At a November 5 meeting of Arlington Public Schools’ Secondary Seats Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) group, a wide variety of proposals for “more seats” for students were released for community input. Three of the sites — Reed School, Wilson School and Stratford School — are all important historic community buildings having served the educational needs of Arlington residents for generations. The Stratford School is on the National Register; Reed School just underwent a major renovation in which the original school was saved; and Wilson School is the longest operating school building in Arlington County. The history of these schools and their buildings are very important parts of Arlington’s story.

For more information on the Arlington Public Schools “More Seats” facilities planning effort, check out their website. Here is the Powerpoint presentation from the meeting.

The Stratford School (which now houses the HB Woodlawn program) was the first school in the Commonwealth of Virginia to desegregate. ((See our November 2013 post on this)). The proposed additions to the Stratford School are substantial and could be seen as damaging to the integrity and history of the site. This could jeopardize the Stratford School listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Let your local elected officials — Arlington School Board (school.board@apsva.us) and Arlington County Board (countyboard@arlingtonva.us) — know that any changes must respect the historic integrity of the building and site.

Here are some of the proposed concepts: