Schools | ARLnow.com

President Obama to Visit Washington-Lee Students

Published May 2, 2012 at 2:30PM

The President will be focusing on the need to prevent interest rates on federally subsidized student loans from doubling. If Congress does not act, the loan rate will double on July 1, from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. Both he and Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney have said that action needs to be taken to prevent that from happening.

President Obama is scheduled to hold a roundtable discussion on the issue with graduating W-L seniors and their parents. He will then deliver prepared remarks to the junior and senior classes on “the importance of their having a fair shot at an affordable higher education and the skills they need to find a good job,” according to the White House.

Moran Introduces Autism Legislation That Could Benefit Arlington Schools

By ARLnow.com

Published April 27, 2012 at 2:35PM | Updated April 27, 2012 at 2:52PM

At a press conference this morning, Moran was joined by officials from Arlington Public Schools, along with several Arlington parents of autistic children. The bill — the “AUTISM Educators Act” — could specifically benefit Arlington schools, where more than 10 percent of the special education population has been diagnosed with ASD, according to Moran’s office.

From a press release:

Interim School Board Member Appointed

By ARLnow.com

Published April 27, 2012 at 12:45PM

Todd McCracken, the President and CEO of the National Small Business Association, will serve on the School Board until a new board member — to be elected in November — is sworn in. McCracken has not indicated that he’s interested in running for the seat.

In a press release, school officials hailed McCracken’s expertise in school capacity issues.

Students Protest Bishop O’Connell Teacher Firing

By ARLnow.com

Published April 20, 2012 at 10:01AM | Updated April 20, 2012 at 6:00PM

Some 150 students took to the streets outside Bishop O’Connell High School yesterday to protest the firing of John Harrison, a beloved social studies teacher.

Candidate Withdraws from School Board Race

By Katie Pyzyk

Published April 13, 2012 at 1:20PM

In February, Fishtahler announced his interest in receiving an endorsement from the Arlington County Democratic Committee (ACDC). Now that Fishtahler has dropped out, candidate Noah Simon and incumbent Emma Violand-Sanchez are the presumptive Democratic endorsees for the two open positions in November’s election.

(One of the open positions is the School Board seat formerly held by now-County Board member Libby Garvey.)

Glencarlyn Residents Fight Proposal for New School

By ARLnow.com

Published April 10, 2012 at 11:40AM

In a letter sent to the Arlington School Board yesterday, the Glencarlyn Citizens’ Association asks the board to consider alternative sites for the proposed 600 students capacity magnet elementary school. The association cites concerns about “traffic, safety, parking and loss of [an] important recreational area” as reasons why the school shouldn’t be built or, at the very least, should be built in a way that minimizes negative impacts.

Along with the letter to the school board, Glencarlyn Citizens’ Association president Peter Olivere sent a letter to the editors of ARLnow.com, the Arlington Mercury and the Sun Gazette.

Teen Arrested for Brandishing Fake Gun at Abingdon Elementary

By Katie Pyzyk

Published April 5, 2012 at 11:45AM | Updated April 5, 2012 at 3:14PM

Students told police a male suspect approached them, carrying a gun with an orange tip. Police radio traffic reported that while displaying the weapon, which was at first thought to be real, the suspect asked the children if they were ready to die.

The suspect and children all left the scene. However, when police arrived, some of the children returned to describe the suspect and incident.

Group Wants New Montessori School in Arlington

By ARLnow.com

Published April 2, 2012 at 1:41PM | Updated April 2, 2012 at 2:19PM

As part of its ongoing capacity planning process, APS has been narrowing down its options for keeping up with rising enrollment at schools countywide. The options for adding capacity include building new schools and making additions to existing schools.

Montessori advocates have seized upon an APS proposal to build a new PreK-8 countywide magnet school between Carlin Springs Elementary and Kenmore Middle School. AMAC says the school would be ideal for a central Montessori “choice” program, hosting between 600 and 750 Montessori students either from PreK-5 or PreK-8. Currently, there are almost 600 PreK-8 students in 31 Montessori classrooms at schools across Arlington, with hundreds more on waiting lists, according to AMAC.

School Board to Appoint Successor to Garvey

By ARLnow.com

Published March 28, 2012 at 11:11AM

Per Virginia law, anybody interested in replacing Garvey on the School Board must be a qualified Arlington voter and must not be a School Board employee. Interested parties are asked to submit a resume and a letter of interest to the School Board by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 11.

A public hearing on the School Board vacancy will be held on the evening of April 17. The appointment itself is scheduled to take place during the School Board meeting on April 26. The appointee won’t be in the unelected office for very long — Garvey’s term is up at the end of December and the seat will be up for grabs in November’s general election.

Theft from TJ Middle School Trailer

By ARLnow.com

Published March 12, 2012 at 9:30AM

The theft happened between 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 7 and 7:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 8, according to police. A suspect broke into the school trailer by forcing open a window, and then made off with a laptop, a microscope and keys.

Police do not have a description of the suspect, who remains at large.

Residency Specialist Listed as Unfunded School Need

By ARLnow.com

Published March 6, 2012 at 4:10PM

Dr. Murphy listed the residency verification specialist as an “unfunded operational need” during his school budget presentation last month. So far, APS has only employed a part-time residency specialist to complete the “very labor intensive” process of researching the residency of students.

“One of the issues that we often hear from time to time is there are folks that are attending our schools who do not actually reside in our school division,” Dr. Murphy said. “While we’ve had a part-time position dedicated to that on a very small basis, I’m finding the need [for a full-time position] as we look at… the number of students that may be attending our schools that are not residents.”

Photos: ‘Mindset’ at H-B Woodlawn Auditorium

By ARLnow.com

Published March 2, 2012 at 3:52PM

‘Mindset’ is a show “about an artist’s inner battle against the fear of failure.” Fusing dance, voice, live music and narrative, Mindset casts its starring actors as adults who look back with regret at their choice to pursue conventional careers instead of artistic endeavors.

The show was entirely student-created, with almost no supervision or instruction from teachers. It was written, stage directed, music directed, composed, choreographed and arranged by Jace Casey, an H-B Woodlawn junior. Casey teamed up with creative partner and fellow junior Cassandra Kendall, who was credited as an assistant director, choreographer, lighting designer and technical designer. The creative duo also acted in the show itself.