Arlington Public Schools kicked off the school year with an enrollment of 27,173, down 1.6% from last year.
The figure, which counts students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, is down from 27,603 reported during the first week of the 2025-26 school year.
Arlington Public Schools students recorded increases in four of five broad academic categories in the Virginia Department of Education’s 2025-26 Standards of Learning exams (SOLs).
The school system reported overall increases in reading, history/social sciences, mathematics and science pass rates, with a decline in the writing category.
Arlington Community High School celebrated its arrival at a new, permanent location in Pentagon City on Friday.
Hundreds turned out for the celebration at 1450 S. Eads Street, a more than 30,000-square-foot space donated by Amazon at its HQ2 campus.
Today (Monday) is the first day of class at Arlington Public Schools, and the school system is just over 99% staffed up to welcome its 27,000 students.
“We’re looking forward to welcoming them all back,” Superintendent Francisco Durán said at the Aug. 27 School Board meeting, where he detailed changes that will impact students and families during the school year.
School Board members are expected to expand options for excused absences in the upcoming school year.
To comply with changes to state law, three new categories may be added to the existing 13 qualifying for excused absences at Arlington Public Schools:
A staff proposal to remove a net of two days of instruction for Arlington elementary schoolers brought noncommittal comments from School Board members.
The proposal would rearrange instructional time in October and March to accommodate parent-teacher conferences at the elementary school level. It would result in 178 days of class, leading to some heartburn among School Board members who have pledged not to go below 180 days each year.
A late start to the school year and other logistical challenges could result in Arlington elementary schoolers getting fewer than 180 days of instruction this year.
School Board members are reviewing a proposal to alter the 2026-27 elementary school calendar to provide more opportunity for meetings between teachers and parents in October and March. This would result in just 178 instructional days for elementary-school students.
Students are arriving at Marymount University this week for their fall semester, potentially resulting in some traffic delays near the main campus.
Move-in began yesterday (Sunday) and will continue through this upcoming weekend, but the busiest day is expected to be Wednesday from 6:45 a.m.-5 p.m. This is the university’s official move-in day, with first-year convocation scheduled for Thursday morning.
An online Summer Skills Boost Program attracted almost 2,000 Arlington students between second and eighth grade this year.
Seeking to prevent learning loss and prepare for the 2026-27 school year, the self-paced initiative ran from July 6 to 31.
An Arlington Mill concert featuring student musicians and other local bands raised funds for Aspire! Afterschool Learning last weekend.
The Jackson Nine, a group of youth in Aspire’s no-cost summer program, rounded out an afternoon of performances at Arlington Mill Community Center plaza, which also included the adult bands APM (Always Preparing Mentally), The Stacks and Angel Roads.
The Arlington School Board is considering a formal ban on petting dogs that are working as service animals.
As part of a July 22 Policy Committee meeting, School Board members reviewed a proposal to officially require that students and staff refrain from extraneous interactions with service animals, including petting them.
Additional after-school opportunities will be available to youth in Green Valley at the start of this school year.
The Center for Youth and Family Advocacy (CYFA) is expanding “The Zone,” its literacy-focused after-school program, to students in first and second grades at Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School.
