Arlington Public Schools | ARLnow.com

Morning Notes

Published January 31, 2013 at 11:00AM

APS Announces Make-up Day Plan — Arlington Public Schools has lost three days this school year due to inclement weather, including the day lost as a result of the controversial decision to close this past Monday for what turned out to be mostly drizzle. APS has announced its make-up plan, though most schools will not actually have to make up any days due to additional hours built into the school calendar this year. Those impacted by the make-up plan are elementary schools with early release and the Stratford Program, which will see three abbreviated days turned into full days as part of the make-up plan. [Arlington Public Schools]

County to Explore More Options for Reeves Farmhouse — Arlington County is issuing a ‘request for information’ for the historic Reevesland farmhouse. The county is now seeking ideas from individuals and groups who want to use the farmhouse and its grounds but don’t have the nearly $1 million necessary for repairs to the property. That’s a win for one group of residents who have been pushing for the property to be used as a learning center. “We’re open to the idea of shared investment,” said County Manager Barbara Donnellan. [Sun Gazette]

Schools

Snow Could Snarl Commute, But APS to Dismiss on Time

By ARLnow.com

Published January 25, 2013 at 11:20AM

A Winter Weather Advisory has been issued for Arlington and the D.C. region, warning of the potential for about an inch of snow between 2:00 and 9:00 p.m. Though relatively light, the snow could wreak havoc with traffic during the evening rush hour.

(On January 26, 2011, a much heavier snowfall during the evening rush hour resulted in motorists abandoning their cars on the GW Parkway.)

News

Pedestrian Struck Near Kenmore Expected to Survive

By ARLnow.com

Published January 25, 2013 at 10:35AM

The man was apparently trying to cross Carlin Springs Road near Kenmore Middle School when he was struck by a southbound vehicle, suffering what police described as “severe head trauma.” The man is expected to survive, although severe head injuries are often debilitating.

“The victim remains in a medically induced coma at this time but is expected to survive,” Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck told ARLnow.com. “His wife informed our lead detective on the case that he is in stable condition.”

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published January 15, 2013 at 9:10AM

Arlington Earns ‘B+’ For Budget Transparency — Arlington has earned a grade of “B+” from the Virginia Coalition for Open Government for the ease of finding budget information on the county’s website. While better than average, the score is below Fairfax County’s “A+” grade. [Sun Gazette]

New Optometrist Open in Clarendon — A new optometrist clinic has opened in Clarendon. New Era Eyecare opened at 3105 10th Street N. last week. It’s the company’s second location; its original clinic is located in Clifton. New Era isn’t the only optometrist to recently open in Clarendon’s main business district. Visual Health Doctors of Optometry opened at 3102 Wilson Blvd in 2011.

Schools

APS Now on Social Media Websites

By ARLnow.com

Published January 14, 2013 at 11:45AM

Arlington Public Schools has joined several popular social media websites in an effort to better communicate with the community at large.

The school system is now on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. From an APS press release:

News

APS: Schools Prepared For Emergencies

By ARLnow.com

Published December 14, 2012 at 3:55PM | Updated December 14, 2012 at 4:14PM

Individual schools have been sending emails to parents throughout the day, says Assistant Superintendent for School and Community Relations Linda Erdos. Schools drill regularly for a range of emergencies, Erdos said, adding that several Arlington schools conducted a pre-planned lockdown drill this morning.

“All of our plans and preparations are developed in coordination with Arlington public safety officials,” she said. “Our schools all throughout the county regularly schedule lockdown drills. We do those all the time, just like tornado drills and fire drills. We do a lot of drills with our students so they know what steps are to be taken in an emergency.”

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published November 16, 2012 at 9:30AM | Updated November 16, 2012 at 10:07AM

Yorktown Hosts South County in Semifinal — In high school football action, the Yorktown Patriots will take on the South County Stallions tonight in a Northern Region Division 5 semifinal playoff game. The contest is a home game for Yorktown. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Yorktown lost to South County in the regional championship game last year. [Sun Gazette]

APS Awarded for Green Initiatives — Arlington Public Schools has “earned a Platinum Certification as a Virginia School Board Association (VSBA) Certified Green Schools Division.” The school system also placed first in VSBA’s Green Schools Challenge for large school divisions. [Arlington Public Schools]

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published November 7, 2012 at 9:55AM

‘Concentration of Poverty’ at APS? — Some parents say Arlington Public Schools have designed school boundaries to concentrate lower-income students in south Arlington schools. At least one parent is hoping the school system creates a rule in which “no school would be able deviate from the district-wide percentage of poverty by more or less than 10 points.” [WAMU]

District Taco Expanding — District Taco, which opened its first brick-and-mortar restaurant in Arlington, is continuing to expand in the District. The restaurant has signed a lease and will be opening a second D.C. location on Capitol Hill. [Washington Post]

Schools

Changes Proposed to APS Boundary Policy

By Katie Pyzyk

Published October 10, 2012 at 11:15AM

At the School Board meeting last Thursday (October 4), staff presented proposed changes to the boundary policy and a framework for boundary decisions to be made during the 2012-2013 school year. According to APS spokesman Frank Bellavia, slight revisions were proposed because the policy hasn’t been examined since June of 2002.

Proposed updates to the policy include identifying when boundary changes may be necessary. Also included are criteria for the School Board and superintendent to consider when proposing boundary changes, such as promoting demographic diversity and minimizing the number of times students are affected by such changes.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published October 9, 2012 at 9:00AM | Updated October 9, 2012 at 9:48AM

Greens Vote ‘No’ on Park Bond — The Arlington Green Party has joined the Arlington County Republican Committee in opposing the $50.5 million park bond that’s on the Nov. 6 ballot. The bond would largely help fund a new Long Bridge Park aquatics center. The Greens said the aquatics center is “wasteful” and a “vanity project.” The Greens stayed neutral on the $42.6 million school bond, with some members criticizing the plan to build two new elementary schools because it is “too costly and eliminates green space and recreation fields.” [Arlington Mercury]

APS Enrollment on the Rise — Enrollment at Arlington Public Schools is up 3.7 percent versus one year ago. The growth — mostly at the elementary school level and mostly in North Arlington — is in line with school administrators’ projections. There are now 22,657 pre-K to 12th grade students enrolled at Arlington’s public schools. [Sun Gazette]

Schools

APS Expects Staff Exodus to Continue

By Katie Pyzyk

Published September 26, 2012 at 10:30AM | Updated September 26, 2012 at 6:48PM

A concerned resident, Hans Bauman, told ARLnow.com that he pored through public records and compiled a list of more than two dozen principals and senior staff members (after the jump) who had left APS since 2010. He called the amount of turnover “unsettling.”

“I am not sure how to assess whether all this turnover is ‘normal’ but I keep hearing concerns about management practices from every single APS person I talk to and I really was stunned when I compiled these lists,” Bauman wrote in an email. “Though the block scheduling fiasco, the current transportation mess, the class size increases and other APS missteps have gotten lots of press, I do think this almost more worrying trend hasn’t been really daylighted.”

Schools

APS Seeks to Clarify Transportation Changes

By ARLnow.com

Published August 27, 2012 at 4:20PM

In a letter to parents and in an online video (above), Arlington Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Patrick Murphy is trying to answer questions and quell outrage among some parents in response to changes to the school system’s busing policies.