Arlington Public Schools

Nottingham parents claim plan to make the school a ‘swing space’ is based on flawed assumptions

By Jo DeVoe
1/3

Two months after Arlington Public Schools floated plans to turn Nottingham Elementary School into a “swing space,” parents returned to the School Board with a message.

The assumptions the school system relied on for this plan are flawed, they said.

Arlington Public Schools is planning how to use its buildings in the coming decade. The goal is to balance enrollment among schools with empty seats in North Arlington and over-capacity schools in South Arlington, while keeping costs down. It aims to do so by improving how it uses existing schools with a surplus of seats.

One solution could be closing Nottingham Elementary School, in the Williamsburg neighborhood at 5900 Little Falls Road, and turning it into a “swing space.” For $5 million, it could become home to any school community temporarily displaced by renovations. Reaction to this idea, proposed in June, was swift. Several parents mobilized, forming a Facebook group and circulating a petition, which had nearly 750 signatures as of publication.

After receiving a charge from the School Board in June to “poke holes” in the data, a group of Nottingham parents told ARLnow they did just that.

“We found, in a bunch of ways, the forecasts are critically flawed… The main issue is that APS used pandemic enrollment to project future enrollment,” one parent, Aaron Beytin, said. “At the beginning, I was upset about Nottingham. Now, I’m worried about the direction of the overall county. We’re looking at a probable capacity crisis.”

Enrollment had been increasing by 3% on average in the decade prior to the pandemic, statistician and parent Paul Winters said last night (Thursday) during a School Board meeting. Rather than assume this trend would continue, he says APS assumes Covid-induced falling enrollment would continue.

“Ignoring these concerns will lead to overcrowded schools and a worse educational experience for our children,” he said. “A more reasonable approach would be to discard the Covid data and use the pre-pandemic years, or even APS’s own projections from 2019.”

The school system maintains that its staff are in lockstep with county counterparts on these projections.

“APS and Arlington County demographers collaborate to ensure the longer-term projections are using the same factors,” it said.

APS says it used the three most recent school years — which the parents consider pandemic years — to project enrollment for grades 1-12. The school system projected kindergarten rates with actual births going back to 2018-2019, using addresses associated with births to map where new students are located.

The parents say the strongest sign that projections relied on pandemic years is how APS weighted the ratio of births to kindergarten enrollments.

The school system says it placed more weight on birth-to-kindergarten ratios for 2016-21 and 2017-22 than 2015-20 because “of the impacts of the pandemic on that cohort that year.”

The birth-to-kindergarten ratio in these years had fallen as a result of the pandemic, the parents say. They argue APS gives 2020, 2021 and 2022 outsized influence compared to the 2015-2019 school years, when the birth-to-kindergarten ratio was higher.

APS counters that birth rates are in fact declining in Arlington, like the region and nationwide.

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APS proposal to change middle school boundaries already has some opposition

By Jo DeVoe
1/3

Plans from Arlington Public Schools to redraw middle school boundaries have already prompted opposition from some families.

A new petition is circulating that calls on the Arlington School Board to reject the proposal and keep Dorothy Hamm Middle School, one of the affected schools, walkable.

“This proposal is being rushed through an approval process in the summer/early fall without the benefit of proper input from those who will be most impacted by the change,” reads the petition, which had 148 signatories before publication. “Middle schoolers from a great many households located within a few short blocks of Hamm will now be forced to take a bus to a school 3 miles away.”

APS is developing plans to address declining enrollment at Williamsburg Middle School and over-capacity problems at Gunston and Swanson middle schools. It proposes bussing several students from Dorothy Hamm and Swanson to Williamsburg, even though many live within walking distance of their current schools. Additionally, to reduce enrollment at Gunston, APS is considering relocating the Spanish language immersion program to Kenmore Middle School.

The proposal has elicited negative reactions from some parents of both current and former Dorothy Hamm students.

The Parent-Teacher Association of Taylor Elementary School, which feeds into Dorothy Hamm, also sent an email to families expressing its opposition to the changes and shared its plans to advocate against them.

