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Arlington Public Schools named top school system in Virginia

Arlington Public Schools has been named the top school system in Virginia for the second year in a row.

Ranking site Niche recently released its new 2020 Best Schools list and APS topped all others in the Commonwealth with an A+ ranking. Falls Church City Public Schools was No. 2, Loudoun County Public Schools was No. 4 and Fairfax County Public Schools was No. 6.

APS received an A or A+ grade in the six major categories evaluated by Niche: academics, teachers, clubs and activities, diversity, college prep, and health and safety.

User reviews also gave APS high marks. One recent review, which Niche says was posted by a high school senior:

I have grown up in Arlington my entire life. This small town has taught me how to love home football games and holiday-themed parades. Every school, elementary, middle, and high school, has provided me with tools to grow as a student. The faculty has laid down the stepping stones for me to become a successful woman, and I cannot thank them enough.

Among individual high schools, Fairfax County schools dominated the top 10 in the state, while Arlington’s Washington-Liberty ranked No. 13, Yorktown ranked No. 17 and Wakefield ranked No. 51.

Va. health dept. improves nursing home inspection backlog, reforms sanction criteria for facilities

Stories of neglect in care or unsanitary living situations have plagued several of Virginia’s nursing home facilities in recent years and data backs up a lapse in oversight by state agencies.  With reform efforts underway, the Virginia Department of Health officials said they aim to adopt sanction criteria by the end of the year to rein in bad actors and get troubled facilities back on track.  As of July, 58% of Virginia’s nursing homes were overdue for inspections and 68 of Virginia’s 289 nursing homes were found to have serious deficiencies, according to ProPublica. Several of the state’s flagged facilities with numerous deficiencies also had high staffing turnover rates.  The issue has been salient among various healthcare spaces, including VDH. 
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