Please use this link to access additional information about APS School Board Policies.
Admission
Children of Arlington County residents are eligible to attend Arlington schools free of charge if they have reached their fifth birthday on or before September 30. If parents wish not to enroll their child in kindergarten, they must inform the neighborhood school. Upon reaching the age of six, children are required to be enrolled in school. Further information is available from the Welcome Center 703-228-8000.
Students entering kindergarten or another grade of elementary school in Arlington for the first time must present:
- Birth certificate or other valid proof of birth date.
- A physical examination completed within 12 months prior to date of entry.
- Medical information (certificate from licensed physician) stating day/month/year of immunizations against diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, polio, hepatitis B (by sixth grade), measles, mumps and rubella (German measles).
- Proof (certification from licensed physician) stating day/month/year of a second immunization against measles, mumps, and rubella (German measles) for first time entry into any school.
- Written results of a tuberculin skin test completed within one year of initial entry into an Arlington Public School or following any break in enrollment.
- Families who object to immunization on religious beliefs must submit a notarized statement on a special Virginia State form which can be obtained from the school. Also, if one or more of the required immunizations may be detrimental to the student’s health, a physician must sign the request for a medical exemption.
- Proof of residence or a residence change into Arlington which will occur within sixty (60) calendar days must be provided. Proof of residence includes a current lease signed by lessor or tenant and landlord or a copy of the mortgage agreement showing that the parent/guardian owns a home and resides in Arlington County. Exceptions are listed in Arlington School Policies. The Arlington School Policies are available at every school, Syphax Education Center and the public library, and on the web: https://www.apsva.us/school-board-policies/
To find out which school a child should attend, call the Arlington Public Schools School and Community Relations Office at 703-228-6005 or use the online boundary resource.
Homework
Arlington Public Schools supports research-based equitable homework practices that allow students to practice, prepare, study, and/or extend learning. Homework shall be aligned with content standards and be designed to be achievable by all students without needing additional materials or extensive support from an adult. The evaluation of homework by the teacher shall focus on students’ demonstration of knowledge and skill within the content area and should be timely, consistent, and communicated clearly and regularly to students and parents. Assessment of homework shall not reflect an evaluation of student behavior.
Homework will:
- Prioritize reinforcement and practice, and, when appropriate, extend learning
- Be clearly communicated to students and parents/guardians.
- Be appropriate for the age and stand of development of the student
- Represent limited time commitments and minimal intrusion on the activities of the student and their family outside of the school day
- Build towards a student’s success as a graduate as defined by the Virginia Department of Education through-
- Critical thinking skills
- Creative thinking skills
- Communication skills
- Collaboration skills
- Citizenship skills
The following guidelines represent the suggested maximum time an assignment(s) is designed to take a student to complete. With advance notice, a teacher may also assign long-term assignments which may require additional time to complete. On any given night, teachers may assign no homework in a content area.
|
Grade |
Guidelines |
|---|---|
|
K |
maximum of 30 minutes of literacy and/or numeracy (including independent reading or being read to) |
|
1 |
maximum of 30 minutes of literacy and/or numeracy (including independent reading or being read to) |
|
2 |
maximum of 30 minutes of literacy and/or numeracy (including independent reading or being read to) |
|
3 |
maximum of 45 minutes (including independent reading) |
|
4 |
maximum of 60 minutes (including independent reading); an additional 15 minutes for instrumental music practice, as applicable |
|
5 |
maximum of 60 minutes (including independent reading); an additional 15 minutes for instrumental music practice, as applicable |
Homework Guidelines for Teachers
Teachers should assign homework that allows students to practice, prepare, study, and extend learning. Teachers shall not assign homework as a behavioral consequence.
The assignment of homework, to the extent possible, should be coordinated among subjects, teams, teachers, and/or grades to distribute the workload across disciplines, integrate assignments, and avoid excessive amounts on any given night.
Homework should be designed to meet the diverse needs of all learners to include English learners, students with disabilities, and students identified in a content area for gifted services as appropriate and needed. When a student has an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) or 504 Plan the required modifications and accommodations should be followed.
Feedback provided by the teacher will focus on students’ demonstration of knowledge and skill within the content area and should be timely, consistent, and communicated clearly and regularly to students and parents/guardians. Students’ responses on homework may be reviewed and used by teachers to help them make future instructional decisions. In general, only a brief amount of class time should be used to assess understanding of the homework. Assessment of homework shall not reflect an evaluation of student behavior.