For its part, APS says it is aware that fewer students would be able to walk to school if the proposed changes go through. Per a presentation from the school system, about 55% and 70% of students live within walk zones for Hamm and Swanson. These numbers would drop to 40% and 60%, respectively.

“We know that, in order to fill capacity at the building, we’re going to move probably quite a few walkers from Swanson and Dorothy Hamm to Williamsburg in order to even out capacity across schools,” APS Planning and Evaluation Dept. Executive Director Lisa Stengle said during a June work session on the proposal.

Current conditions for middle schools in Arlington (via APS)

The proposed changes would reverse a decision APS made in 2017 boundary process to prioritize sending students to schools within walking distance. Stengle said staff at the time knew the tradeoff would be overcapacity at Swanson and vacant seats at Williamsburg.

Swanson is currently projected to reach 105% capacity by 2025, while Williamsburg is expected to drop to 71% capacity in the same timeframe, per the APS presentation. Although Swanson’s overcapacity issue is predicted to lessen by 2027, Williamsburg’s enrollment is forecasted to continue declining.

“This recommendation possibly fills middle schools closer to capacity, increases the number of students who require transportation based on current policy and practices and requires more information to determine transportation costs,” Stengle said.

Projected school utilization rates in Arlington in 2027 (via APS)

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APS mulls moving Spanish immersion program from Gunston to Kenmore Middle School

By Jo DeVoe
Gunston Middle School (file photo)

Arlington Public Schools is mulling moving the Spanish Immersion Program at Gunston Middle School to Kenmore starting two years from now.

The move would be part of a planned middle school boundary process also set to go into effect the same school year. APS is looking to balance middle school populations, as, without boundary changes, Gunston and Swanson are projected to become overcapacity and Williamsburg and Kenmore are projected to have seats available.

The school system says relocating the immersion program would also bring it to an easier-to-access school. In the Glencarlyn neighborhood, off of Route 50, Kenmore is more centrally located than Gunston, which is near the border with the City of Alexandria.

“We believe that by moving the program to a centrally located school, we will be able to enhance the program’s offerings and create new opportunities for our students to flourish,” staff said in a letter to parents, posted on the DC Urban Moms and Dads forum. “The decision to relocate this program was driven by our commitment to provide the best possible educational experience for our students.”

The change would apply to incoming sixth grade students. APS administrators say they will be spending the summer studying how this would impact students and whether those in grades 7 and 8 can finish their time in the immersion program at Gunston.

“Students who are enrolled in the program at that time will remain in the program and will be transferred to Kenmore when the program relocates to Kenmore,” reads the letter to parents.

Two-thirds of immersion students at Gunston are projected to fall within the new boundaries for Kenmore after a potential boundary process, per a presentation during a recent work session.

“I understand the rationale for wanting to move immersion out of Gunston for a variety of reasons, but what caught my attention is talking about transportation impact and congestion,” School Board member Mary Kadera said during the work session. “This is not meant to throw a total wet blanket over the idea of immersion at Kenmore but I would be interested… to understand congestion on Carlin Springs Road and the Kenmore site specifically.”

As a parent of students who went to Kenmore, she says she can appreciate the congestion on Carlin Springs Road and difficulties getting in and out of the Kenmore parking lot.

“We already have a bit of a knot there,” she said. “I’m concerned about moving an immersion program to that school when we know that a healthy number of immersion students end up being driven by a parent.”

Assistant Superintendent of Facilities and Operations Renee Harber agreed that transportation is top-of-mind for staff with this potential change. She projects the total number of buses going to Kenmore would increase from 11 to 19, without any decrease to Gunston, which needs buses for the Montessori program also located there.

“[Transportation] is a concern of ours,” she said during the work session. “We have to really review and study additional transportation demand options for this.”

Cristina Diaz-Torres, who is now the School Board Chair, encouraged families to “poke holes” in the handful of programmatic changes on the table so they can be improved.

