New data suggests that Arlington Public Schools is making progress on lowering the rate of students being chronically absent from class.
Through Jan. 30, 10% of APS students this school year were absent from class more than 10% of the time, according to data reported at the Feb. 19 School Board meeting. That’s down from rates of 12.4% for the 2024-25 school year and 13.2% from 2023-24.
With heavy snow continuing to fall, Arlington Public Schools has decided to close Monday.
The snow day for Arlington students follows earlier decisions by nearby Fairfax County and Montgomery County to also close. D.C. schools, meanwhile, will open on a two-hour delay.
Arlington Public Schools is warning families to beware of fraudulent emails that use the school system’s branding to collect people’s personal information.
The emails ask recipients to click a link and provide usernames, passwords and other information, APS said in a message to families yesterday (Thursday). They are not real APS communications, but they use the APS logo and may appear to come from the school system.
Arlington County police are investigating two separate incidents this week in which ammunition was brought into a school.
The latest happened earlier today (Thursday) at Washington-Liberty High School. Police were called after a student was found to be in possession of ammo and a firearm magazine, according to scanner traffic.
A walkout in protest of immigration enforcement is in the works next week at several Arlington Public Schools facilities.
It’s unclear how large or widespread it will be, although tipsters have said action is planned at all major high schools in Arlington on Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 1:30 p.m., as well as some middle schools at a later time that afternoon.
Arlington Public Schools officials are brainstorming ways to encourage special-education teachers to serve as summer school instructors.
A little over half of educators who taught special-ed students at the secondary level during the 2025 summer school program expressed interest in returning for 2026, according to a survey conducted by the school system and reported at the Feb. 5 School Board meeting.
School Board Chair Bethany Zecher Sutton launched her reelection bid last week with a pledge to fight for students — and against the Trump administration.
“We’re all feeling the impact of this administration’s attacks on our values. We will not back down,” Zecher Sutton said during Wednesday remarks to about 200 people at the monthly Arlington County Democratic Committee meeting.
Arlington Public Schools Superintendent Francisco Durán stands behind decisions to keep classrooms shuttered for more than a week after last month’s snowstorm, but acknowledges shortcomings in the school system’s approach.
Durán said he and other school leaders should have done a better job at keeping the community informed on the reasons behind their decisions.
For the first time in nearly two weeks, Arlington’s public schools will be opening on time tomorrow and Friday.
“All schools and offices will open on time Thu, Feb. 5 and Fri, Feb. 6, 2026,” Arlington Public Schools said in a brief announcement Wednesday afternoon.
Arlington Public Schools will open on a two hour delay Wednesday, the school system just announced.
It’s the second consecutive delay, after five snow days following the previous weekend’s winter storm. While today offered some above-freezing temperatures and melting, many sidewalks remain snow- and ice-covered in Arlington, prompting continued caution by school administrators.
School buses are crisscrossing county streets and students are steeling themselves for the first day of school in 11 days.
Yes, class is back in session this morning for Arlington Public Schools students, to the great relief of many beleaguered parents.
The decision to keep schools shuttered all last week, while piles of “snowcrete” covered the sidewalks (and in some cases, roads) near schools, prompted acceptance from some and grumbles from others. Why, some asked, had conditions around schools not been addressed earlier in the week, potentially making it harder to clear now?
The grumbles grew louder this week, amid Monday’s closure and today’s two-hour delay. Some questioned whether it’s even safe now for kids to go back.
“As of 7:30 A.M. there is no safe approach to Claremont Elementary or Wakefield High School from S Columbus St.,” local resident Joel Weger wrote this morning. “There has been no snow cleared on S. Chesterfield Rd for the entire length of school property. For Claremont snow has been cleared from only one side of the school.”
That was echoed by another local resident who lives near Wakefield.
“I’m not a parent but I see the kids walking to school everyday and parents taking their littles ones to the bus pick up spots,” wrote Julia Itani. “While walking my dog in the neighborhood there were many times I almost fell and we couldn’t walk safely. I can’t imagine students walking every morning while there’s piles of ice.”
Others suggested that a loss of learning outweighs what they see as marginal safety improvements from keeping schools closed longer. Even today’s delay was too much for some.
“I am writing to express my deep disappointment and continued frustration with the county’s repeated school closures and delayed openings due to snow and ice,” wrote Gregory Cohen, a “concerned and gobsmacked parent,” in an email this morning. It was one of several addressed to the County Board and School Board that ARLnow was CCed on in recent days.
“From a parent’s perspective, these decisions do not appear to be data-driven, outcome-oriented, or transparent. Delays in particular seem to accomplish little beyond creating unnecessary hardship for working families,” Cohen wrote. “A two-hour delay does not meaningfully improve road conditions, does not reduce childcare challenges, and often results in the same ultimate outcome: lost instructional time with no measurable safety benefit.”
What do you think — did APS strike the right balance by staying closed for five school days (Friday was a scheduled off day) and opening on a delay today? (Neighboring Fairfax notably took the same approach.)
Or should schools have opened up earlier? Or stayed closed longer? Let us know below.
Arlington Public Schools will operate at a two-hour delay tomorrow (Tuesday), sending students back to school for the first time in more than a week.
The delay will allow bus riders to arrive at their stops in daylight and provides more time to travel to school, APS said. The school system has been closed for ice and snow since last Monday.
