Kenmore Middle School

‘Newsies’ Musical Comes to Arlington Next Month

By Ashley Hopko
1/2

The Disney musical “Newsies” is set to debut at the Kenmore Middle School Theatre (202 S. Carlin Springs Road) in mid-July. 

In association with Encore Stage & Studio, the performance brings together children in order to foster a passion for the performing arts and culture. Students in the program participate in workshops taught by professional artists. 

The storyline of “Newsies” takes place in New York, where young journalist Jack Kelly leads other journalists in a rally against unfair working conditions. 

The musical originated as a film in 1992, but the first live performance took place at the Paper Mill Playhouse in 2011.

“There are many exciting dance numbers including ‘Seize the Day’ and ‘King of New York,'” Sara Duke, the executive director of Encore Stage & Studio, said. “The audience will be impressed.” 

Tickets can be purchased online or by calling 703-548-1154. Prices are $15 for adults and $12 for children, students, seniors or members of the military. Opening night takes place on Friday, July 19, at 7:30 p.m. Other show times run through Sunday, July 28.

Photos via Encore Stage & Studio

UK-Based Soccer Training Program Launches in Arlington This Summer

By Vernon Miles

Oliver Freeman’s goal is to have at least one Arlingtonian on a World Cup-winning team by 2030.

Freeman’s soccer program, Love the Ball, is launching its first Arlington camp this summer in a partnership with the Arlington Dept. of Parks and Recreation.

The four-day camp is planned to run from July 22-26 at Kenmore Middle School (202 S. Carlin Springs Road).

“Most of the time, we are doing soccer, but one thing that really interests me when we came to this country is soccer is not number one,” said Freeman. “It’s not the most important sport. Looking outside, I don’t see kids playing that. Back home in England, that’s all kids do.”

Every day is themed around a different country and technique, like a Brazil-themed day focused on dribbling or a Germany-themed day focused on passing. Freeman said kids are encouraged to wear clothing or colors from that country on those days.

The camp is aimed at kids ages 4-12 and costs $250 for full-day classes.

According to the program’s website, Freeman coached with the famous Chelsea Football Club in the U.K., coaching players in community sessions, holiday camps and advanced centers.

The Love the Ball program started in Britain in 2012 and came to the U.S. in 2016. Freeman said over the last few years they’ve seen growth and currently have 10 coaches working in about 20 schools throughout the region, but this is the first year the program has operated in Arlington.

Freeman said being chosen as a partner by the parks department is a strenuous process, but he’s hoping if this year goes well the program can expand with more camps. The partnership promotes Love the Ball through Arlington’s summer camp catalog and gives them access to the Kenmore Middle School field.

“I really hope to instill a love for the game,” Freeman said. “It’s not just a camp. Hopefully, they go home and start kicking the ball around. They have to do stuff on their own time if they’re going to be good at it.”

For the most part, Freeman said he’s also yielded to the American terminology of “soccer” rather than “football.”

“You have to choose your battles,” said Freeman. “Unfortunately, kids get too confused. If you say football, they’ll start trying to grab the ball. Sometimes I have kids from South America or Europe, and I call it football to them and their parents.”

Kenmore Middle School To Be Honored Next Week for Special Needs Inclusion

By Airey

Next week, Kenmore Middle School will be recognized as one of the country’s top five schools for including special needs students in its community.

The Special Olympics selected Kenmore last fall and will present the Unified Champion Schools National Recognition Program award next Friday, April 12, from 1-2 p.m. at the middle school.

Winning schools were chosen based on demonstrating “excellence” for including special needs students in sports and youth leadership, among other benchmarks.

The award is being presented alongside ESPN.

Yorktown and Washington-Lee high schools are also Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools, according to a map of participants.

The program reported that nationwide 6,500 schools participate in the program, which allows 272,000 students to participate in sports inclusive of special needs.

The Unified Schools Program is managed by the Special Olympics and funded via a grant from the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs, per its website.

Separately, President Trump recently backtracked on his administration’s plan to cut funding for the Special Olympics after public outcry mounted in support of the program, reported Politico.

UPDATED: Major Power Outage in Western Arlington

By ARLnow.com
1/2

Update at 3 p.m. — Power has been restored to Dominion customers in western Arlington, though more than 1,500 remain without power in the Bailey’s Crossroads area of Fairfax County.

Earlier: Thousands are without power in Arlington Monday afternoon, following a major outage in the western portion of the county.

