Wakefield High School | ARLnow.com

Morning Notes

Published August 2, 2018 at 9:40AM

Chess Growing in Popularity at Wakefield HS — A hot new trend with students at Wakefield High School: chess. The school offers chess boards for students and teachers to use during their lunch periods. Five or six students were regular players at the beginning of the year, but by the end of the year the number of students playing on a weekly basis grew to around 200, including standout varsity athletes like Amari Cooper and Ben Horsford. [InsideNova]

Religious Protesters Picket Freddie’s — A pair of religious protesters held signs and chanted anti-gay slogans outside of Crystal City LGBTQ watering hole Freddie’s Beach Bar over the weekend. Despite their message of intolerance, owner Freddie Lutz invited the two in to have a dialogue about their beliefs and why Lutz is proud of his bar and customers. [Washington Blade]

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published June 18, 2018 at 9:00AM | Updated June 18, 2018 at 9:21AM

Hot Day Ahead — Anyone spending time outdoors today should hydrate frequently and take proper precautions. The heat index is expected to climb into the 90s or even the low 100s. An air quality alert is also in effect. [Twitter, Twitter, National Weather Service]

Energy Rebate Program Ending — Arlington’s energy rebate program, which provides rebates to homeowners who add high-efficiency HVAC or water heaters, or who perform other energy-saving work, is ending due to county budget cuts. The last day to apply is today, June 18. [Twitter, EcoAction Arlington]

Schools

Arlington Schools See Racial Disparity in Suspension Rates, Police Referrals

By Anna Merod

Published May 9, 2018 at 10:45AM | Updated May 9, 2018 at 12:38PM

(Updated at 12:40 p.m.) Following a national trend, data shows that Arlington Public Schools are disproportionately suspending black and Hispanic students compared to their white classmates.

The recently released stats from the U.S. Department of Education indicate that among the total 25,149 APS students, 10.6 percent were black, 28.4 percent were Hispanic and 46.1 percent were white. Meanwhile, the makeup of students serving in-school suspensions in APS was 29.1 percent black, 40.6 percent Hispanic and 19.4 percent white students. For students serving out-of-school suspensions, 29.5 percent were black, 33.3 percent were Hispanic and 27.6 percent were white.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published April 19, 2018 at 9:55AM | Updated April 19, 2018 at 10:12AM

Petition in Support of Affordable Housing Project — The website Greater Greater Washington is helping to promote a petition that intends to counter resident complaints about a proposed affordable housing project on the former Red Cross site along Route 50. Neighbors are concerned that the project might “defile” the Buckingham neighborhood, with increased traffic and school overcrowding and a loss of green space. [GGW, GGW]

‘A Friend’ Writes Thank You Note to ACPD — From the Arlington County Police Department Twitter account: “To the citizen who left this unexpected note on one of our cruisers, thank you. ACPD is grateful for the support we receive from the community and small gestures like this mean a lot to our officers.” [Twitter]

Schools

At Least 500 Wakefield High School Students To Learn Hands-On CPR

By Anna Merod

Published April 4, 2018 at 3:45PM

The event is part of the “Hands2Hearts” initiative which seeks to help every adult working or living in Arlington to learn hands-only CPR.

The initiative is sponsored by the Arlington County Fire Department and Virginia Hospital Center. Organizers will spend 30 minutes teaching students how to recognize a cardiac arrest victim while teaching them how to potentially save their lives through hands-only CPR.

Around Town

Podcast: Virginia’s 2018 Teacher of the Year, Michelle Cottrell-Williams

By ARLnow.com

Published March 30, 2018 at 6:00PM

Join her and ARLnow assistant managing editor, Bridget Reed Morawski, as the two talk APS world language reductions proposed for next year’s budget, the one-to-one device program, and guns in schools.

Listen below or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher or TuneIn.

Schools

Sen. Kaine Talks Gun Control With Wakefield Students

By Bridget Reed Morawski

Published March 16, 2018 at 11:00AM | Updated September 23, 2020 at 11:24AM

Sen. Tim Kaine talking about gun control and mental health solutions at Wakefield High School

Sen. Tim Kaine joined Wakefield High School students this morning (March 16) to discuss gun violence and school safety.

Students offered their own perspectives and asked Kaine questions ranging from what he would do regarding the Dickey Amendment to school security measures to mental health treatment.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published March 15, 2018 at 8:45AM | Updated March 15, 2018 at 9:08AM

ATS Parents Peeved About Overcrowding — Arlington Traditional School parents are protesting the addition of classes and relocatable classrooms to the already-overcrowded school. [Arlington Connection]

Alliterative Pothole Patching Update — Via Arlington’s Dept. of Environmental Services: “Punctilious, present pothole people have plugged 500-plus problems post-2017 but prefer a plethora for practice. Please provide. http://topics.arlingtonva.us/reportproblem or call 703-228-6570.” [Twitter]

Schools

Students Walk Out of School to Protest Gun Violence

By ARLnow.com

Published March 14, 2018 at 11:05AM | Updated March 14, 2018 at 12:09PM

Washington-Lee student walkout on March 14

(Updated at 12:05 p.m.) Students at Arlington’s high schools walked out of class Wednesday morning to protest gun violence in the wake of the Parkland, Florida mass school shooting.

The 10 a.m. walkout was planned nationally, on the one month anniversary of the shooting, and in Arlington it was the second such protest in as many months. Washington-Lee, Yorktown, Wakefield, Langston and H-B Woodlawn were among the schools participating. Students at Kenmore Middle School also walked out, according to the school’s Twitter account.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published March 9, 2018 at 8:45AM

DHS Official Charged With Beating Wife in Arlington — A “senior career official with the Department of Homeland Security who… handles a ‘high volume’ of classified information in his role as an intelligence briefer,” served jail time after a 2016 incident in Arlington in which he was charged with assaulting his wife, breaking two ribs and causing bruising around her neck. [Washington Post]

Anti-DUI Event at Shamrock Crawl Tomorrow — The Arlington County Police Department will hold a St. Patrick’s Day-themed anti-DUI event dubbed “Don’t Press Your Luck” in Clarendon tomorrow (Saturday). The event will coincide with the planned Shamrock Crawl bar crawl. [Arlington County]

Schools

UPDATE: Wakefield Falls Just Short in Basketball State Championship

By ARLnow.com

Published March 8, 2018 at 4:35PM | Updated March 8, 2018 at 6:00PM

Update at 5:55 p.m. — Despite leading for much of the game, Wakefield ended up falling just short to Varina, 64-60.

We love our boys. They just lost 64-60, Varina. We are 2nd place in the State Championship. The boys have to be part of the ceremony. Takes strength to fix your face and take that trophy. pic.twitter.com/t8FGX2nu0b

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published March 7, 2018 at 8:45AM | Updated March 7, 2018 at 9:38AM

Wakefield Advances to Championship — The Wakefield High School boys basketball team has advanced to the Virginia Class 5 championship after defeating Edison last night 82-66. The team will face Varina tomorrow at VCU. Meanwhile, Wakefield senior forward A’Mari Cooper has been named Northern Region Class 5 Player of the Year. [Washington Post, InsideNova]

Metro Starts Selling Merch — Despite its reliability issues and subsequent image problem, Metro has launched a new line of clothing and gifts, sold online and at a new gift store at Metro Center. The reaction to the merchandise has been mixed. [WMATA, NBC Washington]