Author: ARLnow.com

Significant APS Grade Policy Update — “Arlington Public Schools in Virginia is updating its grading policy, defining the criteria used to determine whether a student is eligible to retake or revise a major assignment, such as a test, project or essay. Starting Jan. 30, middle and high school students who score below an 80% “must be afforded the opportunity to retake or revise a summative assessment after remediation,” Superintendent Francisco Duran said in a letter to families.” [WTOP]

NYT Profiles Local Affordable Development — “Emma Budway, a 26-year- old autistic woman who is mostly nonverbal, had been living with her parents in Arlington, Va. She longed for her own place, but because she earned little income, she could not afford to move out. So when the opportunity came to move into a two-bedroom apartment in December 2019, she jumped at the chance. Now Ms. Budway lives at Gilliam Place, an affordable housing complex built on property that Arlington Presbyterian Church owns. ‘My world has gotten so much larger,’ she said.” [New York Times]

YHS Soccer Star Going Pro — “There came a point late in her standout high school career for the Yorktown Patriots that the possibility of someday playing professional soccer might become reality for Lauren Flynn. That indeed occurred in recent days when Flynn was drafted by the expansion Utah Royals of Salt Lake City of the National Women’s Soccer League.” [Gazette Leader]

Summer Camp Registration Starting — “Temps may be chilly, but the heat is on to register for summer camps. They fill up fast in this area, and some have already opened for registration. Trying to get a handle on the vast array of options in and around Arlington? Here are 25 day camps where kids from tots to teens and with all abilities can thrive.” [Arlington Magazine]

Va. Home Sales Down — “Nearly nine in 10 Virginia counties and cities across the commonwealth posted declines in home sales from 2022 to 2023 while prices continued to rise, and those in the industry have hopes that the inventory logjam is beginning to ease. A total of 98,464 properties changed hands across the Old Dominion in 2023… a drop of 24,780 homes, or 20 percent, from 2022.” [Gazette Leader]

It’s Monday — Expect partly sunny skies and a high near 46 degrees, accompanied by a northwest wind blowing at 16 to 18 mph and gusts reaching up to 31 mph. As for Monday night, the skies will be partly cloudy with a low temperature of around 31 degrees, while the north wind continues to blow at 6 to 11 mph. [Weather.gov]

Today’s Morning Notes are brought to you by coworking provider Industrious. ARLnow has been based in an Industrious office for several years and we love the convenience — you get to focus on your work rather than worrying about brewing your own coffee or keeping the copy machine stocked with paper. Industrious has several Metro-accessible Arlington locations to choose from.

Pike Tapas Spot Lauded by Yelp — “Yelp has released its annual list of the Top 100 U.S. Restaurants of 2024, and this year one NoVA restaurant made the cut: Sabores Tapas Bar, an Arlington restaurant serving sharable Spanish and Latin American dishes. The restaurant was ranked No. 48 in the list of 100.” [Northern Virginia Magazine]

Bigger Building Proposed in Crystal City — “JBG Smith Inc., the principal developer at National Landing in Arlington, wants to go bigger on a long-planned office tower just down the road from Amazon.com Inc.’s HQ2 despite woes in the office market. The company filed a conceptual site plan Tuesday seeking to build a 312,000-square-feet building at 1800 S. Bell St. across the street from the Crystal City Metro station.” [Washington Business Journal]

Trash Collection Extended — From Arlington’s Dept. of Environmental Services: “Bonus curbside collection runs will take place Saturday as tomorrow’s routes will likely involve heavy volumes due to last week’s weather disruptions. Regular Friday customers are asked to report any missed collection Saturday night at the earliest.” [Twitter]

Board Candidate Blasts Suit Defense — From Arlington County Board candidate Julie Farnam: “In yet another example of wasteful spending, Arlington County recently approved spending up to $750 per hour on expensive attorneys to fight its Missing Middle Housing lawsuit. This is happening as County departments are cutting their budgets and while the County is seeking more tax revenue from residents. This could negatively impact services that people count on, including childcare subsidies, neighborhood improvement projects, and drug counseling treatment programs.” [Patch]

Mixed Response to Deer Culling Poll — “Proponents of using lethal means to rid Arlington of what they say is a deer overpopulation didn’t get anywhere near unanimous backing from a new community survey. In fact, the responses to the county-government poll proved decidedly all over the map.” [Gazette Leader]

Crashes on Camera — From Dave Statter: “Three Arlington crashes the last two days that were at least partially #caughtoncamera.” [Twitter]

Serious DUI Crashes Rise Regionally — “The number of alcohol and/or drug-related traffic fatalities increased nearly 13 percent in the metropolitan Washington area between 2021 and 2022, according to the annual “How Safe Are Our Roads?” Report prepared by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) for the nonprofit Washington Regional Alcohol Program.” [MWCOG]

It’s Friday — Rain showers and drizzle are possible before 1pm. Clouds will later give way to mostly sunny skies and a high around 68 degrees. A westerly wind at 6 to 9 mph accompanies the 30% precipitation chance. Expect a mostly cloudy Friday night with lows near 45 degrees and a northwest wind at 7 mph. [Weather.gov]