Help town set goals, objectives 

Arlington’s Open Space Committee and planning department invite residents to join a virtual community forum scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 8.

The town is updating the 2015-2022 open soace and recreation plan, which will guide town policy for open space, natural resources,and recreation issues. It will also maintain the town's eligibility for grants from Commonwealth funding programs.

Wednesday’s forum will provide the community with the opportunity to shape goals for the town’s open space and recreation areas and begin to identify priority actions to help achieve those goals.

Learn more and register here >> 

UPDATED Dec. 7: The Dec. 7 Arlington update shows 2,530 cases of Covid-19 in town, an increase of 58 since Nov. 30 and 175 since Nov. 11.

Deaths remain at 88 and have risen by just one since May.

The percentage in town having at least one dose rose to 89 percent on Nov. 23.

Since May 19, when cases rose to 1,868, until July 6, when the count was 1,875, Arlington has had its longest periods with few increases since the pandemic hit Arlington and YourArlington began reporting numbers almost daily, on March 6, 2020. 

Dallin Art Museum co-founder James McGough welcomes you.

The Dallin Museum reopened in August, and visitors are again treated to engaging experiences with our wonderful docents. The museum recently hired its first part-time, paid docent manager ― and can now expand its docent program, and promote the museum more widely as a community resource and tourist destination.

In response to the pandemic, the museum developed a robust slate of programming to extend its reach beyond the museum’s walls:

• The art and architecture walking tour of Arlington Center, held monthly from May through September, attracted about 30 attendees per tour, many new to the museum. About half patronized local restaurants post-tour, demonstrating the museum’s positive economic impact in the community.
• Virtual talks on the Paul Revere monument, Storrow Memorial, Sculpture for Justice and Female Strength and Sculpture, and two new Dallin paintings attracted more than 650 viewers across the country. The museum’s online presence also expanded through the redesign of its website, Dallin.org, as well as a new online gift shop and Wikipedia entries for Dallin’s public works. The museum’s active and strategic social media engagement has dramatically increased our followers across all platforms.
• Given the centrality of Indigenous peoples in Dallin’s life, the museum increased its efforts to uplift their experiences and perspectives. The museum supported the Arlington Human Rights Commission’s Indigenous Peoples Day campaign and, in honor of the newly adopted holiday, hosted a virtual conversation with Ute Elder Forrest Cuch on trauma and healing. The museum is also innovating a new program to supply art materials to children in Indigenous communities in Utah that have been disproportionately affected by Covid.

The Old Schwamb Mill has published an original children’s book written by educator and storyteller Peggy Fenner. 

Becoming Best Friends with The Old Schwamb Mill tells the story of a child named Cody who has time on his hands while his brother does odd jobs in an old woodworking factory.

Cody uses his imagination to make sense of a building from another time. Along with his dog Dublin, Cody explores the tools, machines and benches in the factory, writing and drawing fanciful visions of the once-busy workplace.

His dream journal leads Cody to ask questions about the mill's history as he explores the building's dark basement and mysterious upper floor. The book is illustrated with photo-collages of the Old Schwamb Mill that incorporate the author's illustrations of Cody, dog Dublin and the other children in the story.

'It’s hard to get substitute coverage.'

-- Rob Spiegel

UPDATED Dec. 6: Filling long-vacant positions this school year and funding new ones next year were main topics for the School Committee on Thursday, Dec. 2. Discussion of staffing took place at several junctures during the 90-minute meeting, but no consensus was reached, nor were any decisions made.

Teachers, counselors, social workers and paraprofessionals are needed, say teachers’ advocates, committee members and Arlington Public Schools administrators.

“Quite a few” vacancies still exist almost three months into the instructional year, according to Human Resources Director Robert Spiegel. These include a Spanish teacher, a reading teacher and numerous teaching assistants and substitute teachers. “It’s hard to get substitute coverage,” Spiegel said.

Committee member Len Kardon suggested signing bonuses or other financial incentives be considered.

The equivalent of at least four new full-time employees will be needed at Arlington High School because of an anticipated 50 more students next fall, Principal Matthew Janger said. Enrollment has been up over the past four years, from 1,325 in 2018 to 1,380 in 2019 to 1,411 in 2020 to 1,487 currently.

Arlington’s small businesses and nonprofits are invited to apply for working-capital grants, funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

Town business owners and nonprofits may apply for assistance with rent/mortgage payments, payroll expenses, utility bills, insurance expenses or other costs that can be attributed to Covid-19-related impacts.

To be considered for assistance, business owners and nonprofits must submit their application form by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 7. 

Students from Minuteman High School and adult students from Minuteman Technical Institute participated in the SkillsUSA Massachusetts' fall leadership conference in Marlborough on Nov. 22. Four Minuteman

High School students, including one from Arlington, received gold medals for their participation in the day, which included guest speakers, workshops and a community-service project.

The day highluighted the SkillsUSA Framework, which focuses on the personal, technical and workplace skills to ensure that students are career ready. At this event, both the high school and adult Minuteman students participated in a community-service project, building picnic tables for the MetroWest YMCA.