A Brief History of K.W. Barrett Elementary School
by Dan Redding, Principal, K.W. Barrett Elementary School
4401 North Henderson Road, Arlington, Virginia 22203
https://barrett.apsva.us/
https://twitter.com/BarrettAPS
When Barrett Elementary School opened in 1939 it had four classrooms, ninety-seven students and three teachers. The school was named for Dr. Kate Waller Barrett, a prominent Virginia physician, humanitarian, philanthropist, and social reformer. By 1950 the school had grown to almost 600 children, including two sixth grade classes, with a principal, a secretary, a librarian and eighteen teachers. In 2018 Barrett has about 550 Pre-Kindergarten through 5th grade students.
Barrett Elementary School is a diverse community of students, families and staff who are engaged and motivated to learn. Barrett offers a quality education to all children in a caring environment that recognizes and encourages the talents and interests of every child. Barrett’s diversity affords children an opportunity for a multicultural education, fostering cooperation, communication, and global understanding.
Barrett’s Project Interaction lays the foundation for a strong home – school partnership, with numerous opportunities for families, businesses and community members to contribute to the learning of Barrett students. Another facet of Project Interaction weaves communication arts into a wide range of student projects and productions, including the school daily broadcast of Tiger TV https://youtu.be/FFBCCyJTOJw?
As part of Project Discovery, one of Arlington Public School’s Exemplary Projects, students participate in a variety of interdisciplinary projects in the Discovery Lab. Partnerships with NASA, The National Wildlife Refuge, and Lockheed Martin provide opportunities for students to experience science, technology, engineering & mathematics (STEM) in action. Barrett has the honor of being selected as the first elementary NASA Explorer School in Virginia and Barrett students have been fortunate with many “out-of-this-world” experiences https://www.apsva.us/post/