Hi All,

Until this month, APS was determined to jam the Arlington-Mills 'High School Continuation' Program into the Wilson School. This would have meant long commutes for the population served by this 'second chance' program. And for the neighborhood it would have meant trailers with no relief on the horizon.

We (NRCA) spoke out against this plan. The APS board listened and indicated serious concerns about the plan.

Now, the news: APS is about to approve a different location for the HS Continuation Program. It will be at Ballston in a NOVA Community College building.

This is obviously not a complete victory; all it does is to create a 'window' starting in 2009 when there will be no scheduled tenant at Wilson. It is up to us to lobby to make that sure that the next tenant at Wilson will be an elementary educational program that really wants a long term tenancy, and will therefore restore the school and fields to an excellent condition.

A long term elementary eduction program at Wilson is an attainable goal! It is, in fact, the stated goal of the current APS Board leadership and majority. But there remain forces that want to sell Wilson for development. We will have to speak up.

On a related note, I'm going to be out of town a great deal this Fall. I'll remain in touch; but it's not the same as being here. I've asked Paul Mulligan to act as NRCA 'Point of Contact' on Wilson while I'm out of town. Paul and I have been working together to save Wilson for a couple of years and thru many many ups and downs and long boring meetings. From Sept thru December please copy Paul on any communication you send to me or to NRCA concerning Wilson School. His email is
GPmull2NOSPAM@aol.com
Hint: remove the NOSPAM.