Homework Guidelines for Parents
Parents/guardians should be aware of the Arlington Public Schools Policy I-11.2 Homework and Policy Implementation Procedure I-11.2 PIP-1 Homework as well as the requirements of their student’s school and teachers. Parents/guardians should also check in with their student, to the extent possible, on the completion of homework assignments. If a student spends excessive amounts of time on homework (as referenced on page one), then the parent/guardian should alert the teacher so that the teacher can assist the student and parent/guardian to determine appropriate support.
Summer Assignments
Summer assignments will be used to practice, prepare, study, and/or extend learning. At the elementary level, summer assignments are limited to optional systemwide assignments and whole school programs focused on literacy and numeracy support. Systemwide assignments are created by Arlington Public Schools content offices and disseminated to all students by grade level (e.g., summer math reviews) Optional systemwide assignments in a content area will be developed by central office staff. Such assignments will be distributed by school staff and are designed to provide students with an opportunity to review concepts and skills learned in the previous school year and prepare them for concepts and skills to be introduced in the upcoming school year. More detailed information on summer assignments are outlined in Policy Implementation Procedure I-11.2 PIP-2 Summer Assignments.
If teachers assign summer work that requires specialized resources (computers, software, specific books, expenditure of funds), then the school has an obligation to provide or ensure access to these resources in a manner that ensures equitable opportunity for all students regardless of family situation and/or summer plans. These assignments are designed to provide students with an opportunity to review concepts and skills learned in the previous school year and prepare them for concepts and skills to be introduced in the upcoming school year. These assignments should be collected during the first week of school and reviewed and evaluated by teachers and students in the appropriate classroom within the first weeks of school. In elementary school, students should receive positive credit and recognition; assignments, or the lack thereof, should not have a negative impact on a student’s grade.
Remediation
Students who, for whatever reason, are not progressing in school at expected rates have the opportunity to participate in a variety of school and systemwide programs of prevention, intervention, and/or remediation. Student progress is assessed using a wide range of criteria, including performance on standardized tests, predictor tests associated with standardized tests, classroom curricular assessments, parent/caregiver observation, and teacher observation. Parents receive information regarding ongoing assessments of student progress throughout the school year in a number of formats (conferences, report cards, weekly backpack mail). Students who have failed SOL tests in Grades 3,4, and 5 may be required to attend special programs, possibly including an extended school day or mandatory summer school. Students who have failed the Grade 3 or 4 reading and/or mathematics SOL tests may participate in remediation during Grade 4 or 5, respectively.
Standardized Testing in the Elementary School
The Virginia Board of Education requires students in elementary school to participate in the Standards of Learning (SOL) assessments. The SOL assessments are criterion-referenced tests designed to match Virginia’s SOLs. The SOL assessments are administered in all public schools in Virginia in the spring. Students in Grades 3, 4 and 5 will take the SOL tests. Additional policy information can be found here.
Elementary Growth Assessments for Fall & Mid-Year
|
|
Reading |
Mathematics |
|---|---|---|
|
Grade Level |
3,4,5 |
3,4,5 |
Elementary Grade Level SOL Tests for May & June
|
|
Reading |
History |
Mathematics |
Science |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Grade Level |
3,4,5 |
4 |
3,4,5 |
5 |
Individual student reports are available to parents in ParentVue. Summary results for Arlington Public Schools and individual schools are published annually and can be found on the Arlington Public Schools web site. The Virginia Department ofEducation publishes yearly a School Performance Report Card which provides information on each school’s Standards ofLearning test performance. These report cards are posted on the state’s website.
Arlington Public Schools also administers literacy and mathematics assessments in PreK-5th grade at regular intervals throughout the year. These assessments are designed to assess students’ mathematics and literacy skills in order to plan instruction and determine which students would benefit from extension and/or intervention.
Instructional Resources
Arlington Public Schools provides foundational and certain supplementary resources free of cost to students in all grades. The School Board adopts foundational resources including textbooks on a timeline in accordance with state guidelines following recommendations from adoption committees consisting of staff and community members. The Board evaluates recommendations based on:
- Scholarship, teaching methods and techniques;
- Consistency with K-12 curriculum goals and scope and sequence;
- Correlation with the goals and objectives of the course or grade level concerned;
- The treatment of social issues and cultural, ethnic, and linguistic diversity; and
- Effective use of resources.
Foundational resources including textbooks are those specified by the State Board of Education and/or the School Board and which most students are expected to use in their study.
Supplementary materials are those materials used by a class for a short period in addition to the foundational resources or used to individualize instruction. Supplementary materials can be either systemwide or school based. In either case, all such materials used in schools must be approved following the processes detailed in the Policy Implementation Procedures.