<b>Crime Solvers Tip Leads to Arrest </b>
Detectives with the Special Victims Unit of the Arlington County Police Department arrested Leon Allen Brown last Tuesday, charging him in the rape of an 18-year-old woman on April 30.
Using information received through a Crime Solvers tip and working with officers from the Metropolitan D.C. Police Department, Arlington detectives arranged for Brown's surrender.
On Friday, April 30, at approximately 2:30 a.m., a man fitting Brown's description picked up an 18-year-old female in the District of Columbia and drove her to the 1200 block of South Fern Street in Arlington. He then produced a handgun and raped the victim before fleeing the scene. Police identified Brown as the suspect a result of evidence collected on April 17, when Brown was arrested in Washington, D.C.
Police said Brown is also the prime suspect in five other similar rapes. In the other incidents, the victims also were picked up in D.C., driven to the Crystal City area and raped.
Detectives are still interested in talking to anyone who may have further information about these incidents. Anyone with information should call Arlington County Crime Solvers at 703-522-TIPS (8477) or 800-673-2777. Callers to Crime Solvers may remain anonymous, do not need to testify in court, and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
<b>Schools May Cap IB Admissions</b>
At their May 6 meeting, School Board members considered putting a cap on admissions to Washington-Lee’s International Baccalaureate diploma program, based on capacity at the school. The Board delayed a decision on the measure until their May 20 meeting.
The International Baccalaureate, or IB, program allows students to earn an internationally recognized diploma after completing advanced, college-level study in English, history, mathematics, foreign language, science and philosophy. The program begins in 11th grade, but students must begin preparations for the program by ninth grade. Washington-Lee is the only Arlington high school offering the program. School staff would use the 50 applications received this school year as a base for enrollment in the program.
Parents and students asked board members not to put a limit to admissions on the program, although they acknowledged that there are seats available. However, five IB students past and present also came to the meeting to urge board members not to restrict enrollment for former students in the program.
Currently, students enrolled in the IB program can remain at Washington-Lee if they decide to leave IB classes. School board members are considering a policy that would send students back to their neighborhood high school if they decide not to continue in IB classes after 10th grade.
“I have a friend who’s very smart — smarter than me — who decided IB wasn’t for her, and dropped out,” said Colleen Mitchell, a junior currently enrolled in the IB program. “I was impressed with that decision,” but a policy that sent the student back to her home school would punish her, removing her from her friends and possibly discouraging future students from considering the program.
School board members said they were sympathetic to the students’ pleas. But enrollment in regular classes is projected to exceed the school’s capacity until 2009, they said, and relieving that stress by sending former IB students elsewhere could be a more important consideration.
Still, it’s a sign of the program’s success that the board has to consider a cap, said school board chair Frank Wilson. “The IB program has grown wings. This is a problem I’m pleased to have.”
The International Baccalaureate Diploma was first offered at Washington-Lee in 1998, when the first cohort of 13 students graduated. Since that time, 119 students have earned the prestigious IB Diploma, in conjunction with the State of Virginia Advanced Studies Diploma.