School Board Accepting Honored Citizen Nominations

Since 1975, the Board has recognized special volunteers who have made extraordinary contributions to Arlington Public Schools. The Honored Citizen Award recognizes the countless hours – over many years – that community members spend dedicating their time to a wide variety of school activities and supporting our students and staff.

Each year, the School Board recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions on a voluntary basis to our schools. These individuals make an enormous difference in our school communities. They embrace the mission of APS to ensure all students learn and thrive in safe, healthy, and supportive learning environments. They exemplify the core values of the APS Strategic Plan.

We invite you to nominate outstanding community members for the 2026 Honored Citizens Award. Individuals must meet the criteria below and be committed volunteers who have gone above and beyond in supporting our students and schools.

Selection Criteria

To be considered, nominees must meet the following criteria:

• Demonstrate a sustained commitment of at least 5 years to Arlington Public Schools
• Demonstrate unique and exceptional contributions to APS through their work
• Demonstrate significant time and energy spent on a broad range of volunteer activities in one or more APS school communities, and that go above and beyond what might reasonably be expected as part of a formal role they may hold (e.g., a PTA president; an afterschool enrichment instructor).
• Strong participation in school activities
• Foster cooperative relationships
• Contribute to the APS Strategic Plan
• Current APS staff, candidates for public office, and previous recipients will not be considered
• Former APS staff may be nominated for their volunteer work that was not part of their job responsibilities as an employee

The Board will base its decision for this award solely on the submission of a nomination form (when nominations are being taken). Any other information will not be considered. The Board encourages nominators to include a wide variety of supporting documentation to help the School Board better understand the nominee’s outstanding contributions.

Nominations

Application Information

• A person cannot nominate himself/herself
• A person may nominate more than one candidate
• A person may only submit one application per candidate
• Include a robust narrative describing the nominee’s volunteer activities at APS
• Provide supporting statements and letters of support
• Include a wide variety of supporting documentation to help the School Board better understand the outstanding contributions of the nominee
• Please fill out the nomination form completely
• The Board will base its decision for this award solely on the submission of this nomination form.  Any other information will not be considered
• The School Board will notify recipients of the 2026 Honored Citizens Award directly and will notify nominators if their candidate(s) was selected

**Nominations for the 2026 Honored Citizens start on January 23 and are due by close of business on March 13, 2026**

2026 Honored Citizen Application

We thank you in advance for bringing to our attention those committed volunteers who should be considered for this award. We will celebrate this year’s honorees at our Honored Citizens Recognition on April 30 (additional details will be provided later.)

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the School Board at [email protected] or call the School Board office at 703-228-6015.