Key Club members, other Arlington Community High School students move into new home
Assistant principal Rachel Bowerman and principal Dr. Jeannette Allen at the opening of Arlington Community High School.
The Key Club at Arlington Community High School enters the 2026-27 school year in a new home and with a full year of community-service projects on the horizon.
The Key Club, sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of South Arlington, was rechartered in the spring by Kiwanis International after having been dormant since Covid caused Arlington schools to move to an online-learning format for months in 2020.
The rechartered club has a new sponsor in social-studies teacher Dr. Tiffany Mitchell Patterson and before the end of the 2025-26 school year elected new officers. Members of the Class of 2026 in the Key Club received special recognition at graduation ceremonies held in June.
Dignitaries prepare to cut the ceremonial ribbon to open Arlington Community High School.
Arlington Community High School is a nontraditional program open to those 16 into adulthood. It offers the chance for students, many of them immigrants, to combine education with other commitments, such as work and family responsibilities, with the flexibility to start and stop as needed.
The school opened the new year on Aug. 31 in a new location, moving into purpose-built space adjacent to Amazon’s campus in Arlington’s Pentagon City neighborhood. Planning for the move has been in the works for the past year.
Amazon is providing the space for 30 years without charge to Arlington Public Schools as part of a community-benefits agreement signed when the company selected the county as home to its “HQ2” facility.
About 8,500 Amazon employees work in the Pentagon City/National Landing area. Many were on hand Aug. 28 when a celebration marked the dedication of the new school.
Kiwanis Club of South Arlington members Mila Lynne Floro and Ken Grundborg at the high school’s opening.
“Students, we have built this for you,” said Andrea Fava, Amazon’s vice president for U.S. public policy. “We have been looking forward to this day — we have so much to celebrate.”
Also on hand were a number of South Arlington Kiwanis members, including Mila Lynne Floro (who is the Kiwanis adviser to the club), Ken Grundborg and Scott McCaffrey.
Principal Dr. Jeannette Allen, herself a Key Club member in high school, said the new facility is a place where “we are planting our future.”
“Our students have a home that reflects the future we want for them,” Allen said. “Arlington Community High School is a promise there is more than one pathway to a high-school diploma.”
During the Aug. 28 event, Amazon announced a $50,000 contribution to help support a new Friends of Arlington Community High School, which will have a role similar to a parent-teacher organization.
CLICK HERE for additional coverage of the event from ARLnow.
Sen. Barbara Favola, who chairs the Virginia Senate Education & Health Committee, speaks at the event.
Join our meeting at Washington Workplace as we present the 2026 Harro & Janie Wulf Legendary Service Award to civic leader and educator Meg Tuccillo. Meeting is at Washington Workplace, 2700 S. Quincy Street.
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Last Updated: August 31, 2026 by smccaffrey
Key Club members, other Arlington Community High School students move into new home
The Key Club at Arlington Community High School enters the 2026-27 school year in a new home and with a full year of community-service projects on the horizon.
The Key Club, sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of South Arlington, was rechartered in the spring by Kiwanis International after having been dormant since Covid caused Arlington schools to move to an online-learning format for months in 2020.
The rechartered club has a new sponsor in social-studies teacher Dr. Tiffany Mitchell Patterson and before the end of the 2025-26 school year elected new officers. Members of the Class of 2026 in the Key Club received special recognition at graduation ceremonies held in June.
Arlington Community High School is a nontraditional program open to those 16 into adulthood. It offers the chance for students, many of them immigrants, to combine education with other commitments, such as work and family responsibilities, with the flexibility to start and stop as needed.
The school opened the new year on Aug. 31 in a new location, moving into purpose-built space adjacent to Amazon’s campus in Arlington’s Pentagon City neighborhood. Planning for the move has been in the works for the past year.
Amazon is providing the space for 30 years without charge to Arlington Public Schools as part of a community-benefits agreement signed when the company selected the county as home to its “HQ2” facility.
About 8,500 Amazon employees work in the Pentagon City/National Landing area. Many were on hand Aug. 28 when a celebration marked the dedication of the new school.
“Students, we have built this for you,” said Andrea Fava, Amazon’s vice president for U.S. public policy. “We have been looking forward to this day — we have so much to celebrate.”
Also on hand were a number of South Arlington Kiwanis members, including Mila Lynne Floro (who is the Kiwanis adviser to the club), Ken Grundborg and Scott McCaffrey.
Principal Dr. Jeannette Allen, herself a Key Club member in high school, said the new facility is a place where “we are planting our future.”
“Our students have a home that reflects the future we want for them,” Allen said. “Arlington Community High School is a promise there is more than one pathway to a high-school diploma.”
During the Aug. 28 event, Amazon announced a $50,000 contribution to help support a new Friends of Arlington Community High School, which will have a role similar to a parent-teacher organization.
CLICK HERE for additional coverage of the event from ARLnow.
Category: Blog Post Tags: Arlington Community High School, Arlington Public Schools, Key Club, Kiwanis, students
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