Schools

Arlington school leaders are likely to lobby the General Assembly to permit standardized testing in languages other than English to determine student achievement.

Allowing a language option would be helpful in jurisdictions, like Arlington, where there is a significant percentage of English-language learners, advocates believe.


Schools

Three of four candidates for two open Arlington School Board seats have come out forcefully in favor of an “away-for-the-day” policy for student phone use, with exceptions available in narrow instances.

“School should be phone-free,” Paul Weiss, a retired county educator, said at a Thursday (Oct. 10) candidate forum sponsored by the Arlington Parents for Education (APE) advocacy organizations.


Schools

New mobile phone policies are going into effect in Arlington Public Schools for the upcoming school year.

After a unanimous Arlington School Board vote yesterday (Thursday), high school students will be required to turn off their cellphones during class and elementary and middle school students will have to keep them off for the entire day.


Schools

A high school student from Arlington was recently awarded a 2024 Princeton Prize in Race Relations for her work in helping to advance racial equity within her school community.

Marlene Reyes, a junior attending Arlington Tech at the Arlington Career Center, is among 28 high school students nationwide recognized by the university for their contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion in their schools and communities. The prizes are awarded by region.


Schools

One meeting down and two more to go before recommendations could emerge for a new name to adorn the forthcoming Arlington Career Center building.

Arlington Public Schools last month created a naming committee to discuss potential names for the new building, which will house the Arlington Career Center and the handful of programs within it, including Arlington Tech. As the committee has just starting meeting, no contenders have yet emerged for the building on S. Walter Reed Drive, slated for completion in the fall of 2026.


Schools

(Updated at 3:20 p.m.) Starting this month, Arlington students can now get free Metrobus rides throughout Arlington.

This builds on a program in place since 2022 allowing students with iRide SmarTrip card to ride Arlington Transit (ART) buses for free. Students who live in Arlington and are enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade can obtain these cards from Commuter Stores in Arlington or, if they are APS students, through their schools.