Arlington born and raised

Arlington+born+and+raised

Arlington native and history teacher Ms. Kira Jordan, returns to the school after graduating in the early 2000s.

Growing up here has allowed Ms. Jordan to view Arlington’s transformation first-hand. This includes the student population. “[Students] are a lot more stressed. There wasn’t so much pressure.” Another Arlington native Doug Grove agrees. “I think the biggest thing [that changed] was in mid 90’s when we started to implicate the IB program. I think that lifted everything. The academics in my opinion were always good, but they’ve really improved in my opinion,” Mr. Grove said.

Ms. Jordan has a unique perspective since she has been both a teacher and a student at the school and remarked earlier that she had been taught by some of her new colleagues. “Your guy’s commitment to the school and extracurriculars and sports with the AP and IB program have really stepped up since I went here.”

From being an alumni to becoming a teacher, Jordan has been able to see the school go through numerous changes.  She accredits this to numerous factors. “I think it’s really a team effort, especially with the teachers and admin,” Ms. Jordan said. “Washington-Lee sets long term goals and works hard to achieve them.”

After being able to observe Arlington for two decades of change, Ms. Jordan’s expectations for the future are now even greater. “I am confident [the students] will continue to push [themselves] and reach new limits,” Ms. Jordan said.  Mr. Grove shared a similar sentiment,  “If they have a problem they can get through this so in a word that’s called resilience.”