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.
Civic association presidents along the Columbia Pike corridor are urging Arlington Public Schools to hold firm to development plans for the Arlington Career Center site.
In a letter to School Board members and Superintendent Francisco Durán, members of the Pike Presidents Group say they want APS to confirm its three-step plan for the parcel, located just north of the Pike along S. Walter Reed Drive:
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The recent 100th-anniversary celebration at Washington-Liberty High School saw current-day students poring over yearbooks from the 1960s-70s.
Arlington Public Schools is expanding an initiative that provides parents with information on how, and for how long, their children are using school-distributed devices.
In November, APS will move from an opt-in to an opt-out model for the Lightspeed Parent Portal, which provides families with weekly summaries of web-browsing activities for students in grades 2 to 12.
The Arlington School Board is once again seeking state authorization to administer standardized tests in languages other than English.
The School Board’s 2026 General Assembly legislative package, which went to a vote yesterday (Thursday), carries over the Board’s request from the 2025 legislative session.
Arlington school leaders say an internal error led to “sensitive employee information” being posted on the school system’s procurement network.
“The files included the names, addresses, Social Security numbers and birthdays of employees and retirees under 65 years old who are currently enrolled in the APS medical healthcare plan,” Brian Stockton, the school system’s chief of staff, wrote in an email to personnel.
A Falls Church civic group’s effort to ensure that local elections maintain a local focus was subject to some debate at a recent candidate forum.
All but one candidate for both City Council and School Board have signed onto a commitment to campaign in a positive manner and refrain from taking large donations from people and groups outside the community. Incumbent School Board member Lori Silverman, however, pushed back on some aspects of the “pledge” at a recent candidate forum.
A record number of fifth graders from Germany have come to Arlington this year through the county’s sister city program.
Students, parents and civic leaders from the city of Aachen arrived in the United States on Oct. 8 and will stay through Oct. 16. They are being hosted by Arlington families representing 16 public and four private schools, in a quarter-century collaboration sponsored by the Arlington Sister City Association.
Arlington school leaders have announced their timeline for negotiating new health-insurance agreements next year, hoping to avoid catching employees by surprise this time.
This time, school leaders are committed to “make sure everybody’s crystal clear” on the process, School Board member Mary Kadera said.
A decline in year-over-year student enrollment at Arlington Public Schools has resulted in staffing adjustments at some schools.
The official APS 2025-26 student count of 27,589 is down 311 students — or 1.1% — from a year before, Superintendent Francisco Durán reported to School Board on Thursday.