The outage was first reported around 1 p.m., after a tree fell onto power lines near the intersection of Route 50 and Carlin Springs Road. All told, including an ongoing outage along N. Glebe Road, nearly 2,750 Dominion customers are without power in Arlington.

Traffic signals are reported to be dark along S. Carlin Springs Road, from Route 50 to Columbia Pike. Police are on scene, setting up cones and helping to direct traffic. The ramps from Route 50 to Carlin Springs have been closed.

Arlington Public Schools says Kenmore Middle School and Campbell Elementary are currently without power and unable to receive phone calls.

The large outage is also affecting parts of neighboring Alexandria and Fairfax County. As of 1:15 p.m., Dominion was reporting about 1,000 outages in Alexandria and more than 8,000 outages in Fairfax.

Numerous trees are down around the area as a result of today’s widespread wind storm.

Kenmore Middle School Wins National Special Olympics Award

By Vernon Miles

Out of 30 qualifying schools across the nation, Kenmore Middle School has been selected as one of five schools chosen for the Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools National Recognition Program.

The program recognizes schools that have met all 10 national standards of excellence set out by the leaders of the Special Olympics.

These standards include unified sports that allow students with and without disabilities to train and play as teammates, inclusive youth leadership, and engagement throughout the school. Schools must also demonstrate a plan to sustain these activities for years to come.

On April 12, ESPN will recognize Kenmore Middle School in a national banner awards ceremony.

Photo via Special Olympics Virginia

Air Conditioning Problems Prompt Kenmore Middle School to Dismiss Early

By ARLnow.com

The penultimate day of class for Kenmore Middle School students ended early due to air conditioning problems.

Kenmore was dismissed early after the A/C went out, a school spokesman confirmed to ARLnow.com. A parent said the HVAC issue, which happened on the hottest day of the year so far, forced “parents, students, teachers, staff and superintendent Murphy [to] swelter through 8th grade promotion ceremony” this morning.

The heat did not appear to dampen the spirits of those participating in the ceremony, however.

The school sent the following email to parents about the early dismissal.

Dear Parents/Guardians:

As many of you experienced this morning during eighth grade promotion, our HVAC system is not working. We are currently working on fixing the system, but in the meantime, the temperature in the building has continued to rise. Given the extreme heat expected this afternoon, we have decided to cancel school for the remainder of the day.

Students will be dismissed from school at 11:45 AM. Transportation will be provided buses to students. Students will also have lunch prior to leaving for the day.

The check-in program will still be open.

Thank you for your patience with this issue.

Sincerely,

David McBride
Principal

Photo (top) via Arlington Public Schools

Arlington Police to Host Prescription Drug Take-Back Events

By Anna Merod

Police will provide an anonymous, safe way to dispose of unwanted prescription drugs this weekend, no questions asked.

The Arlington County Police Department will hold prescription drug take back events on Saturday (April 28) from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. They will collect prescription drugs at the following locations:

  • Langston-Brown Community Center (2121 N. Culpeper Street)
  • Fire Station #9 (1900 S. Walter Reed Drive)
  • Gunston Community Center (2700 S. Lang Street)

Only pills and patches — not liquids, needles or sharps — will be accepted.

The Arlington County Department of Human Services will have staff members available at each location to provide information on substance abuse, and Virginia Hospital Center’s pharmacist outreach team will be on hand at the Langston-Brown Community Center to answer any questions regarding pills or medication.

The events are a part of National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, in partnership with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the Arlington County’s Sheriff’s Office. Officials hope the drug take back will result in fewer instances of pill abuse or theft.

For residents who can’t make it to a drop-off event, ACPD recommends throwing away pills by taking them out of the original container, adding water to melt the pills and then putting them in a bag with coffee grounds or cat litter before disposing in the garbage.

ACPD will host a town hall on the dangers of substance abuse from 7-9 p.m. on May 2 (Wednesday) at Kenmore Middle School.

In Arlington, the number of patients seeking treatment for opioid addiction increased by 245 percent from 2015-2017. In 2015, 100 patients sought treatment, but in 2017 that number rose to 345 patients.

Photo via Wikimedia/Sponge

APS Looking to Add Solar Panels to Five Schools

By Chris Teale

Arlington Public Schools plans to add solar panels to five school buildings, including the soon-to-be-built Alice West Fleet Elementary School.

APS issued a Request for Proposals on December 1, calling for companies to bid to install solar panels at Kenmore and Thomas Jefferson Middle Schools, Tuckahoe and Fleet Elementary Schools and Washington-Lee High School.

