<sh>Shirlington Street Re-named for Campbells.
<bt>The main thoroughfare in Shirlington now has a new name, commemorating two groundbreaking Arlingtonians.
Last week the County Board renamed 28th Street South between Shirlington Circle and South Stafford Street, and South Stafford Street between 28th Street South and South Arlington Mill Drive to "Campbell Avenue."
The street is being named after Edmund and Elizabeth Campbell. Edmun served as the first chairman of the county’s Public Utilities Commission and sat on the County Board from 1942 to 1946. His wife Elizabeth was the first woman elected to a school board in Virginia, serving from 1947 to 1963.
During the mid-1950s, Edmund and Elizabeth were instrumental in the formation of the Save Our Schools Committee, organized to fight Virginia’s policy of "massive resistance" to Supreme Court desegregation decisions. In 1958, Edmund persuaded Federal courts to declare Virginia’s massive resistance laws unconstitutional.
Elizabeth is perhaps best known as the founder of WETA, the Washington area's public television station. WETA officially went on the air on October 2, 1961 and its first studio was located in Yorktown High School.
Edmund died in 1995, and his wife lived until 2004.
"This is a fitting tribute to two Arlingtonians who made extraordinary contributions to our community and beyond over many years," said Christopher Zimmerman, chairman of the Arlington County Board
<sh>SOL Scores Up and Down
<bt>Arlington students’ scores increased this past year in 12 of the Virginia Standards of Learning tests, declined in a dozen others and stayed relatively the same on the final two, school officials announced last week.
This year 29 of Arlington’s 30 schools received full accreditation status. Students in grades four, six and seven were tested for the first time, joining their counterparts in grades three, five and eight.
In tests where year to year comparisons could be made, the largest increase was seen on the eighth-grade writing test, which jumped by 17 percentage points.
The other increases were by less than five percentage points. They occurred in third-grade reading, math, history and science; fifth-grade math, history and science; and high school geometry, U.S. history, world history I and earth science.
Eight of the categories that saw declines were under two percentage points. The largest drops were in eighth-grade math (9.5), high school chemistry (6.9) and eighth-grade history (5.2).
The biggest problems for the school system came in sixth- and seventh-grade math, which both saw pass rates below 70 percent.
"While we applaud the work of staff and students that resulted in generally rising scores, we also note areas for concern and will work to improve on them," said Superintendent Rob Smith. "The grades six and seven mathematics results appear particularly problematic."
Since it was a new test for those two grades, school officials believe it might have been too difficult and may be readjusted for next year.
School officials laid out several efforts underway to help raise middle school math scores. These include new math textbooks and resources; new teaching guides; quarterly assessments of instructors to ensure they are meeting student needs; and increased discussions with neighboring jurisdictions to evaluate how they are teaching math.
<sh>H-B Woodlawn Applications Now Accepted
<bt> Arlington Public Schools is now accepting applications for admission to the sixth grade class of the H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program through January 19, 2007.
Under the school system's admissions policy, slots in the sixth grade class at H-B Woodlawn will be assigned based on the number of Arlington Public Schools fifth grade students residing in each neighborhood attendance area. A total of 69 sixth-grade slots are available for the 2006-07 school year.
A countywide, random, double-blind lottery will be held to determine which fifth-grader students are selected. Students not selected during the for sixth grade admission will have their names automatically placed on their attendance area's wait list, as well as on a countywide wait list.
A lottery also will be held for any slots available in the ninth grade class. Applications for the H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program are available in all local schools, from the school and community relations office by calling 703-228-7660, and online at www.arlington.k12.va.us/options/middle/hb_6th_app.pdf. All valid applications must be received in the H-B Woodlawn school office by 4 p.m. on January 19.