“Our doors are open and are going to be open for the entirety of the summer and we really want to hear your thoughts and perspectives now and also in the fall,” she said. “This is not a decision that any of us are going to be taking lightly.”

Arlington Soccer sponsor offers free coding lessons to Girls with Goals program

By Anya Wareck

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups, founders, and other local technology news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring Three Ballston Plaza. 

A sponsor for Arlington’s premier youth soccer league is helping girls hone their skills as players and coders.

Tim Yang, who owns an online coding school called 355Code, has been hosting classes for members of the Arlington Soccer Association Girls with Goals program this year.

Girls With Goals is a free, six-week after school club that helps low-income families at select elementary schools in Arlington Public Schools participate in sports. It aims to break down barriers to participation, including cost and transportation, while increasing membership in the soccer league.

Yang, who liked the mission of the program, decided to offer his services as a coding coach during a six-week session this spring at Drew Elementary School.

“I felt Girls with Goals was a great program and wanted to connect further,” he told ARLnow.

Tim Yang provides coding coaching to two girls through Girls with Goals (courtesy Jerome Boettcher)

Yang says elementary school students are the “perfect age” for the first stages of instructional coding.

In the last session, Yang — who has previously worked as a software engineer for the IRS, the bank Citigroup and Nike — conducted 45-minute classes. Girls warmed up with 15 minutes of typing, moving to 15 minutes of computer activities and then 15 minutes of theory connection, reflection and discussion.

After witnessing the girls’ passionate, dedicated attitude and persistence, Yang says he hopes to continue hosting classes for Girls with Goals this fall.

“The girls are great — they work very hard,” Yang said. “There is no reason not to [continue].”

The coding lessons were in part possible through the partnership Girls With Goals has with the Extended Day after school program through Arlington Public Schools.

Christyna Haskins, a program assistant supervisor, says coding was new to the girls and they love it.

“Every day they come in asking if he is coming today,” she told Arlington Soccer Association. “They really do enjoy it. Some of the girls said they want to do coding as they get older. So it has opened new doors for them.”

Yang offers classes for Javascript and Python to students from grades 4-12. This summer, he is offering a Javascript course for one hour a week, on Zoom or in person at 901 N. Glebe Road, according to the Arlington Soccer Association.

Plans to turn Nottingham Elementary into ‘swing space’ prompt swift backlash

By Jo DeVoe
Nottingham Elementary School (via Google Maps)

A new proposal from Arlington Public Schools (APS) would send Nottingham Elementary students to other schools and use the building to house other students temporarily displaced by school renovations.

Parents of students at Nottingham were notified of the proposal yesterday (Thursday) by APS, ahead of a School Board work session discussing the proposal last night.

Within 24 hours, some current and prospective parents mobilized and formed a group, Neighbors for Nottingham, to learn more about the proposal and formulate next steps before a potential School Board vote a year from now.

The school system says it needs a “swing space” to prepare for renovation projects and balance enrollment in North Arlington, where there are more seats than students. APS staff are currently developing a timeline and list of schools to be renovated for the 2025-2034 Capital Improvement Plan, which will be approved next June.

“By serving as swing space, our school will continue to play a vital role in supporting education in our community while other schools undergo necessary improvements,” planning staff told parents in an email, shared with ARLnow.

Elementary capacity by zone in Arlington (via Arlington Public Schools)

APS considered 61 sites before settling on the Williamsburg neighborhood school at 5900 Little Falls Road, eliminating options based on size, location and cost needed to prepare the building for young students. It says Nottingham works because enrollment is low and stable, and nearby schools can absorb many of the 413 displaced students — though APS noted that receiving schools may need to add some capacity.

If the CIP is approved next year, Nottingham could be repurposed as early as the 2026-27 school year. Students would be transferred to surrounding elementary schools such as Discovery, Jamestown, Taylor, and Tuckahoe, and staff would begin to be reassigned in the spring of 2026.

