Arlington County police are set to conduct high-visibility traffic enforcement tomorrow as part of its “Street Smart” road safety campaign.

The enforcement will take place Thursday from 3:30-4:30 p.m. in the Arlington View neighborhood, just south of Columbia Pike, at the intersection of 12th Street S. and S. Rolfe Street.

A second enforcement campaign is planned for Thursday, Dec. 1 from 3:30-4:30 p.m. in front of Nottingham Elementary School, in the Williamsburg neighborhood. That’s near the scenes of three fatal pedestrian crashes that have occurred since 2014, including one last month.

“The Street Smart campaign aims to identify and change unsafe behavior patterns amongst motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists, with the goal of reducing the number of traffic related collisions and injuries on our roadways,” police said in a press release.

The full ACPD press release is below.

Fall brings cooler temperatures and less daylight hours, meaning reduced visibility during peak commuting times for all road users. As we adjust to the end of Daylight Saving Time, the Arlington County Police Department (ACPD) is sharing important transportation safety tips to ensure all travelers can reach their destinations safely. ACPD and law enforcement agencies throughout the region will take part in the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government’s Fall Street Smart Campaign from November 7 – December 4. The Street Smart campaign aims to identify and change unsafe behavior patterns amongst motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists, with the goal of reducing the number of traffic related collisions and injuries on our roadways.

Street Smart Enforcement Activations

As part of the Street Smart campaign, officers will conduct high-visibility traffic enforcement at the following locations:

• Thursday, November 10, 2022, from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. – 12th Street S. at S. Rolfe Street
• Thursday, December 1, 2022, from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. – 5900 block of Little Falls Road […]

Transportation Safety Tips

No matter how you travel, remember to always be a P.A.L. – predicable, alert and lawful.

Drivers are reminded to:

• Slow down, drive the speed limit and obey all posted traffic signs and signals.
• Remain alert for pedestrians and bicyclists.
• Stop for pedestrians in crosswalks.
• Use caution when passing buses or stopped vehicles.
• Yield to people walking or biking when turning.
• Allow for at least 3 feet when passing bicyclists.
• Avoid using your cell phone and never text while driving. Holding a hand-held communication device while driving is illegal in Virginia.

Pedestrians are reminded to:

• Cross the street at the corner and use marked crosswalks when they are available.
• Use pushbuttons when available and wait for the walk signal to cross the street.
• Look both ways before crossing.
• Remain visible, especially after dark and in bad weather, by wearing light colored or reflective clothing.
• Watch for blind spots around trucks and buses.
• Avoid using devices that distract you, such as cell phones, while crossing the street.

Bicyclists and shared mobility device operators are reminded to:

• Ride in the same direction as traffic, using bike lanes when possible.
• Use hand signals to communicate your intentions with other travelers.
• Wear a helmet, which is required for all bicycle riders 14 years of age and younger and recommended for all other riders. (Arlington County Code 14.2-64.)
• Keep your eyes on the road and avoid the use of devices that may distract you.
• Remain visible, especially after dark and in bad weather, by wearing light colored or reflective clothing.
• Use headlights and taillights, especially when riding between sunset and sunrise.

MORE: Tips for Safe Operation of E-Scooters in Arlington County

Fifth graders at Nottingham Elementary School raised more than a thousand dollars, via a lemonade stand, for relief efforts in Ukraine.

The fundraiser, held June 4, raised $1,250 to donate to World Central Kitchen, the nonprofit founded by Chef José Andrés that is providing freshly made meals to people in Ukraine. Students ran the stand as their graduation service project.

The fifth graders sold lemonade and popsicles from around 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on that Saturday. Their stand was decorated in blue and yellow, the national colors of Ukraine, and set up along a sidewalk near the school’s fields.

“We sold a lot of lemonades to baseball teams, a lot of coaches came,” said Juliette Schroeder, one of the fifth graders.

The students led the event largely by themselves, while their parents acted as coordinators.

“I would say this was really kid-run and kid-driven,” parent Alison Grantham said. “We stood back and they ran the lemonade stand and handled the money and everything.”

The fifth graders voted to run a lemonade stand from of a list of idea. The decision was “almost unanimous,” Juliette said. She voted for it because she was interested in helping the people in Ukraine.

