Arlington Public Schools | ARLnow.com

Published February 10, 2015 at 10:00AM

Opponents of the plan cheered the County Board’s action, saying that plans to build on the TJ site would eliminate land that could later be used as parkland. Arlington Public Schools will now go back and conduct more studies and community engagement in order to figure out how to deal with its capacity crisis in south Arlington.

Supporters of the school plan said delaying the construction of urgently needed school capacity could result in 45 new trailer classrooms next to south Arlington schools by 2018.

Schools

School Board Plans More Meetings, Engagement in Wake of TJ Decision

By Ethan Rothstein

Published February 6, 2015 at 3:15PM

In response the Arlington County Board’s decision to say “not now” to APS’ plan to build a new elementary school next to Thomas Jefferson Middle School, the School Board delivered a joint statement last night, agreeing to work with the county to find creative solutions to fit the hundreds of new students coming to the county every year.

“We appreciate the County Board’s commitment to partnering with the School Board to provide a minimum of 725 new elementary school seats in South Arlington not later than the start of school in September 2018, using a combination of interim and permanent solutions,” the School Board’s statement reads. “This commitment increases the variety of options available. The County Board has offered to provide technical support to identify and evaluate County buildings and private commercial spaces that might help meet our capacity needs on an interim basis.”

Schools

APS: 100 Students Aren’t Vaccinated

By Ethan Rothstein

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.”

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published January 28, 2015 at 9:30AM | Updated January 28, 2015 at 10:04AM

County Board Nixes TJ Elementary Plan — The Arlington County Board voted last night to refuse to allow Arlington Public Schools to build a new elementary school next to Thomas Jefferson Middle School, at least for now. Libby Garvey, a former school board member, was the lone dissenting voice on the 4-1 vote. She agreed with the school system that new elementary school seats are urgently needed in South Arlington. The board majority said the school system needs to go back and study alternatives again, since the elementary school could have negative impacts on the surrounding community. “You have to be a little more crowded for awhile,” County Board Chair Mary Hynes told school officials. [Washington Post, Arlington County]

Board Approves Overnight Gas Sales at 7-Eleven — Just down the street from Thomas Jefferson Middle School, on S. Glebe Road, exists a 7-Eleven convenience store and gas station that heretofore has not been allowed to sell gas from midnight to 6:00 a.m. The condition was put in place by the County Board in 1992, due to concern about traffic, noise and other neighborhood impacts. On Saturday the Board approved, with neighborhood support, a use permit change that will allow gas to be pumped 24/7. [InsideNova]

Schools

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.”

News

Working Group Can’t Agree on Elementary School Plan for TJ Middle School

By Ethan Rothstein

Published January 20, 2015 at 2:45PM | Updated January 20, 2015 at 5:56PM

(Updated at 5:55 p.m.) The working group charged by the county to help decide the fate of the green space next to Thomas Jefferson Middle School says it was unable reach a final consensus.

Arlington Public Schools is eyeing land surrounding the middle school as the site for a new $50 million, 725-seat elementary school for south Arlington. Those funds were adopted by the School Board as part of the 2015-2024 Capital Improvement Plan last June, and approved as part of the schools bond referendum by Arlington voters in November.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published January 12, 2015 at 10:15AM | Updated January 12, 2015 at 1:50PM

Kids Have iPads, But Teachers Don’t Have Training — Updated at 1:50 p.m. — Some fourth and sixth graders received iPad Air tablets (and ninth graders received MacBook Air laptops) from Arlington Public Schools this year, but many teachers have reportedly still not received formal training on how to use them, according to the Washington Post. (ARLnow.com hears that some students from other grades also received iPads.) While certain parents view the devices as “another screen,” others say the devices, if properly implemented in classrooms, can be used to educate students in an interactive way that they’re especially receptive to. [Washington Post]

Concrete Falling from I-66 Overpass — A local cycling advocate says chunks of concrete have been falling from the I-66 overpass over Lee Highway. [Windy Run]

News

APS Will Open Two Hours Late Due to Ice

By ARLnow.com

Published January 12, 2015 at 6:45AM | Updated January 12, 2015 at 7:03AM

As a result of the freezing rain and potentially slippery conditions, Arlington Public Schools has decided to open on a two-hour delay.

The school system made the announcement just after 4:30 a.m.:

Schools

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.

Schools

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.

Schools

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.

Schools

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.