeks (August 29), defending National District champs Yorktown will open play. One month from today — Sept. 6 — will be the opening night of the season for Washington-Lee and Wakefield.
Those who want to get the chance to see one of the best football teams in the country should head to Bishop O’Connell on Oct. 26 to watch the team play Maryland’s Good Counsel. The date many in Arlington will want to circle on their calendars will be Nov. 8, the last game of the regular season, when Washington-Lee takes on Yorktown.
This article was written by Audrey Batcheller
Whether they’ve spent the past 18 years in the county or have just been around for high school, these young adults have unique perspectives on life in Arlington.
Alcohol use among Arlington teens is down, and a recent trip for a group of high school students was organized to help continue that trend.
Data from the Arlington Partnership for Children, Youth, and Families shows that the percentage of Arlington high school students that reported recently drinking alcohol decreased by eight percent from 2004 to 2010. In an effort to keep that number declining, Arlington’s READY Coalition sponsored a trip for Arlington students and their School Resource Officers — Arlington County police officers assigned to schools — to attend the 29th Annual Youth Alcohol & Drug Abuse Prevention Project (YADAPP) conference last week.
This article was co-written by Audrey Batcheller
As fall sports season approaches for Arlington’s high schools, varsity athletes must adjust to the new Virginia High School League realignment and reclassification for post-season competition.
This article was written by Audrey Batcheller
All three Arlington high schools have recently been rebuilt, but it appears they are already over capacity. Washington-Lee has seen its enrollment rise by 30 percent in the last six years, and this increase can be partially attributed to the abundance of transfers coming to the school for the International Baccalaureate diploma program. Washington-Lee is the only high school in the county that offers this program, so many transfer students apply to participate in the competitive diploma program. Yorktown and Wakefield have also seen steady increases in their enrollment, and Wakefield students will begin studying in their new facility this coming school year.
The construction began in 2009 and has been split into three phases, with Phase 1 completed in the summer of 2010 and Phase 2 in December 2011. Phase 3 is now in its finals stages.
Meanwhile, the classroom trailers that had housed overflow students during construction have been moved into the parking lot for Phase 3 while the tennis courts are being replaced. Arlington Public School officials sent a letter last month to parents assuring them that the trailers will be removed soon and will not be there when school starts in September.
The raise boosts his salary to $218,375 in the 2013-2014 school year, up from $209,976 last year.
The increase was in line with raises given to all “exempt and professional staff” in the system, and per the terms of his contract, school officials said. Last year Murphy, who joined Arlington Public Schools in 2009, signed a new contract that will keep him at the school system through June 30, 2016.
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Raphael will serve for a one-year term, through June 2014. She replaces Emma Violand-Sánchez as chair, who remains on the board as a member. Raphael previously served as chair in the 2011-2012 school year.
James Lander was unanimously elected to serve as vice chair, replacing last year’s vice chair Sally Baird. Lander, elected to the Board in 2009, has not previously held a leadership position.
An early release is planned for Arlington’s high schools today, the start of students’ summer breaks. An early release will be held tomorrow (Thursday) for middle school students and on Friday for elementary school students, the end of their respective school years.
Commencement ceremonies will be held for APS high schools on Thursday, at DAR Constitution Hall in the District. The graduation for Washington-Lee will be held at 10:00 a.m., Yorktown at 3:00 p.m. and Wakefield at 8:00 p.m. Each ceremony will be broadcast live on the APS website, on Comcast channel 70 and Verizon FiOS channel 41.
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Yesterday, an email was sent from Superintendent Dr. Pat Murphy to Yorktown High School staff, informing them that classes had been cancelled for the remainder of the day.
The only problem? The email was a fake and was not actually sent by Dr. Murphy. According to a tipster, the email read:
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The School Board unanimously adopted “Variation B” of Superintendent Dr. Patrick Murphy’s recommended boundaries (left). The new boundaries will help distribute students to a new elementary school on the Williamsburg Middle School campus (see below) as well as to additions at Ashlawn and McKinley elementary schools.
The new schools and additions (there will also be a new choice elementary school near Kenmore Middle School and an addition to Arlington Traditional School) are being undertaken to provide an additional 1,875 seats of capacity by 2017 for Arlington burgeoning student population.