Arlington Public Schools
[2] Forbes magazine named the Washington, D.C., and Arlington area as the top place in the nation to educate one's child in 2007.
[5] However, since Hoffman-Boston was not accredited until the 1950s, many black Arlingtonians commuted to Washington, D.C. to pursue secondary education.
[6] In 1949, after advocacy from a local citizen's group, Arlingtonians for a Better County, Arlington's school board became the first in Virginia to be democratically elected rather than appointed.
[7][5] In 1954, after the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, all public schools in the United States were required to desegregate.
[8] In January 1956, a plan to gradually desegregate Arlington's public schools was released by the committee.
[7] That same year, the NAACP, on behalf of black and white students and their families, sued the new school board in an attempt to compel them to integrate in Clarissa Thompson v. the County School Board of Arlington, which was filed concurrently with other integration lawsuits around Virginia.
[5] Many white racial moderates feared that the Board would close public schools rather than allow them to be desegregated.
On February 2, four black students- Ronald Deskins, Michael Jones, Gloria Thompson and Lance Newman- arrived at Stratford, protected by nearly 100 police officers, hoping to avoid what had happened to the Little Rock Nine.
[14][15] Arlington's public schools gradually continued to integrate, although courts only approved of its pupil placement system as being racially neutral in 1971, twelve years after desegregation began.
In the wake of the August 2017 Charlottesville, Virginia, deadly white supremacist rally protesting the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee, the Arlington County School Board voted unanimously in June 2018 to rename Washington-Lee High School to remove Lee's name,[16][17] sparking outrage among some in the community.
It offers shows for the general public Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays during the school year.
[23] The planetarium is named for astronaut David M. Brown, a graduate of Arlington's Yorktown High School who was killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003.
[24] In addition to a large classroom building, the lab facility has a pond, streams, small mountains, and forested areas.
[25][26] Students graduating Dorothy Hamm will either attend Washington-Liberty or Yorktown High Schools.
Gunston Middle School is located at 2700 South Lang Street, in Arlington Ridge.
Sports teams include basketball, soccer, wrestling, swimming, track, and tennis.
Source: Virginia Department of Education [29] Kenmore Middle School is located at 200 South Carlin Springs Road, in Glencarlyn.
Most kids attending Kenmore will later on go to Wakefield or Washington-Liberty High School but in some cases will go to Yorktown.
Source: Virginia Department of Education[31] Swanson Middle School is located at 5800 North Washington Boulevard.
Swanson was built in 1939 as part of a New Deal program and is the oldest surviving middle school in the county.
Because of its unique contribution to education in Virginia as well as its Parisian architecture,[clarification needed] inspired by the then recently restored Colonial Williamsburg, the school is pursuing its listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
[40] It was constructed with WPA funds on the site of the old Torreyson farm in the growing Westover community.
One of two North Arlington junior highs targeted for closure in 1977 due to declining enrollment, Swanson reopened as an intermediate school the following year, and the 9th graders were transferred to W-L and Yorktown high schools.
[40] The current facility opened in 1971 and is located at 125 South Old Glebe Road in Arlington, Virginia 22204.
Upon entering the main entrance of the school, the administrative offices are to the left and the library is further down the long hall.
[43] The school district works with the local Division of Parks, Recreation and Community Resources to share the facilities.
Indoors, a one-eighth mile track runs around four basketball courts and past athletic equipment.
Source: Virginia Department of Education[47] Williamsburg Middle School is located at 3600 North Harrison Street.
An eighth grade student dresses up inside a wolf costume, and interacts with their peers during special events at the school.
The 8th grade teams are based on college mascots in Virginia, and are Patriots, Cavaliers, and Hokies.
