Arlington Public Schools leaders hope that a new “adopt-a-school” partnership model will increase schools’ formal partnerships with business and civic groups.
Noting that 30% of Arlington’s public schools have no such partnerships, APS staff outlined plans to increase opportunities for volunteerism at a School Board meeting yesterday (Thursday). They focused primarily on relationships with the business community.
Partnerships “benefit above and beyond the work we can do within our four walls,” Superintendent Francisco Durán told School Board members.
“We need support, and we’re getting that support,” he said.
There is always room for improvement, school officials acknowledged.
“The majority of schools … reported they would benefit from dedicated partners to support school facilities needs, beautification and mentoring or after-school programming, particularly for low-income students and families,” school officials learned in a survey of principals presented to School Board members.
About 60% of respondents reported being “very interested” in the adopt-a-school initiative.
Currently, businesses, nonprofits, civic groups, faith-based organizations and institutions of higher learning work with individual schools, sometimes on an ad hoc basis. The new effort aims to formalize the partnership process.
At the School Board meeting, Board member Miranda Turner said she hopes new partnerships and volunteers will also spur creative thinking to “help us take ideas and see if they are worth running with, and then running with them more quickly.”
“We certainly have lots of highly educated people who want to contribute,” she said of the local community.
The adopt-a-school effort is among several proposals coming out of a working group set up by APS in October 2024, addressing concerns that not enough is being done to connect schools with those wanting to offer support.
According to school leadership, some of the concerns raised by members of the working group were:
- Unclear definitions on how to engage and who to contact
- Inconsistent screening requirements for volunteers and partners
- A lack of clarity on how to donate money or supplies
- The need for a standardized process and agreement forms
- Needing improvement on school and system-wide needs to guide potential donors/partners
- The lack of a clear measurement process and rubric for gauging partnerships’ success
Nearly all APS schools — 95% — have successfully recruited volunteers that support students and teachers, according to county data.
A survey of 38 schools found that 89% use volunteers to support events; 68% for beautification and facilities upgrades; 49% for classroom support; and 32% for mentoring and tutoring.
Currently, the school system has more than 11,700 active volunteers in its database, with more than 4,000 volunteer applications approved during the 2024-25 school year. Of those in the database, only about 15% volunteer on a recurring basis, based on sign-ins to the APS volunteer-management software.
“That’s the big gap we are working toward” closing, said Catherine Ashby, the school system’s director of school and community relations.
Ashby said restructuring the school system’s administration of volunteer programs will assist efforts.
“Our team is really excited about this work,” she said.
Volunteers seem eager to help when called upon for specific initiatives. More than 190 signed up in two weeks after the school system announced a new pilot program — called Readers Rise — being launched at Barrett, Long Branch and Hoffman-Boston elementary schools.
At the meeting, School Board Chair Bethany Zecher Sutton praised all volunteer efforts as benefiting the overall learning environment.
“We’re grateful for all of the volunteers and all of the partners and all that goes into enriching student learning,” she said.