Ways to create a swing space and potential costs (via Arlington Public Schools)

Would-be parent Coco Price says she and her neighbors are devastated.

“We have been so looking forward to sending our now-toddler-age children there when they reach elementary-age in a few short years and would be sincerely crushed to see them reassigned to another Arlington school — one that is potentially either not within walking distance or not as highly-rated as Nottingham,” Price said.

The proposal could disrupt educational plans for new homeowners, like Price.

“Should the motion pass, it would… potentially drive us to consider moving to a more stable school district outside of Arlington,” she said. “We also worry how this decision would impact our home’s resale values down the line.”

Others questioned the need for this work and criticized APS for not evaluating alternatives to a “swing space” in its 272-page report.

“We didn’t see any serious discussion about options such as portable learning trailers for schools going under renovations or for temporarily displacing just the students at schools that were under renovations for the limited time period of those renovations,” would-be parent Jeff Heuwinkel told ARLnow.

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Arlington teen chosen by Carnegie Hall to accompany jazz orchestra on European tour this summer

By Anya Wareck
Henry Price NYO Jazz
Henry Price photographed with beloved trombone (courtesy of Henry Price)

(Updated at 1:30 p.m.) When Henry Price first picked up a trombone in fourth grade, he could only imagine a summer touring Europe as one of the 22 brightest young jazz musicians in the United States.

The 17-year-old Barcroft resident will return to Washington-Liberty High School this fall with a summer’s worth of top-tier musical experience under his belt.

NYO Jazz — Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Jazz Orchestra — is a prestigious program set to recognize young, musical minds as the future of jazz on an international scale.

The program kicks off with a two-week training residency in New York City, followed by an NYO Jazz performance at Carnegie Hall on July 25. Trumpeter Sean Jones will lead the concerts and Grammy-winning vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater will be featured as a musical guest.

Following the Carnegie show, participants of the program will abruptly begin their NYO Jazz Europe summer tour, as the team arrives in St. Moritz, Switzerland just three days later (July 28) to play their first international show.

According to the website, “The musicians serve as dynamic music ambassadors as they share this uniquely American genre with audiences around the globe.”

After facing rejection from the 2021 program, Price decided to apply for last year’s NYO session — held within the United States rather than abroad. He was accepted to both the jazz and classical groups but ultimately chose jazz.

“Jazz is more comfortable for me,” Price said in a brief interview with ARLnow. “It’s more social, and more reckless — in a good way.”

Sean Jones led the youth jazz program through the country last summer, and Price says he feels incredibly lucky to be going on tour with such a prominent musical figure and mentor — one who consistently dedicates time to the musical progression of jazz in teenagers.

Price did not think twice when it came time to re-audition for the 2023 European tour.

“Everyone wants to re-audition,” he said. “I haven’t met a person [in the program] that hasn’t had a life-changing experience.”

This year’s young musicians will have the opportunity to perform at world-renowned events and concert halls such as the BBC Proms in London, St. Moritz Jazz Festival, Lucerne Festival and Rheingau Musik Festival in Germany. Shows in Berlin and Amsterdam are also included in the tour.

Now, after touring with Carnegie twice, Price understands that this opportunity is just the beginning.

Tickets as well as the full schedule are available here.

Parents call on APS to address slow academic growth, teacher turnover at Oakridge Elementary

By Jo DeVoe
Oakridge Elementary School in the Arlington Ridge neighborhood in May of 2023 (via Google Maps)

A small group of parents from Oakridge Elementary School are asking Arlington Public Schools to take a hard look at student achievement and teacher retention.

Student assessments show low growth and lower pass rates in math and science tests at the school in the Arlington Ridge neighborhood. Meanwhile, it has higher teacher turnover than the school system as a whole, according to the group, named Concerned Parents of Oakridge

“We’ve looked at the data as of the end of the 2022 school year and we did not see academic growth but we did see significant staff turnover and a widening equity gap,” group representative Anna Hudson told the Arlington School Board last week. “We know that many teachers will not return to Oakridge in the fall.”

