Abingdon Elementary | ARLnow.com

Published November 6, 2018 at 9:45AM

Superintendent Patrick Murphy has revealed his final proposal for new elementary school boundaries to forward along to the School Board, with a new map designed to simultaneously the answer the concerns of some Fairlington parents and reduce overcrowding at Barcroft Elementary.

Arlington Public Schools officials have spent months drawing up map after map to guide attendance boundaries at eight South Arlington elementary schools set to go into effect next fall. Each one has prompted fresh rounds of concern among parents nervous about seeing their kids moved to different schools, as the school system prepares to open up the new Alice West Fleet Elementary next year.

Schools

APS Proposes New Boundary Map to Keep Fairlington Students at Abingdon, Though Concerns Linger

By Alex Koma

Published October 30, 2018 at 9:45AM

Arlington school officials are proposing a new boundary map that would keep South Fairlington students at Abingdon Elementary, answering the concerns of parents there who worried the school system’s process of drawing new attendance lines would break up the community.

The school system has wrestled for months now with the thorny question of how to best tinker with the boundaries for eight South Arlington elementary schools, in order to address overcrowding concerns and prepare for the opening of Alice West Fleet Elementary next fall. Previous proposals for new maps initially irked parents at the Drew Model School, prompting Arlington Public Schools officials to propose an option moving some students in Fairlington neighborhoods from Abingdon to Drew to help address those worries.

Opinion

Letter to the Editor: Sending South Fairlington Students to Drew Would be a Mistake for APS

By ARLnow.com

Published October 26, 2018 at 3:45PM

The following Letter to the Editor was submitted by Mike Rosenberger, a parent of a second grader at Abingdon Elementary who has deep concerns about a proposal by Arlington Public Schools officials that would send some students in South Fairlington neighborhoods to Drew Model School instead of Abingdon.

The School Board has spent the last few months considering a redrawing of boundaries for eight South Arlington elementary schools, precipitated by the opening of the new Alice West Fleet Elementary next year, and tempers have frequently flared over how the changes will impact Drew, in particular. But one APS proposal designed to alleviate those concerns has prompted new worries among Abingdon parents.

Schools

Parents Urge APS to Keep the Henry Community Together As Part of Move to Fleet

By Alex Koma

Published October 23, 2018 at 4:45PM | Updated October 24, 2018 at 4:10PM

Meghan Ripple, a parent at Henry, speaks at the School Board's Oct. 18 meeting on the boundary process.

(Updated Wednesday at 4:10 p.m.) As the heated process of setting new boundaries for eight South Arlington elementary schools lurches forward, parents at Patrick Henry Elementary are trying to deliver a single message to school officials: don’t break up the community in the move to Alice West Fleet Elementary.

Fleet’s planned opening next fall precipitated this process of drawing new boundary lines for the schools in the first place, with most Henry students set to move to the new school and the Montessori program currently housed at Drew Model School will move to Henry’s building.

Schools

APS Draws Ire of Abingdon Parents With Boundary Tweaks Designed to Satisfy Drew Concerns

By Alex Koma

Published October 18, 2018 at 4:15PM

Abingdon Elementary School (via @AbingdonGIFT)

Arlington school officials have hit a bit of a snag in the complex, contentious process of setting new boundaries for the county’s southern elementary schools — changes they’ve proposed to address concerns from Drew Model School parents have generated a new backlash from the Abingdon Elementary community.

Some parents living in the Nauck neighborhood initially raised concerns that proposed boundary tweaks at Drew would drastically change the school’s socioeconomic make-up, leading to a substantial boost in the number of students receiving “free and reduced lunch,” a measure of each family’s economic means, at the school. They feared such a shift would amount to packing poorer students into a single building, rather than maintaining a more balanced percentage at each South Arlington school.

Around Town

Abingdon Elementary’s ‘Little Presidents’ Join Nats Park Presidents Race

By Melanie Pincus

Published June 12, 2018 at 9:00AM

The Little Presidents pose with some of their counterparts (photo courtesy Catherine Ladd)

The Washington Nationals’ fourth inning Presidents Race looked a little different on Saturday (June 9) — as Teddy, Abe and Tom rushed to catch up with George, they hit an obstacle in the form of six smaller presidents.

Arms outstretched, the little presidents — boys from Abingdon Elementary School — blocked the racers from passing, while a seventh student, dressed as Nats mascot Screech, waited to greet a victorious George at the finish line.

Events

Fairlington 5K Tomorrow to Benefit Girl with Rare Disease

By ARLnow.com

Published April 27, 2018 at 2:45PM | Updated April 27, 2018 at 3:24PM

(Updated at 3:15 p.m.) The Fairlington 5K Run and Walk tomorrow will raise money for an Arlington girl with a rare, degenerative disease.

In 2011, Ellie McGinn was diagnosed with LBSL (leukoencephalopathy with brainstem and spinal cord involvement and lactate elevation), which causes impaired nervous system functioning that can lead to muscle stiffness, tremors, weakness, poor balance and difficulty coordinating body movements.

News

Police Looking for Man Seen Masturbating Near Elementary School

By ARLnow.com

Published April 13, 2018 at 1:45PM

File photo

The incident happened around 2 p.m. and initial reports suggested the man was staring at the school when spotted by the witness. He drove off before police arrived.

More from an Arlington County Police Department crime report:

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published April 13, 2018 at 8:55AM | Updated April 13, 2018 at 9:19AM

Fund Bets on Amazon HQ2 Coming to Crystal City — A New York-based asset manager is making a $10 million bet that Crystal City will be the location chosen for Amazon’s HQ2. The company cited a high concentration of millennials and housing in the area, as well as proximity to Metro stations, commuter rail and Reagan National Airport. [Bloomberg, ZeroHedge]

Chamber Wants Extended Parking Meter Hours Paused — “Leadership of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce wants the county government to hit the brakes on a proposal to increase parking-meter fees and extend the hours meters must be fed. In a letter to County Board Chairman Katie Cristol, Arlington Chamber president Kate Bates said the government failed to do proper outreach before proposing the alterations to existing policy.” [InsideNova]

Events

Registration Open for Beyer Helicopter Noise Forum in Fairlington

By Chris Teale

Published January 3, 2018 at 1:45PM

Registration is open for Rep. Don Beyer’s (D) community forum in Fairlington later this month on helicopter noise.

Beyer will host the forum on January 16 from 7:30-9:30 p.m. at Abingdon Elementary School (3035 S. Abingdon Street), as part of a study he added to last year’s Defense Authorization Act that passed Congress.

Schools

Abingdon Elementary’s ‘Little Presidents’ Get a Visit From Nationals’ Racing Presidents

By Chris Teale

Published November 6, 2017 at 4:15PM

Photo by Catherine Ladd

Abingdon Elementary School’s own version of the Washington Nationals’ Racing Presidents got a visit from the real thing at school today (Monday).

The seven students and Little League friends, who wore the custom-made costumes for Halloween, were surprised by the four Racing Presidents, who race around Nationals Park during every home game. It took parent Catherine Ladd five weeks to custom-make the costumes.

Schools

Photos: Fairlington Halloween Parade

By ARLnow.com

Published October 31, 2017 at 1:30PM

2017 Fairlington Halloween parade

The Arlington neighborhood tradition of Halloween parades continued today on a picture-perfect fall day.

Among the neighborhoods and schools hosting parades was Abingdon Elementary in Fairlington. Led by the Wakefield High School marching band, with rolling road closures courtesy of the Arlington County Police Department, hundreds of students and teachers marched down local streets as parents and residents snapped smartphone photos and cheered them on.