“Since I’ve been interested in this conflict myself, I’ve been seeing things on the news,” she said. “There were a bunch of people that have been talking to me about it and I thought it’s interesting to try to do something.”

The students made posters promoting the event and posted them around the neighborhood, while the parents organized the signups, bought the materials and took out a cashier’s check for the money raised, Grantham added.

World Central Kitchen was chosen as the recipient of the funds because the students wanted to provide food assistance to Ukraine, especially warm meals, Juliette said.

“It’s one of the main things of living and honestly, I don’t think I could imagine, like, my world without having warm meal for me every single day,” she said.

Grantham’s daughter, Abby, was at the stand in the morning. Her most memorable moment was when multiple families were waiting around the stand to get lemonade.

“It was a very hectic moment, but it was also very nice, because they all wanted to come and support Ukraine,” Abby said.

(Updated at 2:55 p.m.) A large tree has fallen and is completely blocking the intersection of Yorktown Blvd and N. George Mason Drive.

Police and firefighters are on the scene. The tree reportedly also brought down power lines at the intersection, which is just down the street from Yorktown High School.

Drivers should expect detours in the area while crews work to remove the tree from the roadway. Eastbound traffic on Yorktown Blvd is being diverted onto 28th Street N., near the high school, according to scanner traffic.

Pedestrian traffic from the high school may also be re-routed.

UPDATE: N George Mason shut down between 26th St and Yorktown Bl. Yorktown shut down between N George Mason and N Dinwiddie. Seek alternate routes. https://t.co/yThuZHMXes

— Arlington Alert (@arlingtonalert) December 4, 2019

Separately, further down Yorktown Blvd from the fallen tree, Arlington County firefighters were on the scene of a possible gas leak at Nottingham Elementary as of 1:30 p.m. The school was evacuated while firefighters investigated a reported gas odor.

Jeff Covel really wanted to go to a World Series game. A fan since the Expos came to town and became the Nationals, going to a World Series game was a “bucket list” dream.

The retiree and Nottingham Elementary crossing guard of 6 years made a sign saying “Need World Series Tickets” and placed it near his post at N. Ohio Street and 29th Street N.

Unbeknownst to Covel, who was lauded as one of Virginia’s most outstanding crossing guards in 2015, parents in a Facebook group decided to raise money to buy Jeff two tickets to Saturday’s Game 4 at Nationals Park. Within 24 hours they raised enough to purchase two tickets.

Colleen Wright, one of the organizers, presented the tickets this morning to Covel, surrounded by other parents and school children.

“He’s just so great with the kids, learning everyone’s name and always greeting everybody with a smile,” Wright said.

Staff video by Jay Westcott

Arlington’s School Board is laying out more details as it prepares to redraw elementary school boundary lines this fall, identifying 11 schools set to see boundary changes ahead of the 2019 school year.

With the new Alice West Fleet Elementary School set to open in Arlington Heights next year, Arlington Public Schools needs to tweak boundaries for a variety of schools as ripple effects of the change spread throughout the county. The Board’s already been busy working with staff to sort out which schools should be “option” programs, accessible to students around the county, and plans to spend the next few months sorting out remaining boundary details leading up to a final vote this December.

While school leaders have discussed a variety of programs over the course of the year, today (Friday) Arlington Public Schools released the final list of elementary schools set to have their boundaries changed as part of this process. Those schools are:

• Abingdon
• Arlington Science Focus (ASFS)
• Ashlawn
• Barcroft
• Drew
• Henry (Fleet)
• Hoffman-Boston
• Long Branch
• Oakridge
• Randolph
• Taylor

Notably, that list does not include Carlin Springs or Nottingham Elementary Schools, even though APS staff previously suggested that the schools would be good candidates to be converted to option schools. However, APS says the schools’ boundaries will be reviewed as part of a fall 2020 boundary process, which will involve 14 schools in all.

Barcroft, however, is on the list after being recommended for a conversion to an option school.

The question of which schools will become, or remain, countywide option programs is sure to be one of the most contentious issues the Board wrestles with during the boundary process.

APS currently has five option schools at the elementary level: Arlington Traditional School and Campbell, Claremont, Drew and Key Elementary Schools. The rest are all “neighborhood schools,” which only accept nearby students who live within set boundaries.

The School Board has already agreed to move the county’s “Montessori” program from Drew Model School to Patrick Henry Elementary School for the 2019-2020 school year, with Drew changing to a neighborhood school, so at least one option site is guaranteed to change.