Hudson is one of four parents who co-wrote a letter on behalf of this group, urging APS to hold students to higher academic standards.

APS has been talking with parents and the Arlington Ridge Civic Association about these issues, per an email that the school system shared with ARLnow.

It has developed a plan that addresses academics and staff satisfaction, as well as family engagement and behavior management, the email says. Not long after this plan was developed, a fight broke out among Oakridge parents at a fifth grade commencement ceremony.

The school began sending iPads home at the end of April so students and families can access the learning software APS has on these devices throughout the summer. Last year, Oakridge restricted iPad use at home due to inappropriate content found on the device of a student.

Before the school year ended earlier this month, English and math supervisors and other administrators began meeting regularly with teachers and making rounds at the school and teachers have quarterly planning days to prepare their lessons.

Demonstrating growth in reading and math are part of the school’s strategic plan. Oakridge committed to increasing small-group and one-on-one instruction and regular staff meetings to reach this goal.

When it comes to performance in English, Oakridge students are close to on par with their peers countywide, with 74% passing a state assessment in the 2021-22 school year, compared to the countywide average passing rate of 78%, per a state school quality dashboard.

In math, history and science, the Arlington Ridge elementary school performs lower than APS as a whole, though some of the elementary schools with high rates of children from low-income families have lower pass rates, per data from a state dashboard.

In math, 64% of Oakridge students passed state assessments compared to the APS rate of 74%, and in science, 40% pass rate compared to a 64% pass rate. Pass rates in Arlington for these subjects range from 95% to 21% and 90% to 16%, respectively.

Schools with some of the highest pass rates, like Nottingham Elementary School, registered low “growth rates,” while schools with lower pass rates register high growth rates, such as Randolph and Drew elementary schools. The Oakridge parents say they are troubled by the zero growth registered in math and science.

“Equity in education relies on strong academics. Reading, writing, math and problem-solving are critical foundations, whether you go to tech school, 4- year university or enter the workforce after high school,” Hudson said. “Low standards in elementary school lead to kids falling out in middle school and high school. Our kids are capable and they deserve better.”

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Arlington Career Center project approved despite some resident concerns

By Jo DeVoe
1/4

On Saturday, the Arlington County Board approved plans to redevelop the Arlington Career Center on Columbia Pike.

Arlington Public Schools will be building a new 5-story Career Center building at 816 S. Walter Reed Drive to house students in vocational courses, such as veterinary sciences. Also set to be built: a standalone 4-story parking garage.

Plans to update the building have gone through many iterations over the years and were most recently reprised last February in a process fraught with concerns.

In the end, four of the five Board members voted in favor of the $180 million project, with Takis Karantonis dissenting. The new facility will have capacity for up to 1,619 students.

The vote came after they heard, and in some cases echoed, concerns from representatives of civic associations and citizen commissions, as well as neighbors. Before Saturday, the Planning Commission was also divided, voting 5-4 two weeks ago with the chair abstaining after a weighty pause.

Board members who greenlit the project justified their decision using variations on the saying “the perfect is the enemy of the good.”

“The cost of the pursuit of a delay and the pursuit of a more perfect project are so high and the project brought before us — though not perfect — when delivered in its full vision… is going to be indeed a spectacular addition to an area that I think of as my broader neighborhood,” Board member Katie Cristol said. “And, more importantly, a home befitting of the incredible education happening within it.”

Some of the neighbors who spoke say they support the idea of the project and say they are not seeking perfection at all.

“The current APS plans, while ambitious, cut corners in ways that are unacceptable to the community and contrary to the our shared vision of a safe and equitable Arlington,” a coalition of leaders of civic associations along Columbia Pike said in a letter.

Top concerns from neighbors included the future of open space on the site and the environmental commitments of the proposed building. There were calls for sidewalks, undergrounded utilities and fencing that match those at other schools in Arlington, as well as a more forward-thinking solution to parking than a stand-alone, above-ground garage.

