Arlington Public Schools | ARLnow.com

Morning Notes

Published October 5, 2020 at 6:00AM | Updated October 5, 2020 at 9:30AM

Girl’s Study Shed Featured on NBC — With the help of a local Facebook group called “Buy Nothing,” an Arlington dad built a study shed for his daughter using materials donated by neighbors. The project was featured on Saturday’s national NBC Nightly News broadcast. [YouTube, Washington Post]

APS Graduation Rate Improves — “Arlington’s public-school students posted a 93.4-percent on-time graduation rate up from 92.5 percent a year before, according to new data from the Virginia Department of Education. Rates rose among both genders and in major racial/ethnic groups compared to the Class of 2019, while the school system’s dropout rate showed improvement, declining from 5.6 percent in 2019 to 4.9 percent in 2020.” [InsideNova]

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published October 2, 2020 at 7:30AM

Soldiers Nearly Struck By SUV on TV — “Two soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Regiment — also known as the The Old Guard — gave D.C. early morning viewers a real-time safety briefing when a driver nearly ran them down in the background of a live TV report on” safety changes around Memorial Circle. [Military Times, WJLA]

APS Not Releasing Some COVID Info — “Arlington Public Schools spokesman Frank Bellavia said 11.7 percent of school staff have ‘been excluded from work due to COVID health and safety procedures’… [Bellavia] refused to say how many schools within Arlington have seen cases of the virus, calling building-level data “private health information.” [Washington Post]

Schools

Reduced School Bus Capacity Prompts APS to Expand Elementary ‘Walk Zones’

By ARLnow.com

Published September 30, 2020 at 11:00AM

Fewer kids will be able to take the bus when in-person classes resume at Arlington Public Schools.

APS says that it is expanding the “walk zones” for 16 of its 24 elementary schools, as buses will only be able to carry 11 students at a time due to social distancing guidelines.

News

County’s Rate of New Cases Still Holding Relatively Steady, Amid Renewed National Worries

By ARLnow.com

Published September 28, 2020 at 10:45AM | Updated September 28, 2020 at 11:02AM

Arlington’s rate of new coronavirus cases increased slightly over the weekend, but kept within a range held since early September.

Fifty-four new cases have been reported since Friday, bringing the trailing seven-day average of new daily cases to 16. That is within the 12 to 18 cases per day range that has held since Sept. 4.

Schools

APS Outlines Return Timeline, As County Considers Community Centers for Supervised Learning

By ARLnow.com

Published September 24, 2020 at 11:45AM | Updated October 8, 2020 at 3:42PM

Arlington County is considering a plan to host some children of working parents in community centers for supervised learning, while Arlington Public Schools readies its plan for a return to in-person learning.

The use of community centers would be a relief valve for families that are unable to have a parent stay home during the day and do not have the means to pay for daytime child care. It would serve as an interim step until APS again offers full-time, in-person learning — whenever that may be.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published September 17, 2020 at 8:00AM

Parent Group Calls Out APS — From the Black Parents of Arlington: “In addition to tracking incidents of racism, APS needs to implement mandatory anti-racism and implicit bias training for all teachers and staff throughout the system on a regular basis. Moreover, APS must begin to track incidents of racial and ethnic hostility and make these findings public. The time is now. We will no longer wait. Arlington’s Black children deserve better.” [Facebook]

Pizzeria to Open Next Month in Clarendon — “A storied Connecticut pizza shop is making one of its biggest moves, opening a new location in Arlington’s Clarendon neighborhood next month. Colony Grill is gearing up to debut Oct. 13 with a 5,200-square-foot space, taking over at 2800 Clarendon Blvd. for the Gallery Clarendon art installation pop-up that shuttered in February. The restaurant offers seating for 170 guests in three different areas.” [Washington Business Journal]

News

School Board Candidates Speak Out on Budget in Online Forum

By Sydney Hawkins

Published September 11, 2020 at 3:55PM

The candidates for School Board this November are weighing on how they might approach the prospect of additional cuts to the Arlington Public Schools budget next year.

The pandemic forced Arlington Public Schools to slash millions from its budget this year, and additional budget pressures may be ahead. The candidates — independent candidate Symone Walker, and Cristina Diaz-Torres and David Priddy, who received the Democratic endorsement — were asked about that during an online forum this past Tuesday (Sept. 8), hosted by the Arlington County Civic Federation.

Schools

Preliminary APS Enrollment Numbers Down from Last Year

By ARLnow.com

Published September 11, 2020 at 11:30AM | Updated September 11, 2020 at 11:55AM

(Updated at 11:55 a.m.) After years of school enrollment growth, Arlington Public Schools had fewer students enrolled this week than as of Sept. 30, 2019.

Superintendent Dr. Francisco Durán revealed the numbers at last night’s School Board meeting. The first-day enrollment on Tuesday was 27,109 students, 911 fewer than last year’s official September 30 count of 28,020, he said.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published September 10, 2020 at 7:30AM

More APS Tech Issues Reported — Several people contacted ARLnow yesterday to report more technology issues involving remote learning. While Wakefield High School’s principal posted a possible fix on social media, APS spokesman Frank Bellavia said that any remaining problems were isolated: “At last check this morning, there were 25,273 APS-provided student devices active on our network. There are some issues at the secondary level, but we are working directly with those students to reset their devices.” [Twitter, Twitter]

Sept. 11 Commemoration Tomorrow — “Arlington County will commemorate the lives lost in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and express gratitude to all those who responded that day with a virtual event. To ensure everyone’s safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, the public will view the event online or on the County’s cable channels.” [Arlington County]

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published September 9, 2020 at 7:30AM

County Announces ‘Health Equity’ Program — “Arlington County Government, Arlington Public Schools and the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) are collaborating to increase access to COVID support services in communities disproportionately affected by the virus as part of the state’s Health Equity Pilot Program.” [Arlington County]

Group Calls for Removal of Police from APS — “Today, the Black Parents of Arlington, an advocacy group dedicated to improving the lives of Black children in Arlington by securing equitable treatment in the realms of education, criminal justice, and access to opportunities and resources, formally called for the removal of School Resource Officers from all APS schools and facilities.” The local NAACP made a similar call for the removal of SROs earlier this summer. [Press Release]

Schools

BREAKING: APS Experiencing Technical Issues on First Day of School

By ARLnow.com

Published September 8, 2020 at 10:00AM | Updated September 8, 2020 at 2:51PM

Arlington Public Schools headquarters (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at 2:45 p.m.) Arlington Public Schools reported technical difficulties with its remote learning platform this morning, on the first day of school.

“We are aware that students are having challenges logging into their classes,” APS said in a School Talk email to families around 9:45 a.m. “We are working to address the issues quickly and appreciate your patience. We apologize for the difficulty families have experienced this morning.”

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published September 8, 2020 at 6:00AM

School Year Starts Today — “While the start of this year will certainly look and feel different than previous years, we are all excited to welcome students back for distance learning and to start connecting and building relationships in new ways. Our first days of school will be focused on helping students get to know their teachers and classmates and creating new routines.” [Arlington Public Schools]

Many Still Uncounted by Census — “To have a complete understanding of our community, everyone needs to be counted. Currently, Arlington stands at a 75.2% self-response rate, meaning that a significant portion – almost one-fourth – of the County still needs to be counted.” [Arlington County]