Numerous community members are pressing the Arlington School Board for a firm commitment to either renovating or replacing Thomas Jefferson Middle School.
Teachers, parents and students all pointed to the challenges of the half-century-old building’s narrow halls and limited natural light, which result in what one seventh grader called “a somewhat depressing environment.”
Arlington Public Schools leaders have set their plans in place for deciding when to close schools for wintry weather.
The school system has 12 snow days built into the calendar for elementary school, 15 for middle and high school. Should those numbers be exceeded, leaders plan to move to virtual learning — a staple of the pandemic era — rather than lengthen the school year to meet the state minimum of 180 days or 990 hours of instructional time.
Suspensions were down at the start of the school year in Arlington, but some significant disparities remain across different student demographics.
First-quarter suspension totals “continue to show some overrepresentation” of certain groups, including Black students and students with disabilities, Superintendent Francisco Durán told School Board members on Nov. 13.
Fewer than 50 votes separate a winning and losing candidate for Falls Church School Board, meaning a recount could be in the works.
Electoral Board members certified the results Wednesday (Nov. 12). After tabulating provisional ballots and those received by mail by the Nov. 7 deadline, the margin between Kathleen Tysse (3,532) and Sharon Mergler (3,485) tightened from the 56-vote margin reported on Election Night to 47 votes upon certification.
Three incumbents and one newcomer on the Falls Church City Council ballot were elected yesterday (Tuesday), while the winner of the final seat on the School Board hangs in the balance.
Challenger Arthur Agin prevailed in the City Council race, as did incumbents Laura Downs, Marybeth Connelly and David Snyder. Agin will take the seat of Debora Schantz-Hiscott, who did not seek re-election, in January.
Arlington Public Schools is expanding an initiative that provides parents with information on how, and for how long, their children are using school-distributed devices.
In November, APS will move from an opt-in to an opt-out model for the Lightspeed Parent Portal, which provides families with weekly summaries of web-browsing activities for students in grades 2 to 12.
The Arlington School Board is once again seeking state authorization to administer standardized tests in languages other than English.
The School Board’s 2026 General Assembly legislative package, which went to a vote yesterday (Thursday), carries over the Board’s request from the 2025 legislative session.
A decline in year-over-year student enrollment at Arlington Public Schools has resulted in staffing adjustments at some schools.
The official APS 2025-26 student count of 27,589 is down 311 students — or 1.1% — from a year before, Superintendent Francisco Durán reported to School Board on Thursday.
Arlington Public Schools leaders hope that a new “adopt-a-school” partnership model will increase schools’ formal partnerships with business and civic groups.
Noting that 30% of Arlington’s public schools have no such partnerships, APS staff outlined plans to increase opportunities for volunteerism at a School Board meeting yesterday (Thursday). They focused primarily on relationships with the business community.
School Board candidates are at odds on numerous current practices at Arlington Public Schools, including how stringent the school system’s rules on grading and homework should be.
Candidates Monique “Moe” Bryant and James “Vell” Rives IV squared off at a debate hosted online Monday night by Arlington Parents for Education, an advocacy group.
Arlington Public Schools was near the top of the pack in both the state and in Northern Virginia in its test scores for the 2024-25 school year.
APS trailed the Loudoun school system in the five broad Standards of Learning categories last school year, but outperformed Fairfax and Prince William counties and the city of Alexandria. It topped the averages statewide in each category.
Arlington Public Schools is implementing a modernized bullying-prevention curriculum beginning next month.
The curriculum, which rolls out on Oct. 1, will include the following lesson topics.
