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Arlington Public Schools

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

'High Expectations' — Carlin Springs' Coronel Named Principal of the Year

Arlington Public Schools bestows honor on veteran educator.

Over the last eight years, Carlin Springs Elementary School has undergone a transformation. “The kids from Carlin Springs Elementary didn’t always succeed,” said Dan Redding, an assistant principal at the school. But that was before Corina Coronel took over as principal. “When she became principal, there was an immediate difference,” Redding said. “…They are doing so much better.” In a testament to that success, Coronel has been named Arlington Public Schools' Principal of the Year. She has been principal at Carlin Springs for eight years and an educator in the county for about 20. “It’s an honor and we are thrilled that the school is going to be out there and everyone is going to learn about what a great community we have here,” Coronel …

Friday, March 22, 2013

Cuts to Gifted Services, Teen Parenting Programs Draw Criticism

Superintendent's proposed budget cuts about 62 positions.

Potential cuts to programs for gifted students and teen parents in the public school system drew 30 people out to speak before the Arlington School Board on Thursday night. Arlington Public Schools Superintendent Pat Murphy's $520.4 million proposed budget cuts about 62 positions from the school system, including gifted services teachers at all three high schools and more than 14 positions from the teen parenting program. The cuts are among nearly $8 million in reductions Murphy has proposed to balance the school's spending plan for next fiscal year, which begins July 1. The majority of Thursday night's speakers were teachers, parents and students who extolled the benefits of having a gifted services teacher at Wakefield, Washington-Lee or…

Kelly

11:03 am on Friday, March 22, 2013

Bring FLES to Tuckahoe - Petition to the board: http://www.change.org/petitions/arlington-county-school-board-arlington-va-implement-foreign-language-in-the-elementary-schools-fles-at-tuckahoe   more ›

School Boundary Changes: 'We Expect We Cannot Make Everyone Happy,' Raphael Says

Arlington School Board will hold two public hearings on the matter in April about the plan to shuffle 900 Arlington students among eight schools.

Arlington Public Schools Superintendent Pat Murphy on Thursday formally presented a plan to adjust elementary school attendance zone boundaries in North Arlington. The recommendation — "Variation B" to the hundreds of parents who have been following the process — shuffles 900 students among seven existing elementary schools and a new one planned for the Williamsburg community. [More: 900 Students Move in Arlington Superintendent's School Boundary Recommendation] The school system has held about 40 meetings since September 2011 on the matter, from well-attended town halls to neighborhood meetings at Starbucks. Murphy said the feedback he'd received has been "thoughtful, informed, insightful and, ultimately, the dialogue was respectful." The…

Schools Ask Arlington County for Bigger Share of Tax Revenue

Arlington Public Schools has requested about $3 million in additional revenue.

Arlington Public Schools has formally requested an extra half-cent of tax revenue from Arlington County, about $3 million in potential revenue, School Board Chairwoman Emma Violand-Sanchez said Thursday. The school board is in the process of reviewing and refining a $520.4 million spending plan proposed by Superintendent Pat Murphy that consolidates several programs but maintains class sizes. Murphy has proposed a series of cuts to address an anticipated budget gap of up to $25 million. And while the school system will add about 30 positions overall, about 62 would be eliminated — including teachers for gifted services at all three high schools and about 14 jobs in the teen parenting program. "We are concerned about the extent the budget …

Don Fardosian

4:16 pm on Friday, March 22, 2013

Arlington School parents need to pony up if they want to enjoy perks like W&L's swimming pool and track, none of which my child's private school has. I don't mind paying for public schools but paying for swimming pools and other facilities that my child does not have is a stretch. Being banned from HS pools and sent to the Longbridge Park facility if that comes to pass adds insult to injury.   more ›

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

900 Students Move in Arlington Superintendent's School Boundary Recommendation

Superintendent Pat Murphy's recommendations moves students in seven North Arlington schools.

