News

Arlington Real Estate Still Hot — “Even as much of the rest of Northern Virginia is showing signs of cooling interest from prospective real-estate purchasers, many parts of Arlington remain hot-hot-hot even as the temperature gets cold-cold-cold. A number of those Arlington locales are among the strongest in the region.” [Sun Gazette]

Police: Don’t Leave Your Car Running — “The Arlington County Police Department is warning against leaving vehicles running unattended and is sharing crime prevention tips to help combat auto thefts. During the month of December, the police department has investigated five reports of idling vehicles being stolen. In all reported cases, the victims were running short errands – such as picking up food or making a purchase at a convenience store.” [ACPD]


News

Redevelopment of Parking Garage Proposed — “The owner of a pair of Crystal City hotels along Richmond Highway is moving to redevelop a parking garage on the property into residential, the latest bit of change for the neighborhood as part of an Amazon.com Inc.-inspired development boom. Miami’s Sound Hospitality is on the hunt for a development partner to manage the transformation of a garage that currently serves Crystal City’s Hampton Inn and Suites and Hilton Garden Inn.” [Washington Business Journal]

Parent Group Wants More Class Time — “An advocacy group is pressing the Arlington School Board to add more instructional time to the school system’s proposed 2022-23 calendar. The comments came at the Dec. 2 School Board meeting, in which board members were presented with a staff proposal that meets the letter of state law in providing at least 990 hours of instructional time. But the school system should be going further – holding classes the full 180 days that had been the pre-COVID standard – said Camille Galdes, who spoke on behalf of Arlington Parents for Education.” [Sun Gazette]


News

Fire Station 8 Now in Temporary Home — “On December 6th, 2021, The Arlington County Fire Department relocated Fire Station 8 into their new temporary quarters ahead of the construction of a new station. The temporary Fire Station 8 is located at 2217 N. Culpepper St, just behind the location of where the old Fire Station 8 stood for decades. In the coming months, the old Fire Station 8 will be demolished and work will be started on constructing a new Fire Station 8 in the same location that the previous fire house once stood.” [Arlington County]

APS Not Seeking Vax Status for Most Students — “With one major exception – student-athletes – Arlington Public Schools is not, and likely will not be, keeping tabs on the COVID-vaccination status of students. ‘We don’t know the names’ of those who have been vaccinated, Superintendent Francisco Durán told School Board members on Dec. 2. ‘The school will only be asking [parents] if your child is vaccinated if they are in close contact’ with students who test positive for the virus.” [Sun Gazette]


Around Town

This year saw major changes to how Arlington County and Arlington Public Schools run community swim classes, to the surprise of some locals.

In July, Arlington Public Schools launched the APS Aquatics School for students and residents, while the county opened the Long Bridge Aquatics & Fitness Center in August.


News

Youngkin Supporters Want Action Against Arlington — “Arlington County firemen, EMTs, police and other unvaccinated county employees will lose their jobs 16 days after Youngkin takes office if county mandates stay in place, and the remaining vaccinated workers may be forced to do double duty to take up the slack. Youngkin supporters, including those at this monthly breakfast lecture of the Arlington based Leadership Institute, have been expressing concern that the new governor may not be aggressive enough in opposing punitive county policies directed against the unvaccinated.” [Bacon’s Rebellion]

Activists Want Arlington to End All ICE Cooperation — “As Arlington County lawmakers embark on an effort to strengthen trust with immigrant residents, the details of what that will look like — particularly over when and how Arlington communicates with federal immigration officials — remains an open question. Earlier this fall, officials in the Northern Virginia county released a draft framework that declares it is ‘inappropriate’ to use its resources to detain or deport undocumented immigrants. But activists say Arlington needs to go further, pushing the county to cut all ties with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.” [Washington Post]


News

A teen is facing charges after he allegedly threatened and then scratched a fellow student with a knife on a school bus earlier this week.

The incident happened aboard an Arlington Public Schools bus Tuesday afternoon, along Clarendon Blvd in the Courthouse and Clarendon areas. The teen also allegedly ran after the victim and a witness while armed with the knife, after they all got off the bus, police said.


Schools

(Updated 1:10 p.m.) Arlington Public Schools is applying to the state for more than $15.6 million in federal funds to tackle pandemic-era learning loss.

The school system says it would use the money to provide more specialized instruction, before- and after-school tutoring and expanded summer school offerings.


Schools

The Arlington School Board will vote on boundary changes tomorrow (Thursday) targeting two overcapacity schools in South Arlington.

This fall, Superintendent Francisco Durán launched a “limited” fall 2021 boundary process to relieve overcrowding at Abingdon Elementary School, Gunston Middle School and Wakefield High School.


News

Most county operations and services, including COVID-19 vaccinations and testing, will be closed or operating on a limited schedule for the Thanksgiving holiday on both Thursday and Friday.

County government offices, courts, community centers and libraries will all be closed both on Thursday, Nov. 25 and Friday, Nov. 26.  The Long Bridge Aquatics & Fitness Center will also be shuttered, and COVID-19 vaccinations and testing at county facilities will be paused.


Schools

A petition calling on Arlington Public Schools to ramp up education on sexual misconduct and healthy relationships has netted more than 31,000 signatures.

The petition targets Yorktown High School, where in October a homecoming football game was marred by “unacceptable behavior” by a group of students. Several Yorktown students reportedly harassed fellow students with sexual language, and one student told police she was inappropriately touched.


Schools

(Updated at 3:40 p.m.) Firefighters investigated smoke seen inside the Montessori Public School of Arlington around lunchtime today.

The school at 701 S. Highland Street, in the Arlington Heights neighborhood, was evacuated after an alarm started sounding, according to initial reports. Arriving firefighters said they found smoke coming from the vents. There was no sign of an active fire.


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