Former Arlington County Planning Commissioner Stephen Hughes said in a letter to the Board that the county should have deferred approving the use permit until APS addressed these issues.

“The Career Center site deserves to be the ‘Jewel of the Pike’; however, any claim of that today is disingenuous at best,” he wrote. “APS has failed for over a decade to address facility planning in a comprehensive way and besides the inclusion of the existing facilities on the [General Land Use Plan], we have no planning guidance to rely on with APS facilities.”

APS and the School Board intend to retrofit the current Career Center for the Montessori program now housed in the former Patrick Henry Elementary School. This building, in turn, would be torn down and turned into a green space.

Some people wanted these commitments included in the use permit that went before the County Board on Saturday. Otherwise, they say, no legal document binds APS to executing this vision and — absent funding and a plan — the Pike will lose a baseball diamond, basketball court and open green space with no commitments to recover them.

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Arlington high schoolers can now carry Narcan on school grounds

By Jo DeVoe
A training session for how to administer naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan, to reverse opioid overdoses in 2019 (staff photo)

(Updated at 2:45 p.m.) Today is the first day high school-aged Arlington Public Schools students can carry naloxone in schools.

Students in grades 9 and above can now carry the opioid reversal drug if they have consent from a parent or guardian, according to the school system. Those who are at least 18 years old can also provide consent if they wish.

The policy change comes four months after the fatal overdose of a 14-year-old at Wakefield High School in January. The death of Sergio Flores has led to calls for changes at APS by teachers, parents and School Board members — including a push to have more naloxone in schools and to let kids carry it.

Any student who carries the overdose-reversing drug — the most well-known brand of which is the nasal spray Narcan — must provide the day they were trained and agree to call 911 and notify school staff if used in school or at a school activity, per a presentation to the School Board last night (Thursday).

Consent may be provided through an online authorization form or via the family portal ParentVue, an option APS says will be available by the end of the day today.

Students who need training may attend training hosted by Arlington Addiction Recovery Initiative on Thursday, June 1 at Washington-Liberty High School from 7-8 p.m. Another training session is planned for the week of June 5.

Meanwhile, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.) came to Arlington today to discuss substance use and the fentanyl crisis. He participated in a roundtable at National Capital Treatment and Recovery (521 N. Quincy Street), an addiction treatment center in the Ballston area.

This facility is preparing to resume offering options for teens seven years after ending its youth programs. Those services will begin June 5, a spokesman for the center told ARLnow Friday afternoon.

Consumption of fentanyl — a powerful synthetic opioid that can be prescribed or taken illegally — contributed to the deaths of nearly 2,000 Virginians in 2022, per a press release announcing Kaine’s visit.

While the number of fatal, fentanyl-involved overdoses in Arlington was not readily available, as of last Thursday, there have been seven fatal overdoses so far in 2023, according to publicly available county data.

This year there have been a total of 61 opioid incidents, of which 22 were overdoses and the rest were possession and distribution cases, according to county data.

As fentanyl-related deaths have risen, the federal government has responded with calls for de-stigmatizing addiction and for increased access to naloxone. Two months ago, the Food and Drug Administration approved an over-the-counter version of the nasal spray Narcan.

Arlington County, meanwhile, has joined lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies linked to the opioid crisis, putting settlements toward treatment. It reexamined its teen programming to provide youth and young adults with more positive experiences and steer them away from drug use.

Last week, Kaine introduced legislation with Joni Ernst, a Republican senator from Iowa, to declare fentanyl trafficking a national security threat and direct the Pentagon to work with other federal agencies and Mexican officials to tackle drug trafficking by transnational criminal organizations, the release said.

Kaine says he is also pressing the federal government to dedicate more resources to the crisis and ease access buprenorphine, which, like methadone, is used in addiction therapy to replace the effects of a stronger substances.

Additionally, the senator joined other lawmakers in asking Meta — which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp — to address drug trafficking on its platforms.

Cardinal Elementary student heading to nationals for ‘speed cubing’

By Vernon Miles
Hunter Paige solving a Rubik’s Cube (photo courtesy Liz Paige)

Many adults can struggle for several minutes with a 3×3 Rubik’s Cube.

