APS - Communities In Schools of NOVA

Seeking Volunteers for Wakefield’s Sophomore Career Day 2016

Each year, the Wakefield counseling department and Communities In Schools of NOVA coordinate a Career Day for sophomore students. After hearing from a keynote speaker, volunteer speakers rotate between tables of students, sharing their stories and perspectives, for approximately 10 minutes (completing 4-5 rotations). Also during this time, students ask volunteers questions about their career and education paths, learning invaluable information about the importance of education, networking, and a firm handshake! To volunteer, please contact CIS Site Coordinator Dan Howard at dan@cisofnova.org or (703) 228-2384 and register USING THIS LINK. Sophomore Career Day 2016 Date: Wednesday, March 30th Time: 8:30am – 11:30am [...]

Madelon Brennan2016-08-16T15:27:16+00:00March 14th, 2016|0 Comments

Empowering Students through STEM & Robotics

The Robotics Club at Gunston Middle School, part of the Emerging Leaders Program through Edu-Futuro and in collaboration with the Minority Achievement Office, entered two teams in their first competition this past Saturday, February 27, at the Arlington Career Center. The Adam Nesbitt Robotics Challenge, named in honor of the late technology teacher at Gunston, included morning workshops for the students and an afternoon of completing challenges against three other Arlington schools. As the date of the competition drew closer, the two Gunston teams competing in Saturday’s Challenge dedicated every single afternoon to practicing with their robots. One seventh grade student named Tania, who [...]

Madelon Brennan2016-08-15T15:07:31+00:00March 4th, 2016|0 Comments

Hyatt-Regency at Crystal City Explores Career Readiness, Hospitality

CIS of NOVA is partnering with Hyatt-Regency at Crystal City this spring to explore topics in career readiness, and careers in the hospitality field. During last year’s program, students created resumes, practiced interviewing skills, and visited the Hyatt-Regency in Crystal City to see what happens behind the scenes at one of the busiest places to work in Northern Virginia. During the February 11th session, freshmen students met with representatives from Hyatt to discuss personal branding, and the basics of networking. From identifying aspects of well-known brands such as Apple and Nike, to brainstorming ways that students can present their own “brand”, the [...]

Madelon Brennan2016-03-01T15:35:21+00:00March 1st, 2016|0 Comments

Diversity within Arlington Mill High School & the Arlington Career Center

By Cristian Pineda, Arlington Mill High School CIS Site Coordinator Before the first bell rings at 8am, the Arlington Career Center is filled with over 1,000 students coming from all over Arlington County. There are students who come from other high schools to take the career and technical classes, those who stay here full-time in the special programs of the school, and there even is Arlington Mill High School based inside the Career Center. It is a buzzing bee’s hive, and while all the students are worker bees in their own respective way, their differences are what unite them as future leaders [...]

Madelon Brennan2016-08-16T15:32:11+00:00February 26th, 2016|0 Comments

African-American Read-In Coming To Gunston Middle School

The African-American Read-In will be held in the Gunston Middle School Library from February 17 through 19, 2016. The African-American Read-In is held during Black History Month, and there is a special focus on encouraging young people of color to read and enjoy literature. At Gunston, classes from all grades throughout the day will visit the library for a special reading by visitors, administrators, faculty, and staff. Readers can choose from a selection of books by African American authors, or choose their own book that is special to them. To make this great event even better, Gunston’s partnership with Reading Is Fundamental [...]

Madelon Brennan2016-08-16T15:26:15+00:00February 10th, 2016|0 Comments

Gunston’s National Geographic Bee Has A Winner

Gunston Middle School held its National Geographic Bee at the school-level the first week of February! Every grade at Gunston took an assessment during their respective social studies classes, and the top scorers from each grade were brought together on Wednesday morning for the second elimination round. Forty-five Gunston students competed at this level, and eleven made it to the final level of the competition, held on Thursday, February 4, 2016. The final competition was held in the traditional “bee” fashion, with students being asked oral questions, round by round. The final showdown was between four students, and it took a few [...]

Madelon Brennan2016-02-10T17:03:04+00:00February 7th, 2016|0 Comments

The Challenges of Rising School Enrollment

Over the next ten years, Arlington Public Schools is anticipating to add 6,655 students across all schools, exceeding the current projected capacities in nearly every school. Rising enrollments bring obvious challenges (maintaining student:teacher ratios) and not so obvious challenges (how to fit 5 lunch periods into the school day!). While school districts must focus on the logistical challenges that rising school enrollments will present, CIS of NOVA is working to ensure that each student not only receives The Five Basics, but has the opportunities to fully grow in the 40 Developmental Assets. In recent surveys conducted by the Arlington Partnership for Children, Youth and [...]

Madelon Brennan2016-08-16T15:26:02+00:00February 5th, 2016|0 Comments

CIS of NOVA Accepting New & Gently Used Winter Clothing

As the weather is getting colder, many of our students are in need of extra articles of clothing to keep warm and arrive to school in proper attire. Communities In Schools of NOVA is in collaboration with their four partner schools to collect new and gently used clothing as a way to allow the community to give back and donate to students in need. CIS of NOVA Site Coordinators will be collecting the winter accessories, which will then be donated to our middle school, high school, and adult students for the cold weather. Examples of clothing that may benefit students are: Jackets Scarves Warm sweaters Gloves Ear [...]

Madelon Brennan2016-08-16T15:25:30+00:00January 18th, 2016|0 Comments

Science Fair Judges Needed for Gunston Middle School!

If you are passionate about helping students fulfill their potential and help them develop leadership skills, and you have time on January 12 and/or 13 from 2:30 to 4pm, the Gunston Middle School Science Fair needs your help! We need adults to judge the Science Fair - you will be evaluating four to six science fair projects by our 7th and 8th grade students in the course of one or two hours. You will be given a rubric on which to evaluate the students’ presentations. Gunston students started working on their projects in October, and finished recently by creating a presentation and [...]

Madelon Brennan2016-08-16T15:25:16+00:00January 6th, 2016|0 Comments

International Night 2015 at Gunston Middle School

Gunston Middle School held a magnificent International Night on Wednesday, December 16, 2015. From 6:30pm to 8pm, the Gunston community explored different countries and cultures through student projects, international dishes brought by families, and student-led performances. The outstanding performances included a Fashion Show planned by an enterprising group of 7th grade girls led by Gunston drama teacher, Caitlin Chapuis, which had 30 students model their cultural clothing. There was an amazing example of Bolivian Tinkus dancing from the famous Tinkus Cochabamba Bolivian Dance Troupe, where two students participated. A pair of Gunston 8th grade girls gave a sample of Irish dancing and [...]

Madelon Brennan2016-01-08T14:54:19+00:00December 18th, 2015|0 Comments