Dr. Patrick Murphy | ARLnow.com

Morning Notes

Published April 7, 2022 at 7:30AM

The pedestrian bridge over Wilson Blvd in Ballston (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Police Looking for Missing Teen — “ACPD is seeking assistance locating 15-year-old Alejandro… Described as a Hispanic male, 5’8″ tall, 145 lbs with brown eyes and half yellow/half black curly hair. He has ear piercings, a nose piercing and wears a silver dog chain necklace.” [Twitter]

Another Missing Teen — “ACPD is seeking assistance locating 14-year-old Anderson… He is described as a Hispanic male, approx 5’7 tall and 130 lbs. Last seen wearing a black sweat shirt, gray pants and black sneakers. He is known to frequent Rocky Run Park and CVS (2121 15th St N).” [Twitter]

Opinion

The Right Note: School Board Needs to Get Serious

By Mark Kelly

Published July 2, 2019 at 3:00PM

It is a big summer for Arlington Public Schools. It started with the June 12th announcement that Superintendent Patrick Murphy is leaving his post September 3rd after a decade at the helm.

Yet, according to incoming School Board Chair Tannia Talento, the search for his replacement still has not begun, nor have they named an interim superintendent who can be an active part of the transition. Talento noted the School Board plans to hire an executive search firm, but has not done so yet. In fact, Talento says the search firm may not be in place until sometime in the fall.

Schools

School Board: Search for New Superintendent Will Begin Soon

By ARLnow.com

Published June 19, 2019 at 4:30PM

Arlington’s School Board says it will soon announce plans to “seek a superintendent who is an exceptional leader and educator.”

School Board Chair Reid Goldstein issued a statement this morning following last week’s surprise announcement that Arlington Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Patrick Murphy was retiring. In the statement, Goldstein thanks Murphy “for his commitment to student success in Arlington over the past decade” and says plans to find his replacement are in the works.

Schools

JUST IN: APS Superintendent Murphy Announces September Retirement

By Michael O'Connell

Published June 14, 2019 at 4:30PM | Updated June 17, 2019 at 2:00PM

(Updated 6/15/19) Dr. Patrick K. Murphy announced today that he would be retiring as superintendent of Arlington Public Schools effective Sept. 3.

Murphy, who has been APS superintendent since July 1, 2009, notified the School Board of his decision in a June 12 letter.

Schools

JUST IN: APS Informs Parents of Limited Data Breach

By ARLnow.com

Published April 26, 2019 at 11:35AM | Updated April 26, 2019 at 7:32PM

(Updated at 7:30 p.m.) An “error” in the data inputted to the college readiness system used by Arlington Public Schools may have exposed the name, address, grade point average and college entrance exam scores of nearly two dozen students to an unrelated parent.

Superintendent Patrick Murphy was sending a message, below, to all secondary (grades 6-12) families Friday morning informing them of the breach, an APS spokesman told ARLnow.

Schools

Superintendent Pitches Class Size Increases in New APS Budget, Presses County For More Cash

By Alex Koma

Published March 1, 2019 at 9:00AM | Updated March 1, 2019 at 10:02AM

(Updated at 10 a.m.) Arlington schools will likely face class size increases and could see some staff layoffs next year under terms laid out in Superintendent Patrick Murphy’s proposed budget for the new fiscal year.

Murphy delivered his first draft of a new spending plan for fiscal year 2020 to the School Board last night (Thursday), arguing that even the tax increases proposed by the County Board won’t be enough to help the school system avoid some spending cuts. The school system is preparing to open three new schools next year to cope with persistently rising enrollment levels, which Murphy expects will create another challenging budget year for county schools.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published February 13, 2019 at 7:30AM

Rosslyn Metro station (file photo)

Dorsey: Safety Over Late Night Hours — “Metro Boardmember and Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey… says Metro’s first responsibility is not to run as much service as possible, but to keep the service that is being run as safe as possible. He supports more maintenance.” Meanwhile, Metro is considering a plan to subsidize late night Uber and Lyft service. [Twitter, Washington Post]

Arlington Redistricting on Kojo Show — The always-controversial redrawing of school boundaries in Arlington was the topic of a recent discussion on the Kojo Nnamdi Show, featuring APS Superintendent Patrick Murphy and community leaders. [Kojo Nnamdi Show, Twitter]

Schools

Arlington School Enrollment is Slowing Down Just in Time for Amazon’s Arrival, Officials Say

By Alex Koma

Published December 20, 2018 at 4:30PM

Arlington schools aren’t adding quite as many students as they used to, and that’s quite good news indeed for officials bracing for an influx of Amazon workers and their families.

Arlington Public School leaders are still worried about just how much the company and its 25,000 workers will strain local schools, of course. The school system is already trying to build new schools fast enough to match the enrollment surge Arlington saw over the last decade, and that’s before Amazon brings 25,000 employees to Crystal City and Pentagon City.

Schools

School Board Vigorously Defends Washington-Lee Renaming Process in New Court Filings

By Alex Koma

Published November 14, 2018 at 1:45PM

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

Opponents of the decision to change the name of Washington-Lee High School have long claimed the School Board improperly cast aside its established engagement process on the matter — but the school system has now provided its most robust rebuttal of those charges to date.

A trio of students at Washington-Lee are hoping to block the school’s renaming with a lawsuit targeting the School Board and other top Arlington Public Schools officials, arguing primarily that the Board rushed a vote on the issue and failed to follow its proscribed process for accepting public comments on the name change.

Schools

Superintendent Sends New Boundary Proposal to School Board, Leaving Abingdon Unchanged

By Alex Koma

Published November 6, 2018 at 9:45AM

Superintendent Patrick Murphy has revealed his final proposal for new elementary school boundaries to forward along to the School Board, with a new map designed to simultaneously the answer the concerns of some Fairlington parents and reduce overcrowding at Barcroft Elementary.

Arlington Public Schools officials have spent months drawing up map after map to guide attendance boundaries at eight South Arlington elementary schools set to go into effect next fall. Each one has prompted fresh rounds of concern among parents nervous about seeing their kids moved to different schools, as the school system prepares to open up the new Alice West Fleet Elementary next year.

Schools

School Board Warns of More Budget Challenges Ahead

By Alex Koma

Published September 20, 2018 at 4:45PM

The School Board is warning of more tough budget times ahead for the county’s school system.

In a memo to Superintendent Patrick Murphy to be discussed at the group’s meeting tonight (Thursday), the Board urges Murphy to be wary of the fact that the county’s planned revenue transfer to Arlington Public Schools “is not sufficient to meet our critical needs” as “cost pressures” for the system only continue to increase.