County staff have yet to offer any final recommendations on option schools, but in a preliminary analysis in May, they told the Board that Campbell, Carlin Springs and Henry Elementary Schools were all likely to earn their recommendation to either become or remain option sites.

Barcroft, Claremont and Nottingham Elementary Schools and the Arlington Traditional School were also cited as possibilities to fill the final two available slots for option schools, leaving Barcroft as the only school recommended for conversion on the list for the 2018 process.

But staff don’t plan to offer any final recommendations until sometime this fall, and will only do so after holding a series of public meetings on the process.

Staff will hold an open office hours session on the issue from 7-8:30 p.m. on Aug. 7 and the first community meeting on the topic on Sept. 26, both at Kenmore Middle School (200 S. Carlin Springs Rd.).

The Board plans to take a final vote on boundaries Dec. 6.

Officials also released the full list of schools set to be impacted by the 2020 boundary process, precipitated in part by the opening of the new building on the Reed school site in 2021:

• Abingdon
• Ashlawn
• Barcroft
• Barrett
• Carlin Springs
• Discovery
• Glebe
• Jamestown
• McKinley
• Long Branch
• Nottingham
• Reed
• Taylor
• Tuckahoe

“A school may be involved in both boundary processes, but a specific planning unit will only be impacted once to minimize the number of times that individual students who have continued to reside in a particular attendance area are impacted by the boundary change,” APS wrote in a release.

(Updated at 2:50 p.m.) Arlington Public Schools staff have named seven elementary schools that could host countywide “option” programs in the coming years, as officials move ahead with their reevaluation of elementary school boundaries scheduled to wrap up this fall.

Yesterday (May 1), APS released an updated draft analysis of potential changes to county elementary schools, with the bulk of the document addressing which schools could someday offer option programs — meaning they are open to student applicants from all over the county. APS currently is eyeing seven possible locations, but aims to keep a total of five schools as option program sites.

Staff indicate that Campbell, Carlin Springs and Patrick Henry Elementary Schools are all likely to earn their recommendation to either become or remain option sites. Barcroft, Claremont and Nottingham Elementary Schools and the Arlington Traditional School are also cited as possibilities to fill the final two available slots, though APS doesn’t plan to offer final recommendations to the board until sometime this fall.

APS currently has five option schools at the elementary level: Arlington Traditional School and Campbell, Claremont, Drew and Key Elementary Schools. The rest are all “neighborhood schools,” meaning only students who live within set boundaries are eligible to attend.

With two new elementary schools set to open over the next three years, the School Board asked APS staff to work up two proposals for policymakers to consider. One would leave all the option and neighborhood school designations the same and adjust attendance boundaries; the other would change both the school designations and the boundaries.

Staff will offer the board a definitive set of recommendations about how the mix of option and neighborhood schools might change. The May 1 analysis explores a host of factors to guide those choices, such as how changing those designations would affect transportation options and the proximity of Spanish-language programs to Spanish-speaking students.

The School Board has already agreed to move the county’s “Montessori” program from Drew Model School to Patrick Henry Elementary School for the 2019-2020 school year, with Drew changing to a neighborhood school, so at least one option site is guaranteed to change. In the May 1 analysis, APS staff suggest that the board could keep the “Expeditionary Learning” program at Campbell Elementary School and establish a new Spanish immersion program at Carlin Springs.

That leaves two spots for option programs empty, and the analysis suggests that the school system could maintain Claremont or Arlington Traditional School as option sites, or convert Barcroft or Nottingham Elementary Schools.

Staff floated the possibility of running option programs at three schools in close proximity — Barcroft, Carlin Springs and Claremont — in order to achieve “greater transportation efficiency” when busing in students from around the county.

Read More

(Updated at 3:25 p.m.) The Arlington School Board could soon change which students are allowed to attend Nottingham Elementary School, and some parents are pushing back on the proposal.

Arlington Public Schools staffers see Nottingham as a candidate to become an “option school,” meaning that students from around the county would be able to attend the Northwest Arlington school, and it would offer specialized programs. APS also is considering converting three other schools to option schools as it re-examines attendance boundaries ahead of opening two new elementary schools over the next three years.

