Sarah Marie Jette: “The nominations came from two different families, which meant a lot.”

UPDATED, Oct. 15: The School Committee has recognized Thompson teacher Sarah Marie Jette, named a semifinalist for state Teacher of the Year.

"I want to take a minute to applaud" the third-generation educator, Superintendent Elizabeth Homan, who herself is a third-generation educator, told the committee Thursday, Oct. 14.

Mrs. Jette said that, while she obviously was not happy that the pandemic occurred, she improved her professional abilities by successfully dealing with that challenge. "I learned so much. I grew so much," she told the seven committee members.

In interacting with her third-grade students, she listened intently to them. "Every question mattered. Every question mattered. It was such community," she said.

She noted that for pupils aged only 8 years old, the Covid-19 crisis has been a huge event in their childhoods. "A quarter of their lives have been lived in a global pandemic," she noted.

UPDATED, Oct. 16: After a historic pause, the AFD Theatre – in the heart of the Arlington Arts District near the Center -- reopened with a bang on Thursday, Oct. 7, with a production of “The All Night Strut!” It continues through Sunday, Oct. 17.

See photos of four cast members >>

“We are all so excited to be open again!” says Judy Weinberg, president of AFD Theatre. “It’s been delightful to hear the theater come back to life: feet stomping, hammers banging and the glorious voices lifted in song.”  

“We are happy that in a very challenging recruiting year for schools, we have been able to attract very talented employees to join the Arlington Public Schools.”

       -- Robert Spiegel

Arlington Public Schools has been hiring for its campuses and central office in a major way over the past three months, and isn’t done yet. Starting July 1, the district hired a new superintendent, some 50 teachers and dozens more employees in varied roles.

 A chart from earlier this month, which provides a snapshot in time, lists 150 names. See them all below.

Among those are four more assistant principals, so now all elementary campuses have full-time assistant principals, according to Director of Human Resources Robert Spiegel. 

New hires include a director of diversity, equity and inclusion; a director of the METCO program, which facilitates bringing young people of color from Boston to study in Arlington; a director of nursing; and a director of digital learning, Spiegel pointed out via email.

John Leone: "I recommend keeping the 21 precincts to keep the continuity of the past 50 years."

UPDATED, Oct. 15: Arlington’s Select Board decided Wednesday, Oct. 13, to maintain all 21 town precincts, rather than reduce the number to 16, in a 4–1 vote (Len Diggins voted no). The specific boundary lines will be discussed at a future board meeting.

“A change from 21 to 16 precincts isn’t what most people want,” said board Chair Steve DeCourcey.

Board member Diane Mahon said, “The Finance Committee will have a disastrous result if we support 16 precincts.” The Finance Committee has one representative from each precinct.

“We also need to pay attention to long-range planning, because we’re looking at a massive override, three to four times more than we’ve ever asked. This isn’t the right time for this,” added Mahon.

Town Moderator John Leone also spoke in favor of maintaining the current number of precincts. “I recommend keeping the 21 precincts to keep the continuity of the past 50 years. The financial savings are a minuscule part of the town’s budget, and the mail-in costs are the same, not decreased, because it’s the same number of voters. Cutting out 12 Town Meeting members affects the quorum, and with approximately 60 town committees, it will affect the pool of applicants. Furthermore, we’d have to change all the Finance Committee’s bylaws.” 

The Arlington Historical Society has been awarded $39,236 from the Institute of Museum & Library Services' “Inspire! Grants for Small Museums” to digitize and rehouse 1,352 objects in its collection. The effort includes complete removal, inventory, installation and rehousing of high-density rolling shelving. 

This project is a small subset of its collection of 17,976 local-history materials. The 1,352 objects consist of mainly material culture objects that are all in one of three small collections storage rooms. These objects are the most at risk for potential collections-management issues related to substandard storage furniture, crowded conditions and minimal cataloging. This winter the society will undertake a complete rehousing and associated inventory and digitization of these objects that have not been adequately documented in its modern database. 

"I Wanna Dance With Somebody," a biopic about the late pop icon Whitney Houston, is shooting scenes in Arlington.

YourArlington partner Patch reported that the film starring Stanley Tucci, Clarke Peters and Naomi Ackie in the lead role, was shooting Thursday and Friday. Film crews were spotted outside a house on Randolph Street and at St. Camillus Parish, according to a post on the Arlington List Facebook Group.

Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine told Patch: "We worked with the production team to accommodate parking needs and were glad to see interest in Arlington."

Town resident Todd Bearson wrote to the Arlington email list that a company he once worked for, Muse Fire Productions, is filming. He invited residents to hang out and watch.