Friday Five: APS Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month | Sept. 15, 2023

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1. VIDEO: APS Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month

APS is proud to kick off Hispanic Heritage Month to recognize the valuable contributions that Latinos have made to our nation and schools. This year, we will once again recognize student and staff leaders whose origins can be traced to 19 Spanish-speaking nations.

The theme this year is “Healthy and Prosperous Communities.”
Watch what this theme means to some of our APS leaders.

On Oct. 12, the School Board will honor Latino students from each of our high schools/secondary programs, as well as school-based leaders. Join us in person at the Syphax Education Center or online to celebrate the achievements of these exemplary individuals. Did you Know? About 1 in 3 APS students identify as Hispanic/Latino.

2. APS to Administer SEL Survey for Students in Grades 3-12

APS is conducting a social-emotional learning (SEL) survey for students in grades 3-12.

The purpose of this survey is to identify division, school and student strengths and areas for growth in social-emotional competencies to create a curriculum that builds and reinforces prosocial skills.
Students will be participating in this online survey two times during the school year to assist APS in monitoring progress in this area.
The fall administration window will be 2-13.

View more information about the SEL survey, opt-outs, and to view the survey content.

3. 21 Seniors Named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists

The National Merit Scholarship Program announced that 21 Arlington students are semifinalists in the 69th annual National Merit Scholarship Competition.

Semifinalists are the highest-scoring entrants in each state and represent less than one percent of the nation’s seniors.
The Arlington students are among the 16,000 semifinalists named nationally.
More than 1.3 million students competed when they were juniors by taking the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). These students will have the opportunity to compete for approximately 7,140 Merit Scholarship awards totaling $28 million.

The semi-finalists include:

H-B Woodlawn: Abraham Palmer
Washington-Liberty High School: Jonathan Bhojwani, Violet Dellinger, Sarah Fleming, Harriet Shapiro, Benjamin Thernstrom and Sadie Wallander
Yorktown High School: Erik Chung, Michael Discenza, Murphy Keller, Elizabeth MacGregor, Leila Silva and Lanyi Stroud

View the complete list of winners and learn more.

4. H-B Woodlawn Students Recognized Nationally

Two H-B Woodlawn students were awarded the National African American Recognition Award (NAARA).

Fana Dereje (12th grade) and Miles Martin (11th grade) received the award.
The students earned this academic honor because of their GPA of 3.5 or higher and outstanding performance on the PSAT/NMSQT®, PSAT™ 10, and/or AP® Exams.
The award comes from Big Future, a College Board Company.

5. APS Launches Strategic Plan Questionnaire

APS is developing the 2024-30 APS Strategic Plan, which guides the work of the school division. An important part of this process is capturing the voices of students, staff, families and the community to help guide the future direction of APS.

One way APS is collecting input is through an anonymous questionnaire:

APS Students
APS Staff & APS Parents/Guardians will receive an individual link to the questionnaire via email
Community Members

The questionnaire is available to be completed by Oct. 6. It is available in English, Amharic, Arabic, Mongolian and Spanish. For additional information or questions, including upcoming engagement opportunities, please visit the Development of the 2024-30-Strategic Plan webpage or email engage@apsva.us.