Right now, only students living in a set area near Nottingham can attend the school, and some in the community hope to keep it that way. An online petition created by a user known as “Nottingham Community” on April 19 is urging the board to spurn a recommendation from school staffers and maintain Nottingham’s status as a “neighborhood school.”

The petition, which currently boasts more than 500 signatures, notes that roughly 82 percent of Nottingham’s student body is eligible to walk to school, but converting the school to an option facility would require expanding the bus program to bring in students from other parts of the county.

“Nottingham is tucked away in an upper corner of the county and inside a neighborhood making traveling to and from other parts of the county cumbersome, with potentially very long bus rides,” the petition reads. “Option schools should be centrally located to allow equal access from all parts of the county.”

APS officials stressed at an April 12 School Board work session that other factors are at play in their analysis of Nottingham. For example, they noted that if students are bused to Nottingham from other parts of the county, many existing Nottingham students could be redistributed and walk to other nearby schools — Tuckahoe and Discovery Elementary Schools — instead.

Lisa Stengle, the APS director of planning and evaluation, pointed out that APS may run into trouble drawing new school boundaries in the area once a new elementary school opens at the Reed School site in Westover. APS is currently planning to open that building in 2021, and Stengle believes converting Nottingham to an option school could ease the process of divvying up students in the region.

“Otherwise, we may be developing these boundaries that go long and narrow down the county, which requires lots of buses,” Stengle told the board.

Stengle added that APS is projecting that northwest Arlington’s student population will continue growing rapidly in the coming years, which could put even more of a strain on Nottingham if it remains a neighborhood school.

She added that no final determination has been made about which other schools will be recommended to the School Board for conversion to option schools, although Claremont, Carlin Springs and Arlington Science Focus are strongly being considered. County staff plan to release a full draft list of recommendations for neighborhood and option school designations next week, on April 30, then collect community feedback through May 10. APS staff plan to release final recommendations this fall.

“This is really saying that every neighborhood school is at play, but every option school is as well,” said School Board Chair Barbara Kanninen. “It’s really equalizing the stress we’re feeling across the community.”

Photo via Google Maps

Amazon Could Change Conversation — If Amazon were to establish its second headquarters in the D.C. area, it could have wide-ranging effects, including tightening the commercial real estate market and easing antitrust pressures on the company. Writes the Economist: “Having 50,000 employees going to the same country clubs and putting children in the same schools as government officials is a shrewd strategy if Amazon wants to fend off government attacks.” [Washington Business Journal, The Economist]

One Hospitalized During Hazmat Incident — An employee at a catering business was hospitalized after a reported chemical spill at a warehouse along Four Mile Run Drive. [Twitter]

Principal on Leave at Nottingham — Nottingham Elementary School Principal Mary Beth Pelosky is “currently on leave” and former Arlington Public Schools administrator Connie Skelton is taking over as acting principal, according to an email to parents from APS Superintendent Patrick Murphy. No explanation was given for Pelosky’s sudden departure.

No More Early Cherry Blossom Bloom — Initially expected to happen later this week, the peak cherry blossom bloom is, due to cold weather, now expected to occur at the end of March and possibly the beginning of April. [Capital Weather Gang, WTOP]

APS May Take Advantage of Recess Law Change — “The chairman of Arlington’s School Board appears optimistic about a change in state law that will permit school districts to squeeze more recess into the existing school day.” [InsideNova]

Photo via @thelastfc

The stars of the Arlington County Police Department’s viral synchronized swimming video will again be showing off their acting skills.

This coming Saturday, December 9, ACPD’s “Operation Santa” will visit at least 10 neighborhoods throughout December, spreading holiday cheer to children and adults in the community. Among the stops is the parking lot at Nottingham Elementary School (5900 Little Falls Road) at 11 a.m.

A blurb on the event said it “features many popular characters including, Santa, Rudolph, the Grinch and others. This event will offer members of the public an opportunity to experience the show, get to know the officers who make it happen each year and take photos with the characters and officers following the performance.”

ACPD spokeswoman Ashley Savage said the same officers who starred in the swimming video will don costumes for the performances, which are free to attend. Members of ACPD’s Community Policing District Teams work with neighborhoods to designate dates, time and locations and help promote to the children in the community.

“It is an opportunity for the Department to give back to the community, spread holiday cheer, share an important message about the holidays and give the community another opportunity to get to know the men and women of the Arlington County Police Department,” Savage said.