Fleet Elementary School will be built on the site of Thomas Jefferson, and is projected to be open in September 2019.

In the call for proposals, APS said it is seeking to be increasingly environmentally friendly in construction projects and its existing buildings, and hopes the panels will help it keep up with its schools’ energy demands.

“APS stresses energy efficiency and environmental sustainability in the design of all construction and maintenance projects,” it reads. “APS is aware of the energy and environmental advantages of solar power and has multiple buildings used as schools for all age groups and administrative offices which appear to have design characteristics which make them appropriate for the installation of [solar panels] which will produce electric power to meet, or contribute to meeting, the power needs of APS.”

The successful bidder would install the solar panels, and operate and maintain them under a lease agreement with APS for a minimum of 15 years. APS said the winning company would also be responsible for all installation and maintenance costs, but would pay rent of $1 a year for the panels.

Proposals are due on March 19, 2018. The RFP comes months after Kenmore was one of six sites in Virginia selected to have a solar panel installed on its roof as part of the Solar for Students program, which encourages hands-on learning about clean energy.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Beyer Blasts GOP Tax Bill — Says Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) regarding the tax bill that passed the House yesterday: “I am adamantly opposed to the House Republican tax bill, H.R.1. The bill will raise taxes on millions of middle class Americans in order to fund tax cuts for the wealthy, and yet still manages to explode the deficit.” [Rep. Don Beyer]

Crystal City Scores 320 Jobs — A Georgetown-based nonprofit is moving much of its staff to a new office in Crystal City, leasing 90,000 square feet and adding 320 jobs in Arlington County. The move was announced by Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who approved a $500,000 state grant to assist Arlington with the project. [Virginia Business, Bisnow]

Dems Seek Ways to Defeat Vihstadt — “John Vihstadt, who in 2014 broke the Democratic stranglehold on the Arlington County Board, is ready to go back to the voters in 2018. And Arlington Democrats already are strategizing on how to oust him from office.” [InsideNova]

Charges Dropped Against ‘Laughing Librarian’ — Arlington librarian and Code Pink activist Desirée Fairooz, who was arrested after laughing during the confirmation hearing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, has had the case against her dropped by the Justice Department. [American Libraries, NPR]

Incident at Kenmore Middle School — A tipster tells ARLnow.com that a Kenmore Middle School student was arrested yesterday afternoon for assaulting a PE teacher. An Arlington Public Schools spokesman, however, did not confirm that an arrest was made, saying: “There was an incident earlier today between a student and a teacher. Staff is following normal disciplinary procedures. But beyond that, we can’t disclose anymore because it is a student matter.”

Flickr pool photo by Michael Coffman

Kenmore Middle School Staffer to Compete on ‘The Voice’

By ARLnow.com

Brandon Showell, a special education instructional assistant at Arlington’s Kenmore Middle School, is a contestant on the new season of NBC’s The Voice, ARLnow.com has confirmed.

Showell previously auditioned for another singing show, X Factor, with his band 4 Shore, while he was a senior at George Mason University. This time around he’s competing solo.

On the show, Showell will be placed on the team of one of show’s four star coaches, which this year include Adam Levine of Maroon 5, Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Hudson and Blake Shelton.

It is shaping up to be a big year for Showell, who married fellow Kenmore instructional assistant and GMU graduate Perla Farias over the summer. However, he is not the first person from Kenmore to appear on The Voice — that honor belongs to Samantha Rios, who competed on the Spanish-language version of the show while an eighth-grader at Kenmore in 2015.

The Voice premieres this coming Monday at 8 p.m. on NBC. No word yet on when Showell will first appear on the show.

Courtesy photo

Schools Plan to Expand Using Temporary Classrooms, Interior Modifications

By Chris Teale
1/8

Arlington Public Schools will look to temporarily add more space to try to cope with its rising enrollment by adding temporary classrooms and making interior adjustments at several schools.

The Arlington County Board is expected to vote on a slew of proposals across eight schools at the elementary, middle and high school levels at its meeting Saturday (July 15). The temporary solutions are all recommended for approval by county staff, as “student enrollment is growing at a faster rate than APS can provide new schools and classrooms.”

Some are looking to add more temporary, trailer classrooms — known in APS parlance as “relocatables” — while others will make interior adjustments to add more space.

The following schools are applying to add relocatables:

The following schools will look to make interior adjustments and modifications:

Photos Nos. 6, 7 and 8 via Google Maps

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