Fifth-grade student Hunter Paige at Arlington’s Cardinal Elementary School can do it in less than ten seconds.

Hunter is heading to CubingUSA this August for a national championship where “speedcubers” — people who race to solve Rubik’s Cubes — will face off against each other.

Hunter’s mother, Liz Paige, said her son become interested in cubing in February 2022.

“A few of his friends had started cubing and showed him,” Liz said. “He got curious to learn more, found some video tutorials online, and picked it up pretty quickly after that! Watched the Netflix documentary, The Speed Cubers, and was further hooked.”

Liz said early on, Hunter practiced and timed himself, then he joined an online cubing club and kept training. When local competitions started up around summer 2022, Liz said her son was eager to start competing. There, Liz said Hunter found his crowd.

“At the competitions, he meets people of all ages and skill levels,” Liz said. “One of the great things about the competitions is everyone is encouraged to not only compete but be a judge, a runner (bringing unsolved cubes to the competitors) and a scrambler (scrambling the cubes a specific way before handing off to runner). It really encourages a sense of community — it’s not just about the competition and who wins.”

The classic 3×3 cube is just the tip of the iceberg. There are quicker 2×2 cubes and more complicated 8×8 cubes, along with a variety of shapes like a pyramid or a skewb. There are competitions to solve the traditional 3×3 blindfolded or one-handed. Hunter’s done the latter with what his mom called “decent results”.

Hunter said that he likes cubing as a hobby because it’s unique and helps him stand out in a crowd. And it has paid off — in addition to the trip to nationals, Hunter is on the front page of an upcoming issue of the school’s student newspaper, The Cardinal Times.

He isn’t alone in the cubing craze: Liz said there’s a clique of students at the school that also enjoy cubing. At family gatherings, though, it’s an impressive party trick.

“I do think people are surprised to learn he’s a ‘speed cuber,'” Liz said. “There’s been many a family gathering when he’s brought his cubes and everyone’s seriously impressed by how quickly he can solve one!”

Liz said she isn’t sure how long Hunter will stick with cubing, but at the very least he’s excited for the national championship later this year.

“Beyond that… we’ll see,” Liz said.

APS elementary student tops Virginia entries to Google Doodle competition

By Jo DeVoe
Innovation Elementary School student Sofia Kaarina Kurbat’s Doodle for Google submission (courtesy photo)

Sofia Kaarina Kurbat from Innovation Elementary is grateful for her teachers instilling in her the joy of learning.

So, it was fitting that she was in class on Tuesday when Google paid a surprise visit to the Courthouse-area school to say her submission to the 15th annual Doodle for Google competition was named the best in Virginia.

Young artists were asked to draw a picture of something they are grateful for and explain it in a statement. Kurbat was one of 55 state and territory winners and this is what she had to say about her drawing:

2023 is my first year of school and I love it — going to school, learning new things, enjoying the company of my classmates makes me happy every day because of the wonderful teachers, who work so hard to give us the joy of learning.

This is the year I learned to read and I’m thankful for my teachers being so encouraging. I am also thankful for my supportive community, where everyone is welcome and everyone’s special talents are recognized and celebrated. This [is] what I tried to express in my Doodle.

Other artists depicted their gratitude for spending time in nature, taking part in hobbies and spending time with their communities, Google said.

“We were amazed by the submissions we received. Across ages, students showcased what they appreciate most in thoughtful and intentional ways,” Google said in a statement. “Given the challenging nature of the past few years, we were really inspired to see the many ways students have been nurturing their spirits and facing the opportunities and challenges that every day brings.”

Kurbat and the 54 other children received Google hardware and swag and “held celebrations in their hometowns to showcase their artwork,” the tech company said.

Voting is expected to open today to choose which five of the 55 winning state Doodles will advance as national finalists and eventually, which student will be declared the big winner and have their design temporarily grace the top of Google.

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