Savage said the officers involved are all currently working nights, so were not available for additional comment.

Santa and Rudolph danced their way to #ArlingtonVA to spread holiday cheer and distribute gifts to all the boys and girls on the nice list! pic.twitter.com/5OZ4iX5RrU

— ArlingtonCountyPD (@ArlingtonVaPD) December 2, 2017

The fidget spinner toy fad has caught the attention of Arlington school administrators.

Kids have apparently been doing too much fidgeting, because at least two schools — and likely more — have addressed the issue in emails to parents.

A parent who did not wish to be identified said emails have been sent to her from Williamsburg Middle and Nottingham Elementary schools, saying that schools are cracking down on the toy, which was originally intended to help students relieve stress and concentrate in class.

That follows similar crackdowns at other schools throughout the U.S. and U.K.

Here’s an excerpt from the WMS email:

We need your help with two issues. First, the entrepreneurial spirit has hit Williamsburg! And not necessarily in a good way. We have noted students selling spinners and slime to other students. This activity takes the focus off of learning and we are making every effort to stop it. On a somewhat related issue, we are continuing to see an explosion in the number of spinners. The spinners are getting larger, more complex and increasingly distracting. Unless your child has an accommodation to use a spinner, please encourage them to leave the spinners at home.

There has been “no guidance from central office as of yet” regarding spinners, said Arlington Public Schools spokesman Frank Bellavia. “Principals handle this sort of thing and make decisions based on what they are seeing in schools.”

(Updated at 1:45 p.m.) Just 18 months after Arlington’s School Board approved a new elementary school boundary plan for North Arlington, an influx of more new students is prompting the Board to reconsider those plans.

Arlington Public Schools spokesman Frank Bellavia says 652 additional Pre-K and elementary students came to the district this year, outpacing APS’s growth projections by 52. That, along with variances on a school-by-school basis, has caused APS to explore “possible refinements to the boundaries.”

Following a series of three community meetings, the School Board is scheduled to fast-track a vote on a new boundary map for the 2015-2016 school year in January.

The process for determining the new school boundaries will begin with a community meeting at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 17, at Williamsburg Middle School. There, APS staff will present data showing the need for the boundary change, demonstrate the online tool that parents can use to recommend their boundary maps and “begin work with the community to refine boundary options,” according to an APS press release.

The schools whose boundaries will come under review are the under-construction elementary school next to Williamsburg Middle School, Glebe Elementary, Tuckahoe, Ashlawn, Nottingham, Taylor, Jamestown and McKinley.

The approved boundary change from May of last year reassigned 900 students and resulted in five schools — Taylor, Glebe, Tuckahoe, McKinley and Nottingham — sitting at more than 100 percent capacity, but no school above 105.1 percent capacity. The decision was reached after an eight-month community process, and previous boundary realignments have resulted in tension among parents.

The boundary revision process, from the first School Board information session to its scheduled adoption, will take two and a half months.

“After we received updated enrollment projections based on Sept. 30 enrollment numbers, the Superintendent directed staff to begin looking at refinement of the 2015-16 boundaries,” APS spokesman Frank Bellavia told ARLnow.com in an email. “The projections confirmed that we will have enrollment imbalances within the those schools and there is a need to do boundary refinements for a relatively small number of families.”

At tomorrow night’s School Board meeting, APS staff will present their newest school population projections and outline the need to revising the boundaries. From Nov. 18 to Dec. 5, parents and community members will be able to go online and submit their boundary recommendations for staff to consider. Staff will review those recommendations at another community meeting Tuesday, Dec. 9, in the Williamsburg auditorium.

“The community meetings will provide an opportunity for the families that may potentially be impacted to work with staff to develop recommended adjustments using the Online Boundary Tool originally introduced in the boundary process two years ago,” APS said in a press release. “Individuals will be able to see the possible moves that can help to further balance enrollment for these schools. Information shared at all community meetings will help shape the discussion and prepare individuals to use the Online Boundary Tool.”

In January, the School Board will take up the issue. First, with a work session on Jan. 5, then with an information item on Jan. 8, when Superintendent Patrick Murphy presents his recommendation. On Jan. 15, the Board will hold a public meeting on the issue before voting on a new boundary alignment on Jan. 22. All of the School Board meetings will be at 7:30 p.m. at 1426 N. Quincy Street.

File photo via APS