Arlington Public Schools on Wednesday unveiled Superintendent Pat Murphy's recommended boundary changes for seven North Arlington elementary schools. The changes are necessary to accommodate a new elementary school in Williamsburg, part of a larger effort to deal with overcrowding as the population of students in the public school system continues to grow. Murphy will make his formal recommendation to the school board Thursday night. In all, that plan moves 900 students — more than one-third of them from Nottingham Elementary School to the new elementary school. Murphy's recommendation: Further, a to-be-determined program will be moved from Glebe to the new elementary school. Staff will be working with the Special Education and Early …

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

School Boundary Changes: Superintendent to Make Recommendation Thursday

Superintendent Pat Murphy will make a presentation about changing seven elementary school attendance zone boundaries Thursday night following a public hearing on the school's proposed 2014 budget.

Arlington Public Schools Superintendent Pat Murphy will present his recommendation for changing seven elementary school attendance zone boundaries Thursday night. The changes are necessary to accommodate a new elementary school in Williamsburg, part of a larger effort to deal with overcrowding. The public school system expects to add 1,000 students a year for the foreseeable future. The new elementary school has forced the school system to juggle a wide range of community concerns, as officials moved various neighborhoods from one school attendance zone to another. The changes have caused the most heartburn to parents with children at Glebe and Taylor elementary schools. Staff has developed three plans — one recommendation and two …

Friday, March 15, 2013

Arlington Public Schools to Host Multicultural Parent Conference

The parent conference will take place Saturday at Kenmore Middle School

Arlington Public Schools are inviting parents to a Multicultural Parent Conference on Saturday. Parent meetings will be held in Amharic, Arabic, Bengali, English, Mongolian, Spanish, Tigrinya and Urdu, according to an announcement from the school system. APS will host workshops on child development, school and community services, and information on entrance into college. Food, music and exhibits from different countries will be on hand. The meeting is from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Kenmore Middle School, 200 S. Carlin Springs Road. Read more news on Arlington Schools:

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

School Boundary Changes: Arlington Superintendent Gets Feedback

Murphy will make his recommendation on the changes to the Arlington School Board on March 21.

Arlington Public Schools Superintendent Pat Murphy held a town hall Monday night to hear what parents had to say about potential changes to school attendance zones that would affect seven North Arlington schools. They had a lot to say. "It's healthy," Murphy told Patch afterward. "I always feel you come away with something." A few hundred parents, many of them with children at Glebe or Taylor elementary schools, showed up to voice their concerns or show support or opposition for various plans to change school boundaries. [More: School Boundary Changes: Latest Recommendations Released] The town hall was at Williamsburg Middle School, which in years ahead will share its campus with a new elementary school. That new school is part of a larger…

Meghan Keller

6:16 pm on Tuesday, March 12, 2013

I’d like to add a comment to clarify my point about choice schools. This quote is accurate, but it overstates my position. My position is that we might be able to do better than the options currently on the table, specifically as they relate to Taylor and Glebe, once we bring the choice schools into the mix and can look at the boundary issues together. My recommendation is that we stop short of …   more ›

Monday, March 11, 2013

Tonight: North Arlington School Boundary Changes Town Hall

Superintendent will make his recommendation to the Arlington School Board later this month.

Arlington Public Schools Superintendent Pat Murphy will host a town hall at 7 p.m. Monday to get feedback on the final three recommended changes to elementary school attendance zones in North Arlington. The town hall will be at Williamsburg Middle School. The school system is in the early stages of putting a new elementary school on the Williamsburg campus to help ease overcrowding. Parents who have children — or will have children — in Ashlawn, Glebe, Jamestown, McKinley, Nottingham, Taylor or Tuckahoe elementary schools will be potentially effected by the changes. The school system has held meetings on adjusting the existing boundaries for months. However, in late February some parents said they had just found out that the changes could …

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Arlington Schools, Federal Government Open Thursday

So long, snowquester.

Arlington Public Schools will be open Thursday, according to spokesman Frank Bellavia. The federal government, too, has announced that it will be open Thursday. Metro has announced it will run on a normal weekday schedule Thursday. No more than a half-inch of snow is expected to accumulate overnight in Arlington, according to the latest information from the National Weather Service.

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