Arlington Public Schools | ARLnow.com

Published January 29, 2019 at 3:30PM | Updated January 29, 2019 at 4:10PM

Arlington schools officials are pumping the brakes on a controversial plan to swap the Arlington Science Focus School and Key Immersion School buildings, after new projections revealed an unexpected increase in the county’s elementary school students in the coming years.

The school system had previously planned to move Key’s Spanish immersion program to the ASFS building, and vice versa, sometime in the next two years. The move was designed to solve some complex boundary issues in North Arlington neighborhoods, as some students currently zoned to attend ASFS actually live closer to Key.

Schools

Drew Model School Set to See a Name Change, But Renowned Surgeon’s Name Will Remain

By Alex Koma

Published January 29, 2019 at 11:00AM

The Drew Model School in Nauck will soon get a new name as the school undergoes a bit of a transformation — but one key part of the building’s moniker won’t be going anywhere.

The elementary school is named after Charles Drew, a groundbreaking surgeon who grew up in Arlington. He was the first black man to hold a variety of prominent positions in the medical community, and is widely credited with establishing new storage techniques to set up lifesaving blood banks during World War II.

News

UPDATED: Feds, Students and County Workers to Leave Work Early

By ARLnow.com

Published January 29, 2019 at 9:20AM | Updated January 29, 2019 at 12:33PM

(Updated at 12:30 p.m.) Due to an expected snowy evening commute, federal employees are being allowed to leave work early.

“Employees should depart 2 hours earlier than their normal departure times and may request unscheduled leave to depart prior to their staggered departure times,” employees were told.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published January 29, 2019 at 7:30AM | Updated January 29, 2019 at 8:29AM

Student Population Predicted to Keep Rising — “Arlington school officials say they now anticipate the total student population to rise an additional 24 percent by 2028, and the latest round of projections has raised fears the school system could fall further behind in its efforts to keep up with elementary-school enrollment.” [InsideNova]

Amazon to First Come to Rosslyn? — “Amazon.com Inc. is said to be in talks to take some or all of the planned WeWork co-working space set to open in Rosslyn later this year as it plots its longer term growth at National Landing,” reports the Washington Business Journal. ARLnow has also heard from a commercial real estate source that Amazon will station its initial Arlington “HQ2” employees at the Rosslyn WeWork, while its temporary space in Crystal City is built out, but we have been able to confirm the rumor. [Washington Business Journal]

Schools

Arlington Public Schools Opening on Two Hour Delay

By ARLnow.com

Published January 21, 2019 at 8:20PM

An Arlington Public Schools bus in the snow (file photo)

Arlington’s public schools will open on a two hour delay on Tuesday.

“Due to the extreme cold, all APS Schools and offices will open two hours late,” APS said in a statement Monday evening. “The delay will provide additional time to warm buildings and address any potential cold weather mechanical issues with buses that have been idle since Friday.”

Schools

Arlington Public Schools to Open on Two Hour Delay

By ARLnow.com

Published January 17, 2019 at 8:55PM

An Arlington Public Schools bus in the snow (file photo)

As of Thursday night, Arlington Public Schools is planning to open Friday on a two hour delay.

Snow tonight and overnight is expected to make roads and sidewalks slick Friday morning. The two hour delay will allow temperatures to rise and road conditions to improve.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published January 15, 2019 at 8:45AM

Gymboree Expected to Close — “Children’s clothing retailer Gymboree Group Inc. is expected to seek bankruptcy protection this week, with plans to close all 900 of its stores, according to people familiar with the matter.” The company has a Gymboree location at the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City mall. [Wall Street Journal]

A First for the Local Real Estate Market — “The Arlington real estate market for 2018 was essentially flat compared to a year before – while, for the first time, the average sales price of single-family homes topped the $1 million mark.” [InsideNova]

Schools

UPDATE: Arlington Public Schools Closed Tuesday

By Alex Koma

Published January 14, 2019 at 3:05PM | Updated January 14, 2019 at 10:14PM

Arlington school bus on a snowy morning (file photo)

Update at 10 p.m. — Arlington Public Schools will be closed Tuesday.

“Because we anticipate hazardous driving and walking conditions on some neighborhood sidewalks and bus stops throughout the County due to freezing tonight, all APS Schools will be closed,” the school system said. School offices will open at 10 a.m.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published January 11, 2019 at 9:35AM

Large sheet blows in the wind (file photo)

H-B’s Rosslyn Home Has New Name — The new Rosslyn home for the H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program has a new name, after a School Board vote last night. The under-construction structure’s new name: The Heights Building. The vote came after the School Board voted to change the name of Washington-Lee to Washington-Liberty. [Twitter, Arlington Public Schools]

CPRO Gets New Interim Leader — “The Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization (CPRO) has named Karen Vasquez as its Interim Executive Director. Karen has spent the last fifteen years working in the field of economic development, creating compelling stories to help recruit and retain Fortune 500 companies, non-profits, hotels and more to Arlington, Virginia.” [CPRO]

Schools

UPDATED: School Board Picks ‘Washington-Liberty’ as New Name for Washington-Lee High School

By Alex Koma

Published January 11, 2019 at 7:00AM | Updated January 11, 2019 at 10:15AM

A sign in front of Washington-Lee High School in 2018

(Updated at 10:15 a.m.) Washington-Lee High School will soon be known as “Washington-Liberty High School” instead, now that officials have finally wrapped up the contentious process of stripping Robert E. Lee’s name from the building.

The Arlington School Board voted unanimously on the new moniker for W-L during a lengthy meeting last night (Thursday), about seven months after deciding to rename the school. Washington-Lee has borne the name of the Confederate general ever since it opened back in 1925, but the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville in 2017 convinced school leaders to reevaluate W-L’s name.

Schools

Plans for Education Center’s Transformation into Classroom Space Begin to Take Shape

By Alex Koma

Published January 8, 2019 at 2:45PM

Plans to transform the old Arlington Education Center into a new wing of Washington-Lee High School are taking shape, with early designs calling for 24,600 square feet of classrooms in the renovated building.

Arlington school officials hope to someday add space for 600 high school students on the site, the former home of the Arlington Public Schools offices at 1426 N. Quincy Street. But first the School Board needs to sign off on a full renovation of the building, in order to welcome students in time for the 2021-2022 school year.

Opinion

Letter to the Editor: Name W-L for William Lee, Push Back School Board Vote

By ARLnow.com

Published January 4, 2019 at 4:15PM

A painting of George Washington and his manservant, William Lee (via Mount Vernon)

Arlington’s School Board is set to pick a new name for Washington-Lee High School next week, putting an end to the simmering debate over how to best strip Robert E. Lee’s name from the building.

The Board voted in June to remove the Confederate general’s name from the school’s moniker, kicking off months of squabbling over potential new names and even a failed lawsuit seeking to block the change. A renaming committee has recommended “Washington-Loving” to honor the Virginia couple who successfully challenged the state’s ban on interracial marriage, while “Washington-Liberty” earned the support of some committee members as a secondary recommendation.